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episodes/073.md

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+---
+title: 73 • Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning
+---
+
+# 73 • Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning
+
+_2024-08-25_
+
+_Listen in your podcast player by searching for **Future of Coding**, or via_ [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/future-of-coding/id1265527976) \| [Overcast](https://overcast.fm/itunes1265527976) \| [RSS](https://omny.fm/shows/future-of-coding/playlists/podcast.rss)
+
+<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/future-of-coding/moving-beyond-syntax-by-alexander-repenning/embed" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" style="margin-bottom: 1em"></iframe>
+
+[Alexander Repenning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Repenning) created [AgentSheets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgentSheets), an environment to help kids develop computational thinking skills. It wrapped an unusual computational model with an even more unusual user interface. The result was divisive. It inspired so many other projects, whilst being rejected at every turn and failing to catch on the way Scratch later did. So in 2017, Repenning published this obit of a paper, [Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets](https://agentsheets.com/img/educators/20YearsofBlockProgramingLessonsLearned_published.pdf), which covers his findings over the years as AgentSheets evolved and transformed, and gives perspective on block-based programming, programming-by-example, agents / rule / rewrite systems, automata, and more.
+
+This is probably the most "normal" episode we've done in a while — we stay close to the text and un-clam many a thought-tickling pearl. I'm saying that sincerely now to throw you off our scent the next time we get totally lost in the weeds. I hear a clock ticking.
+
+## Links
+
+$ Do you want to move beyond syntax? Frustrated by a lack of syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic support? [Join our Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding)! Choose the tier that best reflects your personal vision of the future of coding. Get (frequently *unhinged*) monthly bonus content. Most of all: let us know that you enjoy this thing we do, and help us keep doing it for years to come.
+
+* [Argos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argos_(retailer)), for our non-UK listeners. They were acquired by future TodePond sponsor, [Sainsbury's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsbury%27s).
+* Once again, I am asking for your *[Marcel Goethals](https://mastodon.social/@wolkenmachine) makes a lot of cool weird stuff and is a choice follow.*
+* [Scratch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_(programming_language)) isn't baby programming. Also, you should try [this bizarre game](https://github.com/ivanreese/2222) Ivan programmed in 3 blocks of Scratch.
+* [Sandspiel Studio](https://studio.sandspiel.club) is a delightful block-based sand programming simulator automata environment. [Here's a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecCVor7mJ6o) of Lu and Max introducing it.
+* [Simple Made Easy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxdOUGdseq4), a seminal talk by [Rich Hickey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Hickey). Still hits, all these years later.
+* Someday we'll do an episode on [speech acts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act).
+* **Rewrite rules** are one example of [rewriting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewriting) in computing.
+* Lu's talk —and I quote— "at Cellpond", was actually at SPLASH, about Cellpond, and [it's a good talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQgxFuw8f1U), about —and I quote— "actually, what if they didn't give up on rewrite rules at this point in history and what if they went further?"
+* Oh yeah — [Cellpond](https://cellpond.cool) is cool. Here's [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlsJ3FqNYU) showing you how it works. And here's [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jX84iTXKg8) studying how that video works. And here's [a secret third thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlsDbXSZ2ko) that bends into a half-dimension.
+* Here's Repenning's "rule-bending" paper: [Bending the Rules: Steps Toward Semantically Enriched Graphical Rewrite Rules](https://home.cs.colorado.edu/~ralex/papers/PDF/VL95-RuleBending.pdf)
+* I don't need to link to [SimCity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimCity), right? You all know SimCity? [Will Wright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Wright_(game_designer)) is, arguably, the #1 name in simulation games. Well, you might not have caught the fantastic article [Model Metropolis](https://logicmag.io/play/model-metropolis/) that unpacks the (inadvertently?) libertarian ideology embodied within the design of its systems. I'd also be remiss not to link to [Polygon's video](https://www.polygon.com/videos/2021/4/1/22352583/simcity-hidden-politics-ideology-urban-dynamics) (and the corresponding write-up), which lend a little more colour to the history.
+* Couldn't find a good link to Blox Pascal, which appears in the paper *Towards "Second Generation" Interactive, Graphical Programming Environments* by [Ephraim P. Glinert](https://www.cs.rpi.edu/~glinert/vita-pubs.html), which I also couldn't find a good link to.
+* [Projectional / Structural Editor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_editor). Here's [a good one](https://hazel.org).
+* [Baba is You](https://www.patreon.com/posts/baba-is-you-104986179)
+* [Vernacular Programmers](https://futureofcoding.org/episodes/069)
+* [Filling Typed Holes with Live GUIs](https://hazel.org/papers/livelits-paper.pdf) is, AFAIK, the most current canonical reference for *livelits*.
+* I'm not linking to Minecraft. But I will link to the [Repeater](https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Redstone_Repeater)
+* [32 Checkboxes](https://www.patreon.com/posts/32-checkboxes-103278355)
+* [Wiremod](https://wiremod.com) is a… you know what, [just watch this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wEkNT2McKo).
+* [Chomsky Hierarchy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy)
+* [The Witness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witness_(song))
+* Ivan wrote a [colorful Mastodon thread](https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion/112578884737169457) surveying the history of the [Connection Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine).
+* [Harder Drive](http://tom7.org/harder/) is a must-watch video by the inimitable [Tom7](http://tom7.org).
+* Also couldn't find a good link for TORTIS. :/
+* [Programming by Example (PbE)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_by_example)
+* [Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo)
+* [Alex Warth](https://alexwarth.github.io), one of the most lovely humans Ivan knows, is a real champion of "this, *because* that".
+* Ivan's [magnetic field simulations](https://ivanish.ca/magnetic-fields/) — [Magnets! How do they work?](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/miracles-fucking-magnets-how-do-they-work)
+* Amit Patel's [Red Blob Games](https://www.redblobgames.com), fantastic (fantastic!) explorable explanations that help you study various algorithms and techniques used in game development.
+* [Collaborative diffusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_diffusion) — "This article has multiple issues."
+* [Shaun Lebron](https://shaunlebron.github.io), who you might know as the creator of [Parinfer](https://shaunlebron.github.io/parinfer/), made [a game that interactively teaches you how the ghost AI works in Pac-Man](http://shaunlebron.github.io/gh4st/). It's fun!
+* [Maxwell's Equations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_equations) — specifically [Gauss's law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_equations#Gauss's_law), which states that magnetic fields are [solenoidal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoidal_vector_field), meaning they have zero divergence at all points.
+* University of Colorado Boulder has a collection of simulations called [PhET](https://phet.colorado.edu). They're… mid, at least when compared to building your own simulation. [For instance.](https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/faradays-law/latest/faradays-law_all.html)
+
+Music featured in this episode:
+* [snot bubbles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSJeHDlhYls)
+
+! Send us [email](mailto:[email protected]?subject=Email%20from%20a%20listener), share your ideas in the [Slack](https://futureofcoding.org/community), and catch us at these normal places:
+
+- Ivan: [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@spiralganglion) • [Website](https://ivanish.ca)
+- Jimmy: [Mastodon](https://hachyderm.io/@jimmyhmiller) • [Website](https://jimmyhmiller.github.io)
+- Lu: [Login](http://todepond.com/lab/login) • [Website](https://www.todepond.com)
+
+See you in the future!

