Learning Programming for Philosophers

The links between Philosophy and Computing are both broad and deep. But the two disciplines are rarely taught together, so there may be many aspiring philosophers who have never had the chance to learn programming for themselves. Programming can be tremendous fun, as well as educational. And the best way to start learning to program is indeed to have fun: to experience the pleasure of intellectual creativity as you capture your imaginative ideas in computer code.

Unfortunately, systems designed for beginners tend to be very limited in their scope, giving few opportunities to explore the more exciting areas of computing, or using only a "toy" programming language which cannot be taken further. So those wishing to learn programming beyond this face the daunting hurdle of learning a "professional" system, in which the joys of creative programming may be achievable only after a great deal of relatively dull study.

The systems presented here have been developed precisely to overcome these problems, enabling even novice programmers to share in the creative excitement of programming interesting algorithms. For those wishing to learn standard "procedural" programming, there are two Turtle Graphics Programming systems, one based on the syntax of the language Pascal, and one based on a Java-like (or C-like) syntax. Both of these systems provide an introduction not only to programming, but also to How Computers Work: compilation, machine-code, and what goes on "under the bonnet" of a dynamic programming language.

Those wishing to gain an understanding of functional programming are encouraged to explore Mike Spivey's GeomLab system, based on the theory of Functional Geometry developed by Peter Henderson. This beautifully exhibits the power and elegance of recursive functional programming, by generating "Escher-style" pictures to your own design.

A new system, designed at MIT to enable young people to learn about programming while designing interactive entertainments, is called Scratch. "Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web".

Also of interest here is How to Design Programs, a free web-based book and accompanying software to promote the teaching of Scheme as part of a "Liberal Arts" education.