Program Building and Language

 

Programming language covered in Chapter 2 explained the language a computer understands and converts into language humans can understand. “A CPU only understands 0’s and 1’s instructions.” (Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. 2019). Building a program with Scratch consisted of using drag-and-drop blocks to run instructions. The program instructions in Scratch clearly outlined the outcome of each block but it was not without its challenges.

            I created a small Halloween themed story, https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/734594804. Overall, I enjoyed the experience very much. I thought the process was a lot smoother than the participation activities in 2.8, 2.9, 2.10 and 2.11. The drag-and-drop boxes in Scratch allowed me to really imagine what my Sprite’s next move would be and what I would want to happen next. After reviewing a few tutorials, I realized Scratch had an enormous number of capabilities, but you really had to devote time to a conceptualize the entire program. Scratch was fun, but I had moments of frustration.  I was thinking about the next move and had to really slow down to get the full effect of the program. There was more to the program then just instructions. I had to queue up timing and think about when I wanted something to happen as much as what I wanted to happen. Unfortunately, as interested in Scratch as I was, I did not have the same luck with the participation activities in Chapter 2.

 I was having so much difficulty with the 0’s and 1’s language and I wasn’t sure what the expected outcome was supposed to be. Scratch outlined the expectation clearly and the outcome of each box was presented to you beforehand. With the 0’s and 1’s activity, I couldn’t have been more confused. Things were starting to make sense in Chapter 2.11 A brief introduction to Python”. Undoubtedly the most popular programing language. I felt this language was easier to follow since the input and output were instruction that was easily understood but I have a few ways to go before being able to run a program in Python. There is still so much I don’t know about it, only that it was easier than the Assembly Language.

In conclusion, with different programming languages available, I believe Python would be the most popular. The main reason being that the program language is readable. Scratch was enjoyable and easy to work with for that reason as well. It was readable and it gave me an expectation of how my program would run in its entirety with the proper instructions. Python gives the user that same visibility and with its ease of use, would most likely be the most popular programming language.

References

Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2019). Computing technology for all. zyBooks.

 https://scratch.mit.edu/