Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning

About this episode

The episode discusses Alexander Repenning's insights on blocks programming through the lens of AgentSheets and its impact on computational thinking.

Alexander Repenning created AgentSheets , an environment to help kids develop computational thinking skills. It wrapped an unusual computational model with an even more unusual user interface. The result was divisive. It inspired so many other projects, whilst being rejected at every turn and failing to catch on the way Scratch later did. So in 2017, Repenning published this obit of a paper, Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets , which covers his findings over the years as AgentSheets evolved and transformed, and gives perspective on block-based programming, programming-by-example, agents / rule / rewrite systems, automata, and more. This is probably the most "normal" episode we've done in a while — we stay close to the text and un-clam many a thought-tickling pearl. I'm saying that sincerely now to throw you off our scent the next time we get totally lost in the weeds. I hear a clock ticking. Links $ Do you want to move beyond syntax? Frustrated by a lack of syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic support? Join our Patreon ! Choose the tier that best reflects your personal vision of the future of coding. Get (frequently unhinged ) monthly…

People in this episode

Hosts: Ivan Reese, Jimmy Miller, Lu Wilson

Guest: Alexander Repenning

Topics covered

• blocks programming
• computational thinking
• AgentSheets
• programming-by-example
• user interface
• educational technology

Keywords

• blocks programming
• AgentSheets
• computational thinking
• programming-by-example
• user interface
• educational technology
• Scratch
• automata
• rule systems

Sponsors

Sainsbury's

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AgentSheets, Scratch

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