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Simit is a new language for more efficient programming
A team of researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Adobe, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Toronto, Texas A&M and the University of Texas have developed a brand new programming language that can speed up computer simulations significantly.
Google is helping MIT update its programming language for kids
MIT is teaming up with Google to create the next generation of its popular visual programming language "Scratch." The partners are working on an open source version of the language called "Scratch Blocks" based on Blockly, Google's own visual programming code. It will teach kids how to code by using blocks that snap together either horizontally or vertically like Lego. Scratch for older kids only used vertical blocks on the past, but MIT found that horizontal orientation suits mobile devices much better. The partners released a developer preview of the horizontal version at Google I/O this year.
Apple makes its Swift programming language open source
Earlier this year, Apple said it would be making its programming language Swift open source. And now the company's making good on that promise to developers, specifically those who want to make apps for OS X, iOS and watchOS. Swift, which Apple describes as powerful and easy to use, will be open source under the Apache License, giving devs access to a full set of tools to create anything from 3D games to social networking apps.More importantly, Swift was built to play nice with Objective-C, allowing developers to create projects that blend existing code with Apple's new programming language. If you're interested in playing around with it, Apple's Swift.org site has more information -- although it appears to be down right now.
Remembering BASIC on its 50th birthday
Nowadays, "basic" has a very different and derogatory Urban Dictionary-style meaning. Fifty years ago on this very day, however, it was the name given to a new computer-programming language born in a Dartmouth College basement. Devised initially by a group of the school's undergraduates and professors, BASIC's initial academic purpose was simple: to enable time-sharing on Dartmouth computers with an easy-to-learn, English-based language. Programming itself has greatly evolved since, but our early memories of coding in BASIC are no less fond.
Wolfram working on a 'symbolic' programing language, will be its 'most important' project yet
What Wolfram has accomplished with Alpha is nothing short of stunning. Sure, it can't help you find videos of cats dressed as sharks riding Roombas, but the company's goals were always much loftier. Using the technological foundation it built with Alpha and Mathematica, it's now working on bring its natural language, knowledge-based computational prowess to programming languages. Many of the details are still quite vague but, according to founder Stephen Wolfram, it will be a general purpose programming language, like C++, except it will be largely self contained. That means no (or at least less) pointing to external libraries to accomplish complex tasks. Those other languages focus mostly on structure and leave the difficult task of graphing or processing images to extensions, while Wolfram Language will have at its heart a "giant web of algorithms" to perform many operations. As you'd expect, it integrates quite tightly with Wolfram Alpha, so stock prices, tide times or images of adorable pit bull puppies are easily pulled up in whatever app you're building. Perhaps most importantly, though, because it uses the natural language approach pioneered with Alpha, even the least tech savvy among you should be able to start programming in no time. While we'll clearly have to reserve final judgement for when Wolfram language is available to the public, it sounds like an ideal tool for a child to learn programming on. With its forgiving syntax and deep database, students could quickly and easily whip up simple, but surprisingly functional programs while still leaning the necessary procedure and structure for more advanced languages like Python or Dart. If you're itching for more details, hit up the source for Stephen Wolfram very, very long post on its development.
Google toasts Dart's one-year anniversary with first stable SDK (video)
It's not a real birthday party without a present, so Google has just pulled the wraps off the first stable version of the Dart structured programming language, one year after it was launched. Along with "thousands" of bug fixes, the rejuvenated version will have a faster virtual machine, new JavaScript translator, HTML, server-side I/O and interoperable JavaScript libraries, the Pub package manager and Dartium, a Chromium build with native Dart support. Mountain view promised to keep the improvements coming "while maintaining backward compatibility" for the language, so if you feel frisky enough to jump JavaScript's ship, check the source below (or video after the break) to see how to grab it.
Insert Coin: Modkit Micro asks us if we're ready for six-year-olds coding Arduino boards
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. What does microcontroller programming have in common with Tetris? Quite a bit if you're doing it with Modkit Micro from a Kickstarter project out of Cambridge, MA., which allows almost anyone to visually set up their hardware using graphical blocks to write the code. The partially-hooded trio behind it promises that the software is ideal for use with prototyping boards from Arduino, Evil Mad Science, Lilypad, Seeed Studio, Wiring and SparkFun, and they even claim that elementary school students have used it to "take their projects from concept to reality in just a few hours." Purists should have no fear either: you can still get into a code view to see what's going on behind the scenes. A web-based Modkit Micro is being offered online starting June 1st for $25, and there'll be a desktop variant for Windows, OSX, and Linux as early as July if they reach their funding target. Check out the video after the break and then try to get your kids to wait for college before inventing version 2.0 of this.
Google gives Go 1 the green light, maintains 'experimental status'
Ready to get your Go on? Google Programming Language, or Go for short, just added a number 1 to its moniker, representing the first official release. Go 1 includes some bug fixes, but it's not a major redesign, though added support for the Windows opens the language up to a broader group of programmers -- you'll also find distributions for Linux, FreeBSD and OS X. Google gives you its word that Go 1 programs "will continue to compile and run without change... on a time scale of years," so you can rest assured that your efforts will not be in vain. There's also a new version of the Google App Engine SDK, which utilizes none other than Go. It's time to start coding! You'll find everything you need by clicking through to the source link below.
Google's Dart lands in Chromium tech preview
Leaves weren't the only things flying around Mountain View last Autumn if you remember, Google also unleashed its Dart programming language. Now, developers can get their hands on a tech preview version of Chromium, with the Dart virtual machine baked right in. There are Mac and Linux binaries available today, but no details about other platforms (ahem Windows) at this time. The preview lets you run your programs directly on the Dart VM, skipping the separate compilation stage. While it's just for developers at the minute, there are plans to include this in standard Chrome releases in the future. Aim at the source link after the break for the full details.
