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Swift Playgrounds Will Soon Be Able to Program and Control Robots, Drones, and Toys
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This is very cool and would have made a great demo to run in the keynote. So pre-announcing this definitely means a jam-packed WWDC.
Indeed... that's the first thing that came to mind.
We actually used Logo on a Mac in a grad course on UI design in the late 80s. Logo was used to teach object oriented programming concepts... I'm thinking it probably was ObjectLogo: http://www.danielsays.com/ss-gallery-macintosh-objectlogo-15.html
The funny thing is I don't recall turtle graphics, which is what everyone seems to associate with the language. I have some recollection that there were graphics commands like moveto and drawto, but don't remember a turtle.
This is big! I can't express how excited I am by this news. 
Before this, Swift was a niche language confined to the Apple ecosystem (despite it being open sourced). Now it can slowly take its place alongside other first class languages on new platforms.
Before this, programming the Mindstorms has been either using the LabView derived GUI tools or else using C. I don't like the idea of Java programs for robotics due to the garbage collection uncertainties. There are some other niche languages and tools which would interest only hardcore robotics nuts, so I don't see them being mainstream.
Now we have another option that's easier to work with than C plus a well supported IDE.
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The default sensors for the EDU kit differs from the Retail kit.
The included Technics parts are also different, so you may not be able to build exactly the same robots using each set. However, these are standard Technics beams and parts so you can just mix and match them if you already have some other Technics kits.
You can purchase the missing sensors separately as well.
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I don't know anything about them but I plan to give them a try. They claim to support the NXT as well.
Edit: I don't know if Apple would announce a full fledged XCode IDE for iPad, but I think their current approach is smart. Kids are more forgiving of the non-optimized data entry restrictions for the iPad, and they can test out various approaches as they try to figure out how a full fledge XCode IDE would work on the iPad.
Before this, Swift was a niche language confined to the Apple ecosystem (despite it being open sourced). Now it can slowly take its place alongside other first class languages on new platforms.
Before this, programming the Mindstorms has been either using the LabView derived GUI tools or else using C. I don't like the idea of Java programs for robotics due to the garbage collection uncertainties. There are some other niche languages and tools which would interest only hardcore robotics nuts, so I don't see them being mainstream.
Now we have another option that's easier to work with than C plus a well supported IDE.
[doublepost=1496366683][/doublepost]
The default sensors for the EDU kit differs from the Retail kit.
The included Technics parts are also different, so you may not be able to build exactly the same robots using each set. However, these are standard Technics beams and parts so you can just mix and match them if you already have some other Technics kits.
You can purchase the missing sensors separately as well.
[doublepost=1496366951][/doublepost]
I was searching for news after this announcement and found Robotary.It looks like Swift Playgrounds, though, is not yet supported on MacOS
I don't know anything about them but I plan to give them a try. They claim to support the NXT as well.
Edit: I don't know if Apple would announce a full fledged XCode IDE for iPad, but I think their current approach is smart. Kids are more forgiving of the non-optimized data entry restrictions for the iPad, and they can test out various approaches as they try to figure out how a full fledge XCode IDE would work on the iPad.
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I just cannot understand why Swift Playgrounds is not ported to Mac OS, typing code on the mac is more efficient than on the ipad, you have duet display, so code generated on the mac can be shown on the ipad, the mac has a bigger screen, less tiring on young eyes than a tiny ipad screen.
Imacs are huge, ipads are just so limiting, but then Apple knows best...
Imacs are huge, ipads are just so limiting, but then Apple knows best...
You can already create, edit, run playgrounds on macOS Xcode which are compatible with iOS playgrounds right now and sync them using iCloud drive. What you can't run on Mac are "playground books" which are different from playgrounds in general, maybe that's the source of confusion. You create "playground books" on Mac and then run them on iPad.
A dedicated "Swift Playgrounds" app for macOS would not be so useful since the point of the "Swift Playgrounds" app is that it's optimised for iOS and simplified for touch input.
What we don't know is if the robot control API and their simplified controls will be available for import on macOS playgrounds or not. Probably the API will be available soon, depending on how it is implemented. But you can already implement a bluetooth stack on Xcode playgrounds on a Mac right now, that why it wouldn't be a priority.
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"Some" being the key word here.
Likely not enough to move the needle in sales in any meaningful manner.
And how does your retort apply to my comment? I said nothing about not teaching abstract thinking. Quite the contrary. I just stated a fact: the majority of people are not abstract thinkers.
Outstanding post! I couldn't agree more.
I haven't dug into very much, but as a fan of Python, this has really intrigued me:
http://omz-software.com/pythonista/
Very cool, I started my little G on HTML, a little CSS, not programming per se, but introduced the concept of text in a file being read and creating output, there being specific syntax, understanding how to debug, etc.
A simple google search would suffice you. Here's a start:
Learn the types: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keirsey_Temperament_Sorter
And statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/myers-briggs-statistics/
Given shrinking iPad sales, I imagine promoting the purchase/use of iPads had something to do with it...
No, that isn’t sufficient.
I am quite capable of using an online search engine such as Google and well aware of personality types such as MBTI.
My assumption is that you are generalising an idea but propositioning it as a fact.
Can you actually provide the source of your fact or are you simply reaching for results in Google to back up your claim that "the majority of people (i.e. 7 billion people in the world) are not abstract thinkers".
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Absolutely mate.
I would have to go back to about 15 years when I researched all that stuff. And many people accept the Myers-Briggs manner of describing it as I listed. I'm sure you'll reject it, which is your choice, but it's out there and it has been studied. It's not my job to source this to your particular satisfaction.
Swift Playgrounds is a bit of a joke. If a kid wants to learn actual programming and debugging then they should sit down in front of an 8-bit computer and start with assembler code.
While this sounds nice in theory, I 100% believe that it is not true. The more programmers there are in the world, the worse the programming languages become, because of the lowest common denominator. It's not hard to find a PHP programmer but finding a good PHP programmer is very difficult. C should be the baseline language just to keep out the riff raff.
Teaching someone to program is not so different from teaching someone to play a musical instrument. But you really don't want to have to listen to the average person playing guitar.
Not every programmer needs to understand the von Neumann model.
Plenty of people want to listen to someone playing guitar even if that someone isn't particularly well-versed at music theory.
Not everything is serious. Some stuff is casual. And sometimes, casual stuff is even useful.
Nor would an aspiring student want a to learn from an average teacher with archaic and prescriptivist points of view.
If the quality of programmers with a particular skill set are in doubt, it might be a consideration to reassess the selection process one undertakes to identify those programmers capable of the job at hand. (The story about Abraham Wald and his analysis into where to place armour on aircraft in WWII is a really interesting read if anyone is keen)
As chucker23n1 said, "Not everything is serious" when it comes to code.
lol. Even I don't go that far. But if you want to learn assembler code you should start by designing your own architecture and CPU.
? ... Swift Playground from Xcode runs also well on iPad. For Interface Builder I don't use that much Keyboard. Xcode for iPad needs of course an iPad version.
Also I like to see Swift Playgrounds on iPhone. Don't want to take always my iPad.