Abstract
Hedy is a gradual programming language to make learning programming easier by using levels. In level 1, there is no syntax at all, and step by step syntax is added. That means that learners do not have to learn all syntax rules at once. At every level, we add new rules, increasing the number of commands that you know. Hedy is aimed at children that want to get started with textual programming languages, but for whom full-fledged Python might still be too complex.
A gradual language that uses a set of expanding grammars rather than one grammar poses new challenges for language design. In this talk, Felienne will explain the pedagogy behind Hedy, show Hedy programs created by kids, but also dive into the technical challenges of Hedy.
Hedy is open source, runs in the browser, is free to use and available in 5 different languages. Hedy was launched in early 2020 and since then almost 250.000 Hedy programs have been created by children worldwide. Try Hedy at www.hedycode.com 5.
Biography
Felienne is an associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science at Leiden University, where she headed the PERL group that researches programming education. In her PhD dissertation, she studied how we can help people work with spreadsheets better by repurposing software engineering methods. Furthermore, she was one of the founders of the Joy of Coding conference, a one-day developer conference in Rotterdam and one of the Software Engineering Radio podcast hosts, one of the biggest software podcasts on the web. She also writes a column for De Ingenieur, the magazine for professional engineers in the Netherlands and a monthly column for AG Connect.
Felienne Hermans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felienne/
How to join the event:
To avoid security issues is now necessary to register for the meeting. The registration should be necessary just once and be valid for all the next meetings you will participate in. Follow these steps:
- Register yourself to the community on the Homepage
- You will receive a confirmation email containing all the information about joining the meeting.
- Add to your calendar
- Enjoy the talk and, if you feel like, discuss further on the community forum