Think: A Language for Learning Computational Thinking

Think is an educational programming language designed to teach computational thinking through explicit problem decomposition. It helps users break down complex problems into manageable parts while providing interactive feedback.

Installation

pip install think-lang

Quick Example

objective "Calculate student grades"

task "Process Grades":
    step "Get scores":
        scores = [85, 92, 78]

    subtask "Calculate Average":
        total = sum(scores)
        return total / len(scores)

    step "Print result":
         print("Average:", calculate_average(scores))

run "Process Grades"

Features

Structured problem solving with objectives, tasks, subtasks, and steps
Interactive execution with real-time feedback
Built-in explanation mode for learning
Jupyter notebook integration
Python-inspired syntax with educational focus

Using Think in Jupyter Notebooks

Think provides seamless integration with Jupyter notebooks through magic commands.

Loading the Extension

First, load the Think extension:

%load_ext think.jupyter_magic

Basic Usage

Use the %%think cell magic to execute Think code:

%%think
objective "Hello World"

task "Greet":
    step "Print message":
        print("Hello from Think!")

run "Greet"

Explain Mode

Enable explanation mode using the –explain flag:

%%think --explain
objective "Calculate average"

task "Process Numbers":
    step "Initialize data":
        numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

    subtask "Calculate Mean":
        total = sum(numbers)
        return total / len(numbers)

     step "Print result":
         print("Mean:", calculate_mean(numbers))

run "Process Numbers"

Example Output:

[PROGRAM] Calculate average
  [TASK] Executing Process Numbers
    [STEP] Executing Initialize data
      [VARIABLE] Assigned [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] to numbers
    [SUBTASK] Executing Calculate Mean
      [VARIABLE] Assigned 15 to total
    [STEP] Executing Print result
      [SUBTASK] Executing Calculate Mean
        [VARIABLE] Assigned 15 to total
      [OUTPUT] Mean: 3

Available Styles

Choose from different output styles:

default: Standard bracketed format
minimal: Clean, simple format
detailed: With separators
color: With ANSI colors
markdown: Using Markdown-style headers
educational: With emoji icons

Example with style:

%%think --explain --style educational
objective "Calculate average"

task "Process Numbers":
    step "Initialize data":
        numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

    subtask "Calculate Mean":
        total = sum(numbers)
        return total / len(numbers)

     step "Print result":
         print("Mean:", calculate_mean(numbers))

run "Process Numbers"

Example Output:

• Calculate average
• Executing Process Numbers
  • Executing Initialize data
    📝 Assigned [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] to numbers
  • Executing Calculate Mean
    📝 Assigned 15 to total
  • Executing Print result
    • Executing Calculate Mean
      📝 Assigned 15 to total
    📤 Output: Mean: 3

Magic Command Options

–explain: Enable explanation mode
–style STYLE: Set output style

Contents:

For more details about the language syntax, see Think Language Syntax.