Re: Please help me build an Apple IIGS for my son

[mdj <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

On Aug 15, 7:47 pm, "Paul R. Santa-Maria" <paul...@buckeye-
express.com> wrote:

> Sorry to be a heretic, but I recommend MS-DOS 5 or 6 with
> Turbo Pascal (version 5.5 is a free download) or QBASIC.
> The hardware to do this is dirt cheap since even an old
> 386 would be sufficient.  Sound could be tough if you
> want more than the PC speaker clicks and beeps, but you
> may be able to find some Pascal units that will let you
> control a Sound Blaster.

Other than reliving the experience nostalgically with the kids (a very
worthwhile thing in its own right) I can't see much value in teaching
BASIC at all. All of the principles that can be learned from BASIC can
be learned from a modern interpretive language, with the benefit that
the skills learned in the 'simple' mode are immediately transferrable
as one progresses.

Dropping a Linux LiveCD in any old PC (or Mac) gives you a plethora of
languages to play with, from high-level OO languages like Ruby,
through the traditional names like BASIC, Logo, Pascal. By far the
path with the least resistance. If you're going to be heretical, at
least do it in style ;-)

That said, the Apple II becomes *very* useful once you want to learn
'real' first principles programming. 6502 programming (which you can
start doing on any Apple II without software) teaches all the
principles with one of the smallest learning curves, and it's hard to
beat the Monitor+Mini Assembler for interactivity.

Matt