ToonTalk is a completely new kind of software -- both a state-of-the-art programming language and a video game. Children create programs by performing actions in an animated world.
Computer programming can be a creative, empowering, and rewarding activity. Programs can be constructed for an incredible variety of purposes -- games, music, math, animation, simulation, science, language, robotics, education. The process of building programs entails a rich set of problem-solving skills involving analysis and design. And computer programming is a worthy subject to learn on its own merits.
But programming can be hard -- hard to learn and hard to do. Programmers usually have to learn a formal textual programming language full of difficult abstract concepts like variables, procedures, flow of control, data structures, modularity, and recursion. Some children do learn languages like Logo or Basic, especially when taught by a gifted and dedicated teacher, but most find it frustrating and boring.