Google Programming Language is Go for 2012 launch
Compared to the gamut of conversational languages, the programming variety shifts at lighting-fast speed. And next year, a new language will get the official nod from Google, which first introduced Go in 2009. With its new language, Mountain View set out to create a programming environment that's easier and faster to use, without sacrificing efficiency. Programmers may need to wait until early 2012 for Go to launch out of experimental status, but you can buy that cute Gopher mascot (in furry plush form) over at the Google Store today.
Google takes steady aim at web programming with Dart
Google has brought its arm up, narrowed its focus and let Dart fly. The new programming language focuses on web apps, and the internet giant is hoping that Dart will feel "familiar and natural" to developers raised on a diet of rival programming languages. The ability to execute code in either a native virtual machine (which emulates how it'd work in real-life) or a JavaScript engine means that anything can be compiled to run on current web browsers. Dart devs are also exploring the idea of cramming a virtual machine inside future versions of Chrome. Eager coders can now get their teeth into all of Google's open source development tools by targeting the second source link below.
Google set to introduce Dart, a new structured programming language
It's a bird, it's a plane -- it's Dart, Google's soon-to-be-released computer language for structured web programming. Having hoarded dart-related URLs for the past couple of months, Google's confirmed the (previously) secret project on the Goto International Software Development conference website. A couple of Mountain View's finest will make the announcement official in the keynote at the event on October 10th, when presumably we'll find out what it can do. Dart makes a nice addition to Go, JavaScript and Python in Google's coding bag-o-tricks, but there's room for one more -- we're looking at you, Spot.
Google files trademark for 'Spot,' programming language to follow?
It looks as though our old pal in Mountain View might have its sights set on developing another programming language. Avid coders probably recall the company's Go offering that was announced last year. Now, Google is looking to stake its claim on the trademark for "Spot." Sorting through the USPTO mumbo jumbo, it's clear that the project centers on a coding language and its related computer programs. Also of note: the internet powerhouse gobbled up four case-related domains including spotlang.com, spotlanguage.net, spot-lang.com and spot-lang.net. For those looking to See Spot Run, perhaps you'll be able to sprint over to the aforementioned URLs in due time. [Photo credit: brionv]
New programming languages take center stage, aim to create a more versatile future
COBOL, C++, Java -- you know, the usuals. Those guys are about to be joined by two dozen or so newcomers thanks to bright minds who have converged in Portland for the first Emerging Languages Camp at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention. Coding languages haven't really seen a revolution for years now, but a determined group of hobbyists and professionals are hoping to push a handful of new ones that could "enable powerful new web applications and mobile devices." Google's working on Go, Microsoft's toiling away on Kodu and plenty of others are working on alternative languages that are far more sophisticated and advanced than those that are widely used today. If you're interested in geeking out on languages that only CSC majors can speak, give that source link a tap.
Microsoft Small Basic gets a stable release, aims to inspire a new generation of programmers
Those of a certain age may fondly remember learning QBASIC in school (or at least playing Nibbles in it), and it looks like Microsoft is now doing its best to bring a beginner-level programing language to a whole new generation. That comes in the form of Microsoft Small Basic, which has actually be floating around in pre-release versions since 2008 but has just recently seen its first stable release. True to its name, the programming language takes its inspiration from the original BASIC language, and wraps everything in a simplified interface that offers beginners a bit of guidance, and will even let you export your program to the smallbasic.com website so anyone can try it out in their browser (with Silverlight, of course). Of course, just because it's for beginners doesn't necessarily mean it's just for kids -- you can find all you need to get started by hitting up the links below.
How do you make teachers angry? Take an app out of the App Store
iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users are used to hearing about new apps showing up in the App Store. It's when they are taken out of the App Store by Apple that things get interesting. Teachers across the country got a taste of "interesting" last week when Apple removed Scratch Viewer from the App Store. The app is used to display programs that have been written by children in the Scratch programming language, a popular language for teaching kids the basics of computer programming. Scratch was developed by a team at M.I.T Media Lab, and the app was written by John McIntosh of Canadian development firm Smalltalk Consulting, Ltd. The Computing Education Blog broke the news and received a number of comments protesting Apple's decision. While Apple is remaining quiet on the subject, McIntosh notes that he's in negotiations with the company. Many bloggers are thinking that Apple's excuse for killing Scratch Viewer is that it violates Section 3.3.1 of the company's policy against apps that interpret or execute code. That's the reason Apple is quashing Adobe Flash-based apps. Mitchel Resnick, who runs the Scratch team at M.I.T., says that he's "disappointed that Apple decided not to allow a Scratch player on the iPhone or iPad" and hopes that "Apple will reconsider its policies so that more kids can experience the joys of creating and sharing with Scratch." The team is planning on writing Scratch authoring tools for iPad, but whether those plans come to fruition is up to Apple. [via NYT Gadgetwise Blog]
Fortran creator John W. Backus passes away at age 82
The New York Times is reporting that John W. Backus, who led the team at IBM that developed the Fortran programming language, died Saturday at the age of 82. Since its release in 1957, Fortran has widely come to be considered to be a turning point in the history of computer software, with Backus himself receiving the ACM Turing Award in 1977 and the Draper Prize in 1993 for his work. Backus also invented the so-called "Backus-Naur form," which became the de facto standard for defining formal language syntax. The exact cause of his death is apparently not known, with Backus's family only saying they believe it to be the result of old age.[Via MetaFilter]
