Seymour Papert was the co-inventor of LOGO, a computer programming language for kids. He passed away last 31 of July. Papert was a computer scientist and an educator. His will was to introduce programming languages step by step to small kids.
LOGO was based on a small cursor (called turtle) that could be moved across the screen with some basic commands:
- FORWARD (FD): Moves the turtle forward. Requires a numerical input.
- BACK (BK): Moves the turtle backward. Requires a numerical input.
- RIGHT (RT): Turns the turtle right. You must define the number of degrees.
- LEFT(LT): Turns the turtle left. You must define the number of degrees.
- PENUP (PU): When this command is activated, the turtle will not draw as it moves.
- PENDOWN (PD): Negates PENUP.
By direct linking commands to a graphical representation of actions in the screen, it was easy to learn the concepts of programming. With some lines of code you could create simple drawings, it was a sort of Telesketch. There were also advanced commands to create procedures.
LOGO was my first approach to computer programming and It brings me sweet memories in front of a Green CRT Screen. Like this:
Seymour Papert, May Rest in Peace.
You can read more about Seymour and about LOGO in Wikipedia.