Scratch and Python Comparison | Coding Classes for Kids

Block-based coding involves dragging-and-dropping “blocks” of code to form valid and meaningful instructions to bring about the desired outcomes ... About About MeettheTeam FAQ WhyUs WhyUs Compare Students'Achievements OurCurriculum CodingMastery(WeeklyClasses) On-Premise&OnlineLessonsAvailable ClassSchedule Pricing FreeProjects ContactUs WegetlotsofquestionsaroundthemeritsofusingScratchvs.goingstraightintoPython.AtCodeNinja,ourcurriculumhas5levelsofwhich,thefirst3focusonteachingthefundamentalsofcodingusingScratch,ablockbasecodinglanguage. ThisarticleoutlinesthebenefitsofstartingnewlearnersonblockbasedcodinglanguageslikeScratchtoacceleratetheirlearningjourneyandinterest.Pleasereachoutforquestions.Enjoy! Block-basecodingBlock-basedprogrammingenvironmentssuchasScratch,micro:bit,andLegoMindstorms&WeDohavebecomepopularasintroductorytoolsforlearningcoding.Block-basedcodingplatformsareverypopularamongchildrenages8to16,partlybecausetheyofferaprogramminglanguagethatislessintimidatingthanatext-basedlanguagesuchasJavascriptorPython. Block-basedcodinginvolvesdragging-and-dropping“blocks”ofcodetoformvalidandmeaningfulinstructionstobringaboutthedesiredoutcomes.Theseblocksdifferinshapeandcolourtoprovidecuesabouthowinstructionscanbeassembledandtodifferentiatebetweentypesofblocksandprogrammingconcepts.Theycanbelikenedtojigsawpuzzlesorlegoblocksthatcanbeassembledincertainrules-specificwaystocreateaprogram. AScratchblockthatgeneratesthefirst100Fibonaccinumbers. Viewfullsize APythoncodethatcalculatesthefirst100Fibonaccinumbers. Viewfullsize ObstaclesfacedbynewcodersItiswidelyacknowledgedthatprogrammingisdifficulttolearn.Newlearnersoftenhavedifficultyinbasicprogrammingtaskssuchaspredictingtheoutputofcode,identifyingthecorrectorderofcommands,andbreakingdownaseriesofinstructionstocarryoutatask. Manyofthesetasksarechallengingfornewlearnersbecause:thelearnersarerequiredtothinkaboutsolutionsinawaythatisnotnaturaltothem.towriteasimpleprogram,theyarerequiredtounderstandboththesyntaxandlogicofaprogramminglanguage. introductoryprogrammingtasksoftenfailtoconnectwiththeinterestsofstudentsandareperceivedtobe“boring”.   CodingSyntaxInprogramming,syntaxreferstotherulesthatspecifythecorrectcombinedsequenceofsymbolsandlettersthatallowsaprogramminglanguagetogiveinstructionstocomputers.Computers,beingtheinflexiblemachinesthattheyare,understandwhatyouwant,onlyifyoutypeitintheexactformthatthecomputerexpects.Thatformisthesyntax. Learningtoprogramwithatext-basedlanguagecanbequitefrustratingandrequiresalotofattentiontodetails.Programminglanguagesareveryunforgivingonsimplemistakes,andthereisanoverwhelmingamountofsyntaxthatcangowrong:opening/-closingbrackets,upper/lowercaseletters,semicolons,andalsospelling.Atinydotoraspacecharacter(orthelackofone)inthewrongplace,willcauseyourprogramtocompletelybreakdown.   MostEnglishspeakerscanlookpastafewsyntaxerrors,andcanenjoythepoetryofe.e.cummingswithoutproblems. “icarryyourheartwithme(icarryitinmyheart)iamneverwithoutit(anywhereigoyougo,mydear;andwhateverisdonebyonlymeisyourdoing,mydarling)                                                      ifearnofate(foryouaremyfate,mysweet)iwantnoworld(forbeautifulyouaremyworld,mytrue)andit’syouarewhateveramoonhasalwaysmeantandwhateverasunwillalwayssingisyou” —from“[icarryyourheartwithme(icarryitin]” Cummings'workisassociatedwithmodernistfree-formpoetrywithaparticularidiosyncrasyofsyntax.   