LOGO / TurtleLOGO programming for beginners:

Posted on 13th October, 2009 by Shervin Emami

LOGO is good for learning computer programming, since it's designed for kids to easily learn the basics of programming. You can make really simple things at first (like drawing a square or circle), and with lots of practice you can even make programs that can solve your maths homework or control a real robot!

 

Free LOGO Software:

  • To write your first few LOGO programs (also called LOGO scripts), you can practise with "Papert LOGO" HERE.
    Type "REPEAT 3 [FORWARD 100 RIGHT 120]" into the white section and then click the "run slowly" button. Or you can click the "koch snowflake" link on the top to see it play a really cool demo!
     
  • After you have used Papert LOGO a few times, you should use a more powerful program. Download the "FmsLOGO" program HERE. FmsLOGO lets you write simple and advanced programs because it can draw 2D graphics, 3D graphics, animations, sounds, mouse / keyboard input, and even control physical electronics through your "serial" port. It has translations in German, Greek, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Portugese. An old Japanese translation is available HERE and install to your computer.
 

Beginning with LOGO:

  • You can learn how to program in LOGO by following the lessons HERE by Mike Koss. It shows how to start with things like squares and circles, until you can make something like this pumpkin face:
     
  • Here is a script I made to spin a clock hand. It shows you how to make something move on the screen, by deleting the old image and drawing a new image whenever it moves. You can download the LOGO code HERE.
     
  • Here is a script to draw a star "fractal" shape. You can download the LOGO code HERE.
 

Doing advanced things with LOGO:

  • For more advanced programming, here is a tutorial on how to make a Tic-Tac-Toe (Noughts and Crosses) game HERE.
     
  • For REALLY advanced programming in LOGO, you can look at the examples that come with FmsLOGO. In Windows, click on the "Start" button and then open "All Programs -> FMSLogo -> Examples". It should show some folders full of advanced examples. The easiest one to start with is probably in "Misc" folder called "Clock.lgo". If you double-click the LGO file it should let you run it in FmsLOGO. There are even some 3D demos in the "3D" folder, like "3DMovie.lgo".
     
  • There are lots of other websites showing how to do more advanced things, such as HERE or HERE.