Design and implementation of visual object-oriented LOGO using Prograph

Abstract

This thesis addresses the problem of how best to teach beginning programmers the necessary skills of object oriented programming. There is no established method of introducing object oriented concepts such as encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, or providing an intuitive progression from simple programs to complex problem solving. The approach was to use two commercially available programming languages which we consider exemplify good object oriented programming techniques, to teach beginners how to program. We selected LOGO, which has been used successfully in the past as a first programming language for children. Then we added the concepts of visual programming through the use of Prograph, a language which provides a visual, object oriented, dataflow environment. The main result of our research is the design and implementation of a prototype language called Visual Object Oriented LOGO (VOOL). VOOL is intended for use at all levels of education to teach problem solving, object oriented concepts, and fundamental programming skills. VOOL was implemented on a Macintosh in the pictorial, iconic language of Prograph and fully supports the goals of this thesis.