Mosttext-basedprogramminglanguagesarenotsoforgiving.Ifthereisasinglesyntaxerroranywhereinyourprogram,youwillnotbeabletocompletetheexecutionofyourprogram.Youcanexpecttospendalotofyourcodingcareertrackingdownsyntaxerrors. Forexamplethereareatleastthreesyntaxerrorsinthecodeontheleft. Name=input("Whatisyourname?")age=input("Whatisyourage?")print"Hello,"+name+ "+age) name=input("Whatisyourname?")age=input("Whatisyourage?")print("Hello,"+forename+""+age)   Novicescanspendthefirstfewweeksorevenmonthshuntingdownastraysemicolonoradoublespace,insteadoffocusingonsolvingcomputationalproblemsanddevelopinghigherthinkingskills.Thisoftenresultsinlostinterestandtheconclusionthatcodingis“boring”.Amajoradvantageofblock-basedcodingenvironmentsistheeliminationofsyntaxerrors.Thedrag-and-dropinterfaceallowsforblocksofcodetobeplacedonthescreentoformsyntacticallycorrectprograms,withouttheuseoftyping.Iftwoblockscannotbejoinedtoproduceavalidstatement,thentheenvironmentpreventsthemfromsnappingtogether. Intheseways,block-basedprogrammingcanpreventsyntaxerrorswhilestillretainingthepracticeofdesigningprogramsbyassemblingstatementsone-by-one.Novicesareabletofocusonthecoreconceptsincomputersciencesuchasprogramcontrol,conditionalsandloops,withoutthefrustrationofcorrectingsyntaxerror.   LowerBarrierofEntryWritingaprograminsuchaBlock-basedcodingenvironmenttakestheformofdragging-and-droppingprogramminginstructionswhichsnapstogether.Scratchusesitsblock-likestructure,withdifferentcolourandshape,andasimplified“natural”languagetoprovidecuesaboutwhatblockscanbeconnectedtoformasyntacticallycorrectprogram.Forexample,blocksthatacceptBooleanvaluesarehexagonalshaped,whileblocksthatacceptnumericalvaluesareovalshaped.ControlstructuresareC-shapedtoindicatethatotherblockscanbeplacedinsideofthem.Thevisuallayoutallowsnovicestoseetheorderandflowofaprogramclearly. DifferentcoloursandshapeshelpdifferentiatethedifferenttypesofcodingblocksinScratch. SuchBlock-basedprogrammingenvironmentshavebeendesignedforchildrenasyoungasfiveyearsoldbutalthoughmostenvironmentsaredesignedforlearnersages8to16.    EncouragesexperimentationandcreativityScratchwasdesignedtocreatevideogamesandstories.Inshort,studentswillenjoymakingtheprojectsaswellasplayingthem.Userscanusetheirownimages,musicandvoicerecordings.Itisanetworked,media-richprogrammingenvironmentwhichfosterscreativeandpersonalisedprojects. Comparedtotext-basedcodingplatforms,wherenovicesarestuckwithmakingtext-basedprograms,becauseatthestart,theyarethemostachievabletypeofprogramstocreate.Itisusuallyreallyhardtocreateniceanimationsandgraphicsusingtext-basedlanguages.Insomecases,itrequiressomeadvancedmathematicalconcepts.Moreover,Scratchencouragesuserstobesocialbyallowinguserstosharetheirprojectswiththecommunityandbuildontheprojectsofothers.Theycanalsoreceivefeedbackandthanksontheirprojectsfromotherprogrammers.Thiscreatesadditionalmotivationtoworkonandcompleteaproject.   AdvantagesofBlock-basedlanguagesInsummary,thebenefitsofblock-basedcodingandwhyit’sagoodtoolfornewlearners: Lowfrustration–Withblock-basedcoding,there’salackofsyntaxerrorsthatcomewithtext-basedprogramming.Experimentationandlearning–thelowbarrierofblock-basedcodingmakesiteasyfornovicestoexperimentandtryoutuniquesolutions. Interest-Theenvironmentsencouragenoviceprogrammersbyallowingthemtocreatepersonalisedmedia-richgamesandprojectsthatarerelatedtotheirowninterests. Withallitscolourandblocks,itiseasytoassumethatScratchis“easy”andforkids.Thatcouldn'tbefurtherawayfromthetruth!Scratchcanbeusedtodoalotofreallyhardandreallycomplexprograms.Itisaveryrealprogramminglanguageandit’sagreatwaytogetafirmfoundationinprogrammingwithouthavingtoworryaboutdebuggingeverysinglelineofcode.Infact,it’showmanymajoruniversities,likeHarvardandBerkeley,teachcodingintheirIntrotoComputerScienceclasses.TLDR:WhyTopUniversitiesTeachDragandDropProgramming?     MingDe Author ResearchedandwrittenbyourinstructorMingDe.ContactustolearnhowScratchisusedtopromoteactivethinkinginhisZoomandin-personclassesforSingaporeandoverseasstudents.   MingDeYuen WhyTopUniversitiesTeachDragandDropProgramming? 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