Scratch Programming
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/710365652/
A fun way to understand programming languages is by playing with coding. I built a program using Scratch and really enjoyed it. The hardest part for me was deciding what to do with the program. There are so many options that it took some time just deciding on the theme. The first step involved picking out the which sprites to incorporate. Once the second sprite was decided upon, the theme emerged and the program took off from there. Scratch is a great program that makes learning coding easy.
The biggest problem I encountered occurred when I didn’t set a starting point on the sprite. Since the sprite was moving, if I didn’t reset it, it would disappear off the screen entirely. Another issue I encountered was the timing. I used a few different sprites and wanted to have them all synchronized. Lastly, the program would glitch if left unattended for a length of time and simply wouldn’t run correctly.
Each of these problems was overcome differently. Setting a starting point for the sprites was quite easy, once I realized it needed to be done. After running through the script a few times and making minor changes, I was able to time everything the way I wanted it. Finally, I had been cautious to save my project as I went. I discovered that I needed to load the saved project each time I came back to in. By completing these steps, I was able to complete the project.
The insights gained from this project are that programming is very specific. This is actually one of the qualities that drew me to IT. Everything has an order and needs to be specified down to the smallest details. Programming is not something that can be done using generalities, but with specifics.
In comparing Scratch to the activities I completed in chapter 2 of Zybooks, I found that Scratch was much easier to understand and use. I found the machine language, assembly language, and high-level languages much more difficult to understand. The project was also completed much quicker than it would have been 1’s and 0’s. I did enjoy learning about Python and felt it was easier to understand than the machine and assembly languages. Machine language is a series of 0’s and 1’s and seems the hardest to me to understand. I felt that assembly language was also hard to understand and struggled to comprehend it. The high-level language was much easier to understand and I can see the benefits of using it. Of course, the easiest of all to utilize was the Scratch block-codes.
There are many different programming languages used today. Popular languages are C, C++, Java, Python, and Javascript (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). According to an article from 2022 by ComputerScience.org, the best uses for the different programming languages differ across platforms. C is good for scripting system applications. C++ is great for system/application software. Java is very helpful in cloud computing. Python is great for web and internet development. Javascript is best used for gaming development. ITPro Today lists Python as the most popular programming language today (Tozzi, 2022). I agree with that because Python is easy to use and is very versatile.
In conclusion, Scratch is a great programming language that is extremely useful as an introduction to programming. It’s easy to learn and troubleshoot. Programming in general requires the user to be very specific and detail exactly what needs to be done. There are many program languages out there and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
References
Computer Science Staff (2022, June 23). Computer programming languages. Computer Science.
Retrieved from: https://www.computerscience.org/resources/computer-programming-
languages/#python
Tozzi, C. (2022, June 14). 7 Hottest programming languages. ITPro Today. Retrieved from:
https://www.itprotoday.com/programming-languages/7-hottest-programming-
languages-2022
Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2019). Computing technology for all. zyBooks.
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