Microsoft Corp. is hoping to lure hobbyist programmers and young children to the Windows operating system through a Web site and forthcoming version of Visual Studio aimed at making Windows development easy and fun, a company spokesman said Thursday.
On a Web site called Coding4Fun, Microsoft is inviting third parties to submit content that will encourage developers who code for a hobby to build new applications using the .Net Framework and Windows, said Daniel Fernandez, a senior product manager in Microsoft’s developer division.
One project highlighted on the site is a new development language designed to replace BASIC as the language in which young children begin programming in schools. Kid’s Programming Language (KPL) aims to "make it fun for kids learning to code," according to the Coding4Fun Web site. KPL was developed by Jon Schwartz at Chapel Hill, N.C.-based software development company Morrison Schwartz Inc., and is available as a free download.
