Programming Languages | Scratch

Through the use of Scratch, I was able to get my first real exposure to programming and gain some important understandings of the process and its fundamentals. Scratch is a graphical user interface programming language which uses blocks of codes that can be dragged and connected instead of typing in codes. My project was a simple one, where two cats would converse with the user and provide responses and move around. This exercise helped me grasp the fundamental of programming like loops, conditionals and events. The feedback was almost instant which made testing and debugging easier and thus I got a clearer picture of how the code is executed and how it is linked within the program.

 

The major thing that I was able to learn from this experience was that every process should be divided into parts or steps in order to make the solution of a problem easier. For instance, I broke down my scratch program into components such as movement, looping and questions. This is very essential in any programming language and is used to help break down large programs into different and distinct blocks of code. Furthermore, since Scratch has a drag and drop interface, there were no syntax errors to worry about thereby giving me a chance to focus on the logic and architecture of the code.

 

In comparison with the languages presented in Section 10.1 of the textbook – compiled, interpreted, assembly, and query languages – differences are noticeable. There are compiled languages, such as C or Java, which compile the source code into machine code before the execution of the code, which is a time-consuming process and makes the process of debugging complicated. Scratch however provides more immediate feedback through its graphical interface, which is useful in enabling beginners to try things out. Real time feedback is also provided by interpreted languages such as Python or JavaScript, but they are based on text which is quite complex. Assembly languages are much more complicated and are usually used in conjunction with hardware knowledge; Scratch, however, hides all these low-level details. At last, query languages, including SQL, are used for the purpose of communicating with databases and both Scratch and it are based on the concept of events.

 

Among all the languages discussed above, I think Scratch is the most convenient to use. This is because it is relatively easy to use and it is based on the graphical representation of the programs, so that a person does not have to learn the syntax of the language. For the new learners, Scratch is the perfect software that can be used to progress from basic to more complex levels.

 

Every programming language has its advantages and is applied in various situations. Compiled languages are used in systems software such as operating systems or games because they provide optimization. Interpreted languages are comprehensive in web development and scripting tasks. Assembly is most useful when one needs to work at the level of the hardware, while query languages are convenient for working with and modifying databases.




https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1145813295

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