Computer Programming for Teens

I am a Ph.D. in education and have been looking for a good computer programming book for kids. Based on all my years of experience with how students learn, I wanted a book that would teach programming concepts without making huge leaps from one concept to another. I had bought another "basic" programming book before and chapters 1-4 were great and then in chapter 5, the leap was huge and any child trying to learn from it would get lost! This book uses appropriate teaching strategies to help children understand the concepts in programming. It links each concept to a real world example that the student can relate to (this is very important in the learning process.) For example, when explaining the differences in programming syntax among languages in chapter 1 - a basic concept, it shows the parallel between that and the different syntax in 4 different spoken languages. When teaching the idea of binary, it explains it as open and closed roads. For each concept, there is a real world link which is the best way for children to learn. The book provides codes from different languages although seems to use C++ mostly, however, the purpose of the book is not to teach syntax but concepts in programming. It is the perfect book for someone to read before they start to code. It allows them to learn about different data types, strings, arrays, functions, loops, recursion, etc. Although code is given to demonstrate, the idea is to teach the purpose of these data structures. The best approach would be to go through this book first and then pick up a book that actually has you start working with actual code and writing programs. Although this book says Computer Programming for Teens, it could be used for any age student with enough maturity to and interest to begin learning programming. Many kids are able to start learning these ideas much earlier than the "teen" years.

I initially set my 13 year old up with NetBeans/C++ and he took to the book quickly and started working his way through the examples. He got stuck on the graphics chapter since it uses the old Borland graphics library (without any mention of it).The solution is to use the free Code::Blocks EP (here: http://codeblocks.codecutter.org/) which includes the WinBGIm libraries allowing you to build with graphics.h and the vector graphics the book suggests. The IDE is designed for students learning C/C++ and is extremely helpful.

I purchased this book for my 16-yr-old daughter who is interested in becoming a programmer. The book focuses on the concepts, not how to write a "Hello, World" program in any particular programming language. That's a good thing. As she moves on into specific languages, it makes it easier to learn the specific syntax of a language if you already have an understanding of the nature of strings, arrays, loops, logical arguments, files, etc.Not wanting to wait 2 days for the paperback book to arrive, I also rented the e-book on Kno.com for $20. She liked using the e-book, but I think hard copies are beneficial because you don't have to switch back and forth between screens as you work.Truly for beginners, this book provides the "big picture" of computer programming rather than the minute details.

First chaper has programming a VCR in it? Very old.

This book is actually very useful in simplifying this subject. I recommend anybody who has no experience with computer programming try to ignore the "for teens" moniker and give it a chance. Anyone could benefit from this book.

This book introduces the concept of how programming works from a hardware and software standpoint, explains the difference between low-level and high-level programming, and explains binary with an example of something been on or off. The book goes over many concepts that are required to know before you can program, but the actual programming involved in the book is very sparse. When the book uses programming examples, they are just short snippets showing code from a variety of different programming languages. It gives you an idea of how something would be programmed, but if you actually wanted to write programs, you wouldn't be able to after reading just this book.If you want an overview of programming and how it works in very simplified terms, this is the book to get. Due to the title being "Computer Programming for Teens" though, this book led me to believe that it was going to actually teach programming in itself.

It gives a very good introduction to computer programming, using examples from C++, and it clarifies all the main concepts in programming in an easy to understand manner, using everyday examples.

This is a good book for people who have had no formal computer programming training. The book doesn't get specific at all when it comes to syntax (computer language), it focuses on the concepts. Also, keep in mind that this book is not just for teens, I am a teenager but anyone could read it and relate to the metaphors in it (although sometimes the book was a little repetitive). I recommend to anyone looking for a start to computer programming.

Titel says it all, very dissappointed.