This site is only just started - it will
grow - but don't expect a lot. As I get experience, I will try to
document it - in the meantine - accept it as is - or perhaps - YOU could
add a liitle to the site.
POW! is a Windows 16 and 32
bit implementation of the Oberon language - similar to Pascal / Modula
2 languages. You can get your free copy from:
For beginners and self-taught
programmers - there is an email disscussion group.- but this group is specifically
targetted at the 16 bit implementation of POW! To join a group for
32 bit - go to the POW! homepage.
To write an introduction to
programming in any language is very difficult. Although I'm an experienced
programmer - I am new to POW! and new to programming in the Windows environment.
This is an attempt to document the learning curve that I am experiencing.
Because these pages are directed at self-taught programmers, I have tried
to eliminate 'jargon' and use simplistic terminology - so the purists reading
this may find the content to be academically disappointing!
All readers will have different
levels of experience and different backgrounds. So to start I will
define a few different expertise levels to try to isolate a good starting
point for you.
LEVEL 1 - Experienced Windows-
Pascal or C programmer
You should be able to learn
POW! just by looking at the demo programs that come with the product -
then you could help me out by improving these Introductions. But
the Languages Differences page highlights just
a couple of minor points that may speed up your learning process.
LEVEL 2 - Experienced Pascal
or C programmer
This was the level that I started
with POW! The difficulties were not with learning the language -
it was making the quantum leap from DOS programming to Windows programming.
The Learning Windows Programming page should help
you here.
LEVEL 3 - Experienced BASIC
Programmer
POW! is a far more structured
(and strict) language than BASIC. The Learning
Structured Programming Page is the place for you to start.
LEVEL 4 - No or little programming
experience.
To dive into POW! with little
programming experience would be a very tall order - and way beyond the
scope of this introduction - however I do have a possible approach that
you could take. I suggest that you learn to program in BASIC to learn
some simple programming fundamentals - details to get you started are on
the Learning to Program Page.
