🚀 Neuridion for Kids

Learn to code by making cool stuff — no experience needed!

Hey there! You're about to learn how to talk to computers. It's like learning a magic language — you type words, and the computer does what you say. Ready? Let's go!

👋 Hey! Let's Code!

Your very first program is just one line. Type this:

Print("Hello, World!")

Now click the green Run button. You'll see this in the console:

That's it! You just wrote your first program. Print tells the computer to show text on the screen. The text goes inside quotes "like this".

💬 Make the Computer Talk

You can print as many lines as you want:

Print("My name is Neuridion")
Print("I am a computer")
Print("I can do math: 2 + 2 = " + (2 + 2).ToString())

Cool, right? The computer can do math! The + between text glues them together. And .ToString() turns a number into text so you can glue it.

There's an even easier way — use $"..." to mix text and math:

Print($"5 times 3 is {5 * 3}")
Print($"100 divided by 4 is {100 / 4}")

📦 Variables Are Boxes

A variable is like a labeled box. You put something in it and use it later:

Var name As String = "Alex"
Var age As Integer = 10

Print($"Hi, I'm {name}!")
Print($"I'm {age} years old")
Print($"Next year I'll be {age + 1}!")

There are different types of boxes:

• String — for text (words, sentences)
• Integer — for whole numbers (1, 42, -7)
• Double — for decimal numbers (3.14, 99.9)
• Boolean — for yes/no (True or False)

Var pizza As Double = 12.99
Var slices As Integer = 8
Var pricePerSlice As Double = pizza / slices

Print($"Each slice costs ${pricePerSlice}")

❓ Ask Questions

Want your program to talk to people? Use Console.ReadLine to ask for input:

Print("What's your name?")
Var name As String = Console.ReadLine()

Print($"Nice to meet you, {name}!")
Print($"Your name has {name.Length} letters!")

The program waits for you to type something and press Enter. Whatever you type goes into the variable!

Print("How old are you?")
Var ageText As String = Console.ReadLine()
Var age As Integer = ageText.ToInteger()

Print($"In 10 years you'll be {age + 10}!")
Print($"That's {(age + 10) * 365} days from now!")

🤔 Make Decisions

Programs can make choices with If / Then / Else:

Print("How old are you?")
Var age As Integer = Console.ReadLine().ToInteger()

If age >= 18 Then
    Print("You can drive a car!")
ElseIf age >= 13 Then
    Print("Almost there! A few more years.")
Else
    Print("You'll have to wait a bit longer!")
End If

Print($"But you CAN eat ice cream at any age!")

The computer checks each condition from top to bottom and runs the first one that's true.

You can compare things with:

• = equals
• <> not equals
• > greater than, < less than
• >= greater or equal, <= less or equal

Var password As String = "secret123"

Print("Enter the password:")
Var guess As String = Console.ReadLine()

If guess = password Then
    Print("Access granted! Welcome, agent.")
Else
    Print("Wrong password! Intruder alert!")
End If

🔄 Loops = Repeat!

Loops let you repeat things without typing them over and over:

For i = 1 To 5
    Print($"Count: {i}")
End For

Now let's make a star pattern:

For row = 1 To 5
    Var stars As String = ""
    For col = 1 To row
        stars = stars + "* "
    End For
    Print(stars)
End For

A pyramid! Each row adds one more star.

You can also loop with While — it keeps going as long as something is true:

Var countdown As Integer = 10

While countdown > 0
    Print($"{countdown}...")
    countdown = countdown - 1
End While

Print("LIFTOFF!")

🎮 Build a Mini Game

Let's build a number guessing game! The computer picks a secret number and you try to guess it:

// The computer picks a random number between 1 and 100
Var secret As Integer = Math.RandomInt(1, 100)
Var tries As Integer = 0
Var found As Boolean = False

Print("I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100.")
Print("Can you guess it?")
Print("")

While found = False
    Print("Your guess:")
    Var guess As Integer = Console.ReadLine().ToInteger()
    tries = tries + 1

    If guess = secret Then
        Print($"YOU GOT IT in {tries} tries!")
        found = True
    ElseIf guess < secret Then
        Print("Too low! Try higher.")
    Else
        Print("Too high! Try lower.")
    End If
End While

If tries <= 5 Then
    Print("Amazing! You're a mind reader!")
ElseIf tries <= 10 Then
    Print("Great job!")
Else
    Print("You got there eventually!")
End If

🎨 Draw Something!

You can draw pictures with code using the Graphics module:

// Create a picture (400 pixels wide, 400 tall)
Var pic As Object = Graphics.CreatePicture(400, 400)

// Draw a blue sky
pic.SetFillColor(Color.RGB(135, 206, 235))
pic.FillRectangle(0, 0, 400, 300)

// Draw green grass
pic.SetFillColor(Color.RGB(34, 139, 34))
pic.FillRectangle(0, 300, 400, 100)

// Draw a yellow sun
pic.SetFillColor(Color.RGB(255, 223, 0))
pic.FillEllipse(270, 20, 100, 100)

// Draw a red house
pic.SetFillColor(Color.RGB(200, 50, 50))
pic.FillRectangle(100, 200, 150, 100)

// Draw a brown door
pic.SetFillColor(Color.RGB(139, 90, 43))
pic.FillRectangle(155, 250, 40, 50)

// Show the picture!
pic.Show()

When you run this, a window pops up with your drawing — a house with a sun and grass!

Here are some shapes you can draw:

• FillRectangle(x, y, width, height) — a filled rectangle
• FillEllipse(x, y, width, height) — a filled ellipse (use equal width & height for a circle)
• DrawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2) — a line between two points
• DrawText(text, x, y) — text at a position

🔊 Make Some Noise

The computer can talk! Use Speech.Say to make it speak out loud:

Speech.Say("Hello! I am your computer and I can talk!")

Make an interactive talking program:

Print("What should I say?")
Var words As String = Console.ReadLine()

Speech.Say(words)
Print($"I just said: {words}")

Or make a silly joke teller:

Var jokes As Array = [
    "Why do programmers prefer dark mode? Because light attracts bugs!",
    "What's a computer's favorite snack? Microchips!",
    "Why was the computer cold? It left its Windows open!"
]

Var pick As Integer = Math.RandomInt(0, jokes.Count - 1)
Print(jokes[pick])
Speech.Say(jokes[pick])

🎉 You're a Programmer Now!

Wow, look what you've learned:

• Print — Show text on the screen
• Variables — Store data in named boxes
• Input — Ask the user for information
• If/Else — Make decisions
• Loops — Repeat things
• Graphics — Draw pictures
• Speech — Make the computer talk

That's amazing! You now know the building blocks of every program ever made.

What to Try Next

• Open the Examples in the Welcome screen — there are 39 ready-to-run programs!
• Check out the Beginner's Guide to learn about arrays, functions, and classes
• Try the Form module to build apps with buttons and text fields
• Use Network to fetch data from the internet
• Create charts with the Chart module

Happy coding! 🚀