episodes/index.md

@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Listen in your podcast player by searching for **Future of Coding**, or via [App
 
 **Hosted by [Ivan Reese](https://ivanish.ca), [Jimmy Miller](https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/), and [Lu Wilson](https://todepond.com)**<br> _A romp through the field of computer programming, grapling with our history and wondering what should come next. A mix of deeply technical talk, philosophy, art, dark lore, and good takes._
 
+<span class="date">2024-08-25</span> [73 • Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning](/episodes/073)
+
 <span class="date">2024-06-19</span> [72 • Pygmalion by David C. Smith](/episodes/072)
 
 <span class="date">2024-04-20</span> [71 • Elephant in the Room](/episodes/071)

index.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ We share ideas, prototypes, weekly videos, and inspirational links, with a frien
 
 We have a [podcast](/episodes), too. It's grown and changed quite a bit over the years. Presently, hosts [Ivan Reese](https://ivanish.ca), [Jimmy Miller](https://jimmyhmiller.github.io/), and [Lu Wilson](https://todepond.com) share notable and notorious works from across the history of our field, with one eye on philosophy and frequent diversions into the absurd. Listen in your podcast player by searching for **Future of Coding**, or via [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/future-of-coding/id1265527976) \| [Overcast](https://overcast.fm/itunes1265527976) \| [RSS](https://omny.fm/shows/future-of-coding/playlists/podcast.rss) and if you feel so inclined, [become a supporter](https://www.patreon.com/futureofcoding) to access bonus content and warm fuzzy feelings.
 
-The most recent episode is: [72 • Pygmalion by David C. Smith](/episodes/072)
+The most recent episode is: [73 • Moving Beyond Syntax: Lessons from 20 Years of Blocks Programming in AgentSheets by Alexander Repenning](/episodes/073)
 
 <br>