Leopard FAQ

1. What is Leopard?

   Leopard is a programming language that has been created especially for beginners. It's a fantastic first step for programming newcomers, and the language has been taught in classrooms all over the world. The flexibility that it provides has also made it a useful tool for experienced programmers who want to develop applications and prototypes quickly. The syntax of the language itself can be compared to a mix between BASIC and Visual BASIC, although the natural way in which you write programs in Leopard is far more understandable than that of either of those tools.

2. Who created Leopard?

   Leopard is the brainchild of Brandon Watts. Brandon started developing the language when he was fourteen years old, and the idea for Leopard came about when he realized that many of the programming languages that were available didn't fully serve the needs of the beginner, and therefore prevented them from building powerful applications in a quick and easy way. Brandon set out to develop the beginner's programming language that he never found, and Leopard is the result of those efforts. Now, at twenty years old, Brandon is a technology consultant who performs a variety of services (such as marketing and writing) for an ever changing portfolio of clients, and he's even been hired to teach Leopard in the classroom. To learn more about him, visit his personal blog (http://www.brandonwatts.net) and the Leopard Web site (http://www.leopardprogramming.com).

3. How does a programming language fit into WeatherBug?

   WeatherBug is an educational company at its core. The award winning WeatherBug Achieve program utilizing data from the WeatherBug Network drives student achievement by bringing real world skills and exitement to the study of meteorology, math, science and geography. By integrating WeatherBug data into the Leopard programming language, we hope to get more students and people of all ages interested in programming by creating useful applications for viewing and learning about the weather. We also hope to demonstrate the power of collective learning by allowing Leopard programmers to submit applications they have developed to share with the growing Leopard community.

4. What are the minimum system requirements for running Leopard?

   Almost any computer running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista should be able to run Leopard, although certain features may not work properly in older versions of Microsoft Windows.

5. Can I only create weather applications in Leopard?

   While Leopard does have a set of WeatherBug controls and commands built in, the language can be used to build whatever you're able to dream up and create, and you're certainly not forced or limited to using the WeatherBug features exclusively.

6. What benefits does registering Leopard offer?

   For individual users, access to priority support and the ability to create executable files that run independently of Leopard is included. Although these executables do require some additional files in order to run on their own (including your program file), they are standalone in the sense that they don't require a user to have Leopard installed on their computer in order to use them, and this allows you to share your finished creations with friends, family, and others.

   In addition to the aforementioned benefits, education users are given a yearly license to Leopard when they register, and this means that they receive any Leopard updates that are released throughout the course of a year for free. They also gain access to a number of exclusives, including our educational forums and any lesson plans/program examples that we create for our users involved with education.

7. Who do I contact about Leopard?

   Please e-mail us at leopard@weatherbug.com to tell us what you think of Leopard. If you'd like to personally contact Brandon Watts, then please e-mail him at brandonwatts@gmail.com We look forward to hearing from you.