Computer Science Department
Pivot
Samuel Johnson
Writing code is advertised as a skill that everyone should learn. Everything runs on code from cars to kitchen appliances to computers. It is easy to see the impact of code that computer engineers and web tycoons have built. The problem with learning to code is the steep learning curve that exists in relation to syntax, data structures, coding concepts, and web documentation of the programming languages many aspiring programmers hope to master.
Pivot is a solution to this learning curve; it presents itself as the training wheels to the confusing bike that is programming. Users will interact with a simplified version of the main two popular programming languages, Java and Python both of which comprise the Object-Orientated and Functional Side of Programming. Pivot focuses more of the object orientated aspect of programming with hints of the simplistic concepts that Python offers. Users will have a simplistic IDE that they can interact with that allows them to focus on the concepts of things like loops, primarily the while loop, object creation, function creation, variable assignments and manipulation of numbers, strings, etc., logic statements like if statements, and all the other small components of programming that are often presented like enigmas rather than fun puzzles to be learned. Users will have access to a syntax dictionary presented in a simple format and in plain English. From here they will be able to create code in a text document, and have it processed with error detection that not only tells what went wrong but possible ways to fix it. All these aspects allow a handheld mastery of programming never seen before.