Turing to learn Object Oriented Programming

If you are a person who has a growing interest in the fun and exciting world of programming and want to learn how you to program without taking an additional course Turing is the programming language to learn.

Named after Alan Turing and created by Ric Holt and James Cordy, this Pascal-like programming language was created as a learning language.  One one the more common versions is Object Oriented Turing, which can lead users who master this to other object oriented programming such as Java or C.  This language has ceased development since 2007 but still serves as a great way to learn programming.

Reasons why Turing is easier than other programming languages:

1. The syntax is readable and intuitive. For example, to have a program write "Hello World" the code in Turing is put "Hello World"
2. Turing does not use brackets and semicolons to separate methods, loops, boolean statements, etc. Instead it uses explicit words such as "end loop", "end if" to stop the method
3. To draw objects on your screen it is also intuitive as each pixel on your screen (1028x740) corresponds to a Cartesian coordinate point so making lines, points, boxes, stars, ovals, and maple leafs are easy to place on the screen
4. Objects such as lines and boxes have syntax that is easy to understand and logically makes sense. For example when drawing a line, the syntax calls  for the beginning (x,y) and end (x,y) coordinates and then a colour (either numeric or the word, not all words work)
5. It is a good learning tool for Object Oriented Programming since it allows you to have placeholders for different object types
6. Defining and creating your own functions are similar to creating boolean statements and loops
7. When redefining a variable, Turing will automatically remove the previously stored variable so it does not use more space
8. Ascetically pleasing when coding, since brace brackets are not required 

Overall Turing is a great starting point for those looking to enter the world of programming.  After Turing I would suggest Python, since it is the next language that does not require a lot of maintenance. From there Java would be the next jump since it still has its own trash system that removes unused variables where as C does not.

Download the latest version of Turing 4.1.1 or older versions of it here.

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