by Jeffrey Ober

Created on: January 05, 2010

When considering starting learning how to program, the selection of programming language can be critical to your success. If an extremely difficult language is selected, the student may have a great deal of difficulty learning the language and might decide to give up on programming computers completely. At the same time, if a very simple language is chosen, the student may decide that computers are too easy, and lose interest.

One language that was designed for new programmers at the high school or introductory college level is the Alice programming language. This is a free programming language that uses a 3D environment to teach the basics of object oriented programming. This programming language is also completely free, so it is available to anyone new to programming. Alice was developed by Carnegie Mellon University to introduce and teach students about programming.

Using the Alice language, students work with creating simple animations, movies, and video games in a 3D environment. The student quickly and easily learns how objects have properties and events, and how they interact with one another and the environment around them. As the student is exposed to these processes in a simple environment, Alice slowly introduces the students to objects and programming languages with those objects.

This programming language also shows the student how these objects and events connect with the written code the same way that advanced languages like C++, Java, and C#. This language does not teach the syntax of the advanced programming languages, but it does teach nearly all the concepts, even including inheritance and classes. Alice also comes with a complete tutorial built-in to the programming language so the student can quickly see how the environment and interface work. For even more detailed instruction, there are a number of books that have been written that extend and detail the programming language and many include additional tutorials for practice and instruction.

Once a student completes learning the Alice language, they will be able to quickly apply the ideas and methods of object-oriented programming to any programming language. While learning, for example, the complexities of the C++ programming syntax, the student will already understand the concepts behind the language, so they can spend more time trying to learn the syntax.

Learning to program a computer can be a daunting task at first, for a student with any level of experience. However, starting out with the free Alice programming language can help nearly any student to quickly and easily learn the basics of programming in a fun and easy manner.

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