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San Francisco, CA, August 25, 2010—The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT-G programming language is a powerful tool that allows users to create custom programs for LEGO robots. But every programming language has its challenges, and NXT-G is no exception.
In The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming (No Starch Press, August 2010, 288 pp., $29.95, ISBN 9781593272180), author and software engineer Terry Griffin demonstrates how to program MINDSTORMS robots with NXT-G. Readers learn how to work with the core parts of the NXT-G language, such as blocks, data wires, files, and variables, and how the pieces work together. Along the way, Griffin teaches good programming practices, bad habits to avoid, and useful debugging strategies—all skills required of a great programmer.
The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming teaches readers how to:
- Write custom programs to make their robots "think" and respond to commands
- Design, create, and debug large programs
- Use data wires and the NXT buttons to turn a robot into a contraption like a sound generator or a sketch pad
- Create My Blocks and share them with others
- Edit and share digital photos and videos
- Store data on the NXT, manage memory, and transfer files
"NXT-G is a very powerful, deep, and impressive visual programming language that looks easy, but is actually quite complex," said No Starch Press Founder Bill Pollock. "We're excited to publish this book, the latest in our line of bestselling MINDSTORMS titles, because the real power in MINDSTORMS lies in knowing how to craft NXT-G programs to make robots do what you want them to do."
Whether readers are young robotics enthusiasts, adults working with children to learn robotics, parents, FIRST LEGO Leaguers, or teachers using NXT in the classroom, The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming is the long-awaited complete NXT-G guide they've been looking for.
For more information or to request a review copy of The Art of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-G Programming, contact Natasha Chilingerian at No Starch Press (nostarchpr@oreilly.com, +1.415.863.9900, x301), or visit www.nostarch.com.
About the Author
Terry Griffin has been a software engineer for over 20 years and has spent most of that time creating software to control machines. He works for Carl Zeiss SMT on the Orion Helium Ion Microscope, programming the user interface and high-level control software. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Liz, a middle school math and science teacher, and their three daughters, Cheyenne, Sarah, and Samantha.
Additional Resources
http://nostarch.com/nxt-g.htm
Chapter 2: "The NXT-G Programming Environment" (PDF)
Table of contents overview
Detailed table of contents (PDF)
Index (PDF)
by Terry Griffin
August 2010, 288 pp.
ISBN 9781593272180, $29.95 USD
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
Available in fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or directly from No Starch Press (http://www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com, 1-800-420-7240).
About No Starch Press
Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few remaining independent computer book publishers. We publish the finest in geek entertainment—unique books on technology, with a focus on open source, security, hacking, programming, alternative operating systems, LEGO, science, and math. Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle topics that people care about. Visit http://www.nostarch.com for a complete catalog.
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