Squeak EToys (www.squeakland.org)
© 2002 Viewpoints Research Institute Inc.
Just about every young programmer has heard of Scratch (from MIT) and, perhaps, Alice (from CMU). Both are downloadable object-oriented programming languages. But another option, called Squeak EToys 3.0 (found at www.squeakland.org) has also been developing lately, and is certainly worth a download. Designed by a team led by Dr. Alan Kay, with funding from a variety of sources over the years, Squeak starts with a blank screen, and then uses a series of pop-up menus that allow you to assign behaviors to hundreds of animated objects. You can create a game of Pong, or import your own images, videos and sound effects. Projects can be viewed with conventional browsers using a downloadable plugin. We first reviewed this program in 2002. Since then, it has been upgraded many times, so it pays to check back for updates. As of June 2009, the Etoys 3.0 download takes 61.5 MB of disk space and runs on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Macintosh and Linux. This summer, two Squeak-related conferences will be held; one in Brazil at the end of July and the second at UCLA in August. Visit http://squeakland.org/squeakfest.
Win, Mac
Teaches: creativity, programming
CTR Rating: 87.5%