GlowScript Beta 0.4

[Bruce Sherwood]

You are invited to try out the Beta 0.4 release of GlowScript, an easy
to use 3D programming environment inspired by VPython, but which runs
in a browser window. The programming language is JavaScript, and it
drives the new WebGL 3D graphics library to display in a "canvas"
element on a web page.

* At glowscript.org, click Help in the upper right corner of the
window and read about which browsers currently support GlowScript.
There are also links there for learning JavaScript.

* Run the example programs.

* Log in (you'll be asked for a Google login, such as a gmail
account), and try writing some programs yourself.

* Click "Run this program" or press Ctrl-1 to execute your program in
the same window, then click "Edit this program" to return to editing.

* Alternatively, while editing press Ctrl-2 to execute your program in
a separate window, so that you can view the execution and the program
code simultaneously. After making edits, press Ctrl-2 in the editor to
run the new program.

* While running a program, click Screenshot to capture a thumbnail
image for your program page.

* In the editor, click Share this program to learn how to let other
people run your program.

* Because glowscript.org is quite new, it is recommended that you save
your own copies of programs that you write. The intention is that
glowscript.org will be a secure place for keeping and sharing your
programs, but more experience is needed as to its reliability.

You will see in the Help that some parts of the language are
particularly likely to change, so be prepared for that. On the other
hand, there is a version system in place that will allow old programs
to continue running in the future. The first line of a program you
write today should be "GlowScript 0.4" (the current version number).
When a new version comes out, the software for running the older
version is retained for use whenever a program with an old version
number is encountered. For example, programs written for either
GlowScript 0.3 or 0.4 can both run today (the version system was
created after GlowScript 0.2).

It is planned to connect a user forum to glowscript.org, but that
doesn't exist yet, so feel free to write to me about your experiences.

I am committed to maintaining and hopefully extending VPython, as it
is obviously much more mature than GlowScript and benefits from the
existence of lots of useful modules, especially for scientific
programming.

While the graphics in GlowScript today are pretty basic, it is already
clear that WebGL with its emphasis on the use of Graphics Processing
Units (GPUs) available on modern graphics cards, will make it possible
for GlowScript to do very high-quality graphics. VPython was created
at a time when that was not an option, but it is possible that the
graphics developments for GlowScript will provide a foundation for
improving the graphics in VPython.

Bruce

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