What can one do with Alice without the text?

[bruceb]

I've seen Alice recommended in several places as a great way to get started with programming and to learn programming concepts. The implication is that it is a way to teach yourself or to teach your kids informally.

However, it appears that you aren't going to get very far without ordering the textbook (as much as $83). The tutorial covers using Alice but doesn't really get into programming concepts.

So, how useful is Alice as a teaching/learning tool in an informal self-taught environment without buying the text? Or is it intended to be a classroom tool used with the text?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[sfunk]

well I created many alice tutorials on youtube channel, look at my signature on this post and you see a link to my youtube channel(which has the list of all the videos of course on it) Alice is easy for basic things and can be pretty much self taught(if given the will power) since that is what I did, and of course you can always ask this community questions and normally get a quick response.And once you get familiar enough with alice, you can start creating very entertaining programs.