I think many of you have completely forgotten what sucked you into hacking.
Here's how to get a kid hooked on programming:
1. Programming should be fun.
2. Programming should be fun.
3. Programming should be fun.
Who really cares if a child isn't using "good programming practices"? When I started writing code, it was downright shameful.
But in time, my internal desire to advance my art led me to nuking my globals and having some kind of naming standard. Eventually I fell in love with elegant languages.
Give the kid a fire. Let him decide if he wants to improve himself over time.
When I started, I just wanted to make games. Not learn Greek. Kids just don't care about Python or Ruby's elegance.
Reinforcing good practice shouldn't need to negatively impact having fun; some would argue that Python's strict enforcement of syntax and structure means one less thing for the kid to worry about deciding for himself, thereby reducing the complexity of learning. When you're just starting out, having some (meaningful) rules in place can be a good thing.
I would suspect a good IDE might be better than a headful of little things a kid has to remember. ("Hey buddy, see how you missed the ; here, better add that!")
Here's how to get a kid hooked on programming:
Who really cares if a child isn't using "good programming practices"? When I started writing code, it was downright shameful.But in time, my internal desire to advance my art led me to nuking my globals and having some kind of naming standard. Eventually I fell in love with elegant languages.
Give the kid a fire. Let him decide if he wants to improve himself over time.
When I started, I just wanted to make games. Not learn Greek. Kids just don't care about Python or Ruby's elegance.