Designed in 1967, Logo is an educational programming language, widely known for its use of turtle graphics.
Today, there are several dialects of the language, with significant differences between them. Additionally, turtle graphics programs, unrelated to the Logo programming language, have been developed using the name Logo.
Created at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, a Massachusetts research firm, by Wally Feurzeig, Cynthia Solomon, and Seymore Papert, the intellectual roots of the language are in artificial intelligence, developmental psychology, and mathematical logic, while its programming roots are in Lisp. The first four years of the language's development was at BBN.
The first implementation of Logo was called Ghost. The goal was to design a mathematical land where children could play with words and sentences. Patterned on Lisp, it was designed to be a powerful programming language with informative error messages, and its use of visible turtles was intended to provide immediate visual feedback and debugging of graphic programming.
In 1969, a working Logo turtle robot was created. It was a tethered floor roamer, and not radio-controlled or wireless. This led to the virtual robot in Logo, which was an onscreen cursor, generally displayed as a turtle or a triangle icon, and Turtle graphics were added to the Logo language in the late 1960s. The turtle moves with commands that are relative to its own position. RIGHT 90 means spin right by 90 degrees. Some implementations of the language support collision detection and may allow users to redefine the appearance of the turtle cursor, in effect using the turtle as a sprite. MSWLogo supports multiple turtles and 3D graphics, as well as input from COM ports and LPT ports, as well as the production of simple GIF animations.
Over the years, there have been several implementations of the language, some of which remain active while others were for systems that are obsolete. These implementations include Acornsoft Logo, Apple Logo, Atari Logo, aUCBLogo, Color Logo, Commodore Logo, Dr. Logo, ExperLogo, FMSLogo, Hot-Logo, Imagine Logo, LibreLogo, Logo3D, MicroWorlds Logo, MSWLogo, NetLogo, ObjectLogo, POOL, QLogo, StarLogo, TI Logo, and UCBLogo.
Logo was a significant influence on the Smalltalk programming language, although that is a separate language with its own category here.
The focus of this category is the Logo programming language, which includes any of its dialects or implementations. Any IDEs, editors, or other tools designed to be used in Logo programming are appropriate for this category, as are Logo user groups, forums, guides, or tutorials.
Recommended Resources
Also known as UCBLogo, Berkeley Logo is a dialect of Lisp and Logo, serving as a de facto standard for the Logo programming language. Released as free and open-source software under a GNU General Public License, the language is hosted at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, where it may be downloaded, along with the manual, sample programs, other versions, and other resources.
https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~bh/logo.html
Developed by KDevelop, KLogo-Turtle is an interpreter of the Logo language for KDE desktops. Available as a free download under the terms of the GNU General Public License, KLogo-Turtle has a syntax that is slightly different than the Logo language developed at MIT and supports commands in English, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Screenshots are available, along with documentation, examples, shortcuts, and other instructional text. Contributors are acknowledged.
http://klogoturtle.sourceforge.net/
The web-based Logo interpreter was developed using modern web technologies, such as HTML5, CSS3, and JQuery, includes turtle animated motion, new graphic commands, background image support, shadow effects for shapes, and animation creation. The online programming environment allows users to save and distribute personal Logo programs and procedures. User programs are displayed on the site, along with statistics and other references.
http://www.logointerpreter.com/
Supporting the Linux and Unix-type operating systems, LXlogo is an interactive programming environment for the Logo programming language, intended for K-12th-grade educational purposes. Available under a GNU General Public License, LXlogo is a variant of the Logo language that gives students immediate graphical results with only a few lines of code, allowing them to become familiar with geometric concepts and procedural programming. An installation guide is available.
http://lxlogo.sourceforge.net/
Available at the Apple App Store, Move the Turtle offers a programming experience for children, five years old and up, using an iPhone or iPad. Based on the Logo programming language, the application is used in several schools and preschools around the world through the Apple Volume Purchase Program for Education, but it may also be purchased for individual use. Its features are highlighted, along with user reviews, screenshots, and support services.
http://movetheturtle.com/
Using the same core as UCBLogo, FMSLogo is a free implementation of the Logo programming environment and evolved from MSWLogo. Available, with its source, under the GNU General Public License, it is made for the Microsoft Windows platform. Released in 2005, it remains under active development by David Costanzo, the developer. FMSLogo may be downloaded from the site, which also reports on project activity, a user support forum, and a feature request area.
http://fmslogo.sourceforge.net/
Available as a desktop program in macOS or Windows PCs, and in a browser on any connected device that supports HTML 5, Terrapin Logo includes a full-featured editor with context-sensitive text coloring and a full set of debugging tools. Available as commercial software, a downloadable free-to-try version is fully functional, except for the ability to save data, print, or control robots. Household, classroom, multi-classroom, and campus licenses are available for purchase.
https://www.terrapinlogo.com/
The Transum site is an eclectic mix of free Webware, highlighting online activities to help teachers and learners with mathematics. Its Online Logo section is a simplified version of the programming language. Users can use it to draw shapes by moving the turtle around the screen using the commands that are listed at levels one, two, and three. An introduction to the language is presented, along with programming examples and testimonials from those who have tried it.
https://www.transum.org/software/Logo/
The project features a client-side learning environment and a compiler for the Logo programming language, intended to teach the principles of programming to children in a way that is fun and easy. Participation in the project is free, but registration is required in order to save your progress and to have access to special lessons. For registered members, new commands that have been learned will be saved, and students ill be able to follow their own progress.
https://www.turtleacademy.com/
Tutorials Point: Logo Tutorial
Beginning with a single tutorial on HTML in 2006, Tutorials Point now offers several tutorials and articles on various topics, ranging from programming languages to web design, academics, and others. Its Logo tutorial is designed for those who want to learn the basic concepts of writing programs in the Logo programming language, beginning with an introduction to the language, the concept of the turtle, and other variables, useful resources, and suggested readings.
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/logo/
Developed by George Mills at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MSWLogo is an interpreted programming language, based on the language Logo, with a graphical user interface (GUI). Users can introduce changes in the way that graphics are created, as well as the area that is visible. Developed for the Microsoft Windows environment, the latest version of the interface for programming, with Open Code Logo Language, may be downloaded as open-source software.
https://mswlogo.en.uptodown.com/
MSWLogo is an interpreter of the Logo programming language, created for educational purposes. The programs included in the MSWLogo version allows users to change the way in which graphics are created, and to adjust the visible programming area. Fully compatible with Windows 10, as well as other recent 32/64 bit Windows versions, the latest version may be downloaded from the site. Also included is a review and rating of the MSWLogo program.
https://yepdownload.com/mswlogo
