%0 Journal Article %1 smith2000pen %A Smith, David Canfield %A Cypher, Allen %A Tesler, Larry %D 2000 %I ACM Press New York, NY, USA %J Communications of the ACM %K constructionism education educationalprogramming kidsim mythesis programming stagecast %N 3 %P 75-81 %T Programming by example: novice programming comes of age %U http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655-S00/readings/smith.pdf %V 43 %X Since the late 1960s, program language designers have been trying to develop approaches to programming computers that succeed with novices. None has gained widespread acceptance. We have now developed an entirely new approach that eliminates traditional programming languages in favor of a combination of two technologies: programming by demonstration (PBD) and visual before-after rules. This combination was never tried before. The result is the first commercial product based on PBD technology—Stagecast Creator, introduced in March 1999—enabling even children to create their own interactive stories, games, and simulations. Here, we describe this approach, offer independent evidence that it works for novices, and discuss why it works when other approaches haven’t and, more important, can’t.

@article{smith2000pen, abstract = {Since the late 1960s, program language designers have been trying to develop approaches to programming computers that succeed with novices. None has gained widespread acceptance. We have now developed an entirely new approach that eliminates traditional programming languages in favor of a combination of two technologies: programming by demonstration (PBD) and visual before-after rules. This combination was never tried before. The result is the first commercial product based on PBD technology—Stagecast Creator, introduced in March 1999—enabling even children to create their own interactive stories, games, and simulations. Here, we describe this approach, offer independent evidence that it works for novices, and discuss why it works when other approaches haven’t and, more important, can’t.}, added-at = {2008-05-28T03:02:19.000+0200}, author = {Smith, David Canfield and Cypher, Allen and Tesler, Larry}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ca7a01d2049cd5f085d948ef15e92574/yish}, interhash = {23304386449869037ab504533cf7648a}, intrahash = {ca7a01d2049cd5f085d948ef15e92574}, journal = {Communications of the ACM}, keywords = {constructionism education educationalprogramming kidsim mythesis programming stagecast}, number = 3, pages = {75-81}, publisher = {ACM Press New York, NY, USA}, timestamp = {2008-05-28T03:02:19.000+0200}, title = {Programming by example: novice programming comes of age}, url = {http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655-S00/readings/smith.pdf}, volume = 43, year = 2000 }