xTalk as a tool to teach children basic programming concepts

[richmond62]

Today (after 23 years with RunRev/LC) I discovered something called matchText.

This is frankly pathetic, although I have what I believe is a valid excuse: the Dictionary.

If you don't know a term in the xTalk programming language, how do you know what to look up?

I suppose there ARE people who read programming dictionaries the way I read a novel . . .

The dictionary reminds me of a Scots-English dictionary I have: something that is of quite some use to me as I can find out what someone imagines the English equivalent of 'forjeskit' or 'forfechen' easily enough. However that book is of no very great value whatsoever if some English person wants to look up what might pass for the Scots equivalent of 'zymurgy' or 'flatulence'.

So, I do feel that there is a need to "go back to first principles" with xTalk.

[And by that I do NOT mean the inane 'Hello World' thing.]

First of all we need a list of simple questions:

1. How do we look for a specific word in a text?

2. How do we look for a prefix/suffix/infix in a text?

3. How do we import an image, resize it, and position it.

4. How do we make a simple, conditional loop?

5. How do we work with Switch and Case?

and so on.

Then we can assemble a 'dictionary' that "goes the other way" with a whole collection of minimalstic stacks illustrating each point.