The Role of the Graphing Calculator in 2021 and Beyond

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(04-12-2021 08:13 PM)John Keith Wrote:  Opinions may vary but I don't find Python more difficult than BASIC. If there is anything that may make BASIC easier to learn is its oversimplification and relative lack of expressive power. It does take time and effort to become proficient in any programming language, and Python is a language that one can grow into.

The whole point of the Why Johhny Can't Code is that it used to be super easy to program. Debugging was very easy too allowing a language to be learned by trial and error. BASIC is simple enough start to learn to program without being bogged down or by trying to be perfect and have more power than what is ever needed to get started. BASIC was like a Cessna versus a Boeing 747. Which one would you prefer student pilots to pick to learn to fly? Like planes, the concepts between programming languages are the same and graduating to more powerful tools is only natural.

(04-12-2021 08:13 PM)John Keith Wrote:  I do agree that any language used in a calculator must have graphics, plotting etc. but those are not inherent features of any particular language.

Exactly. So what language do you propose to do this with a calculator? Even with a QWERTY keyboard (which seems mandatory to do anything useful), what alternatives do you have in mind that makes it easy to use graphics, plotting and sound without non-portable library installations of third-party APIs that one has to learn? And what about syntax? The syntax should offer functions, (local) variables, arrays/lists and structures and not require too many rules that makes entering and editing programs a frustrating chore.

Here is a simple example: Write a program to simulate a Galton board with 50 pins deep and 500 balls to drop. Each time a ball drops, a pixel on the screen should show and a beep should sound to indicate the position of the ball on the x axis.

In BASIC (e.g. on the SHARP PC-G850) this is super simple to "key in" right away, taking only a few minutes:

10 CLS: N=50
20 FOR I=1 TO 500
30 X=72
40 FOR J=0 TO 50: X=X+2*RND 2-3: NEXT J
50 FOR Y=47 TO 0 STEP -1: IF POINT(X,Y) NEXT Y
60 PSET(X,Y): BEEP 1,X,10
70 NEXT I

The BASIC commands are standard. The graphics and sound commands are just a few built-in (and easy to memorize or find in the manual if need be.)

Now do the same in Python or C++ and write the code in just a few minutes, debugged and all.

Some have proposed alternatives to learn about programming, such as Scratch and Alice. But I would argue that these are not for the "cool kids" that want to use something that the "grown ups" use. Unfortunately, the "grown ups" want kids to fly a Boeing 747... right?

Anyway, this is a side topic for another time perhaps.