Python and Scratch: A Reflection on Programming Languages

My experience building a Scratch program was actually very fun; I enjoyed it immensely. I created a simple conversational program to begin my education in coding. Although very simple, I am glad to share it because it marks the beginning of my programming journey. The difficulties I encountered in Scratch were: not knowing what each code does exactly and not knowing how to find a specific code I wanted to use. I overcame these difficulties by trial and error, using Scratch tutorials, the Scratch help page, and searching on google. All of these were very helpful, and they can help me master Scratch with time. The insights I have gained about programming from this exercise are that even the smallest commands take a lot of code, and you must run your program constantly to catch bugs. Waiting too long to run your code makes it harder to find the bug. In comparing my experience programming in Scratch with the participation activities in Sections 2.8-11 of the textbook (which explored machine language, assembly language, and high-level languages such as Python) (Vahid & Lysecky, 2017), I found that Scratch is straightforward in comparison, which goes to show the importance of varying levels of assembly language. I wish I had learned through Scratch as a young girl and advanced my education early on. The apparent difference between Python and Scratch is that Python still requires knowing exactly how to format the code, whereas Scratch is a simple drag and drop format. Obviously, Scratch is the language I found easiest to use, but Python will become much easier for me to navigate with time. When creating graphics, Scratch seems the most efficient and simplest. However, it would be better to use Python when creating more complex programs. Python is probably the programming language that is the most popular because its uses are more varied and are therefore more useful to advanced programmers. I hope you enjoyed my journey with Python and Scratch. Please check out my beginner’s conversational program, Tailsy and Beau Go Swimming (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/671236198/).

 

References

Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2017). Computing technology for all. zybooks.zyante.com/