This course is intended for anyone with an interest in computer programming who has never programmed before. If you know some programming, this is likely to be easy and you may want to wait for a follow on intermediate course.
We’ll learn the fundamentals of programming using the Scratch visual programming environment. Scratch was developed by MIT to teach people the principles of coding. Using the Scratch’s block like interface, we will develop simple games, stories and animations. We’ll learn the basic constructs that all programs in all languages have.
We’ll learn how coding imitates actions we do in real life and demystify what programs do, where programs run, and learn about some programmers who have changed the world.
Depending on how things progress, we will then move from Scratch to “real coding” using what we have learnt so far. If we run out of time and people are interested, a follow on course will pick up where we left off.
The course is being taught by one of our volunteers, Dave Parker. Dave first learnt to program on a ZX81 and an Apple II back in the days of 8-buit computers. He’s been a commercial programmer for over 30 years, developing software for major companies around the world. He has worked with many computer languages and devices over my career and still love programming to this day.
Dave is currently the Specialist Applications Architect for a major multinational manufacturing firm responsible for the design and development of applications from mobile applications (iPhone and Android) to global scale applications running in the cloud (Microsoft and Amazon).
Tel: 01704 566992