Welcome to our interview with Nonki Takahashi!
In the TechNet Guru contest (for Small Basic), Nonki has 4 gold medals and 8 total medals (see TechNet Guru: The Most Frequent Award Winners).
Who are you, where are you, and what do you do? What are your specialty technologies?
I am a BASIC lover living in Tokyo, Japan. I have run a small company that manages rental apartments. Before that, I was a software engineer for 27 years.
What are your big projects right now?
This is my hobby but I'm trying to write a Go game program and it has AI (artificial intelligence) with JavaScript. In early stage of this project, I made a Go program with Small Basic. At the moment, in my program, human Go players are stronger than computer programs.
What programming languages do you use?
I use Small Basic, JavaScript and Ruby. Small Basic is the easiest language to use. JavaScript program can be run in many platforms - PCs, tablets, smartphones, and game machines. Ruby is for server side programs for me.
What do you do with TechNet Wiki, and how does that fit into the rest of your job/school?
I wrote many articles about Small Basic on TechNet Wiki. These information may be useful for Small Basic programmers including myself.
What is Small Basic for? Who is it for?
It's a compact programming language for everyone who want to write small programs and to learn programming.
And here is Nonki's self portrait that he made in his own drawing program (created with Small Basic):
On what articles have you collaborated with other community members on #TNWiki? What was that experience like?
For the article "Small Basic", I added an image and translated the article into Japanese. That was a good experience, and I'd like to update this article in the future.
What is it about Small Basic that interests you?
Ease of writing programs because it's small.
On what Wiki article do you spend most of your time?
Small Basic: Difference Between Local and Remote.
On what Small Basic programs, extensions, or TechNet Wiki articles have you collaborated with other community members? What was that collaboration experience like?
I wrote the Small Basic Code Block Generator (Formatter) specially for creating a TechNet Wiki code block. Some members uses this tool for their TechNet Wiki articles. It's a great honor.
What was your favorite Small Basic program that you've worked on?
Shapes Editor and Code Block Generator.
What are your favorite Small Basic programs (from anyone)?
SnakeBite, Soda Pop Showdown, and SokoCUTE.
What are your top 3 favorite Small Basic extensions?
LitDev Extension, I/O Extension, and Data Extension.
What are the Small Basic learning materials that you recommend people to use?
Joseph Dwyer's Book "Principles of Programming: Basic Concepts".
With this book, beginners can learn such basic concepts - editor, window, object, method, input, variable, if .. then statement, loop, array, pixel, properties, event - all about for programming. There are a lot of sample programs written in Small Basic. I think this book and Small Basic are the best combination to start learning computer programming with Windows PC.
Who has impressed you in the Small Basic community, and why?
Litdev does. He is updating a exellent extension, answers very well in Small Basic Forum, and runs “Challenge of the Month†every month.
What can people do to help get Small Basic into educational systems?
To continue to provide materials like sample programs, Wiki articles, tutorials, books that are showing attractive points about Small Basic, and learning programming.
Thank you to Nonki for all your many contributions to the Small Basic community!
Please feel free to ask Nonki more questions in the comments and to thank him for helping Small Basic learners!
- Ninja Ed