Entry Level Application Development 101

If you are anything like me, you have found that working with most mainstream programming languages simply requires too much of a time commitment. The fact remains that there are scores of people out there who simply are not able to get their minds around entry level programming. And this has frustrated many people for years. For others still, they want the end result, not a lesson in programming as we know it.

This brings us to a programming tool known as Leopard. Created by Lockergnome’s own Brandon Watts back when he was only 13 years of age. Today at age 21, through a partnership with WeatherBug, Brandon has grown this Leopard Programming into something that could potentially open the doors for people simply looking to create easy to use applications without requiring years of programming experience.

Wait, how difficult is this programming language?

I prefer to think of this as more of a programming tool. The utility in which you enter simple, common sense lines of “code”, is where the magic happens. By simply taking this utility and entering in:

window

window title

My First Window

window size

300

200

end

And there you have it, you have just created a very simple program that creates a Window when it is executed within the Leopard Programming utility! Look closely at the code itself - it really does not get any easier than this.

So what is computer programming anyway? According to this definition, Leopard fits the bill quite nicely.

Noun * S: (n) programming, programing, computer programming, computer programing (creating a sequence of instructions to enable the computer to do something)

So is this truly a tool that allows the end user to create an application, be it not having the advanced functionality of an application built for commercial purposes.

Leopard Programming does however, provide a number of options for building a quick application which include weather based functionality that point to exclusive WeatherBug features found from their own extensive weather network.Whether or not you include them, is based on individual need. But if you are doing anything location based, it sure helps for developing a compelling application to share with others.

This is just a “run off” of Basic, is it not?

Yes, it is based on and actually created with Liberty Basic at its core. And yes, all proper credit has been given, even to the extent of Brandon communicating closely with Liberty Basic’s creator to make sure everything was on the “up and up”.

This is where it is critical to understand the target market here. Leopard has been for the educational market, so for a typical programmer to download a trial version of Leopard, only point out the obvious fact that this is not something that meets their own needs is a waste of time for all involved.

Leopard Programming is about empowering users to problem solve, work creatively and do so without months of training. Read this again carefully - Leopard Programming is for users wanting something simple, clean and fun, without a huge time investment. It is a means to an end, not a substitute for professional level programming. And Brandon has bent over backwards to make this crystal clear. Moving on.

Variables, math, logic and looping.

One of the biggest feature requests for Leopard Programming was better control over what kind of applications could be created. In the past with the full version of Leopard Programming, creating a stand-alone executable application was as simple as coding and compiling with the press of a button. Unfortunately, some users pointed out that it lacked a certain level of advanced control to allow creation of applications with a bit more meat to them. So with Leopard Programming version 2.2, Brandon addressed this and has since made sure that there is a more functionality and control for students that have grown past “creating buttons” and watching the results.

The graphics window and text window.

Two of the less geeky yet nevertheless, cool new features with v2.2 include the abiliy to create your own Paint or Text Edit type program(s).

The graphics window template for instance, allows the user to dynamically choose “pen” and/or background color, among a variety of other cool variables for a great end user experience.

The same applies for the text editor template as well. Much simpler in design, it does provide you with some basic text editing functions that can be built onto easily.

A world with kids thinking, instead of wasting time with TV and video games.

And it is here that I see so much potential. When I was a kid, we used to create cards or some sort of clay-based monstrosity for our parents when the holidays came about. With Leopard Programming, kids now have the ability to create customized, fully functional programs that can be shared with friends and family alike any time during the year! How awesome would it be to have your kids creating something unique and well thought out, instead of rotting out their brains with the latest video game?

Try it today, it is totally free to use. The only real restriction for use is that if you have created a fully featured program, you will want to buy a single user license so you will be able to compile your applications into something that can be shared with others.