About the book:
This book introduces text-based programming to 6 years old kids and above, using the Small Visual Basic language, in a way that makes it easier and more helpful than block-based programming.
This is possible because Small Visual Basic has an easy-to-use form designer, which allows the kid to play with controls, colors and images to design simple and nice forms, and create desktop applications with a few lines of code. In fact, the kid will not start to write any code at all until the last third of the book's volume, where he will learn about the code editor, and use it to execute simple tasks in runtime.
And to keep it as simple as possible, each task in this book is done by a single line of code, without using any variables, arrays, if statements, nor loops! Everything will be done by just a simple assignment statement and arithmetic operations! This is why the book content is suitable for 6 years old kids, as it doesn't involve any complex logic.
But this doesn't mean that the kid will not learn important programming concepts. Practically, the kid will learn in easy steps how to use the form and controls and their properties and events, where most properties are manipulated by the form designer without writing any code. The only property that he will use in code is the Text property of a label or a textbox, and the only event is the button's OnClick.
This is super easy, however it still allows the kid to build 5 useful applications, like the primitive calculator in the fifth application, in addition to similar applications the kid is asked to write as exercises.
This approach aims to make the kid seamlessly learn the basics of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and Event Driven Programming, in a simple and enjoyable way.
The book also helps parents and teachers to instruct and train their kids and measure their understanding, by introducing MCQ questions and exercises at the end of each chapter, in addition to a graduation project at the conclusion chapter.About this series:
This level-1 book is only the first step on the road.
Small Visual Basic is designed to have the best of both Small Basic and Visual Basic, so it is the easiest language to start learning programming with, while it is still powerful enough to serve as an easy door to move on to VB.NET and the DotNet platform or any other professional programming language like C#.
This is the journey that we will take together along the upcoming levels of this book series.
But these books are not just about building up a professional programmer, as it also aims to help students to be better in Math and science by applying their educational knowledge in creating funny graphics, attractive animations, and simple games, among other windows forms applications they will create.
This level-1 book doesn't require Math background beyond the basic arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Leveling up, these requirements will gradually increase, in parallel with the kids educational level.What will the kid learn in this book:
By the end of this level-1 book, the reader will understand:
- The sVB Form designer
- The sVB code editor
- Design time and runtime.
- The assignment statement.
- String literals and string concatenation.
- Setting and reading a property value with code.
- Event handlers
And he will be able to:
- Download and install the Small Visual Basic.
- Use the sVB form designer to create simple projects with no code.
- Play with colors and images.
- Write simple programs each with a single line of code.
- Handle the button OnClick event.
- Create a primitive calculator to do the +, -, *, and / operations.