Programming Languages

Greetings Broders!

Utilizing Scratch to create my adventure story titled A Path to Knighthood was a fun and creative way to be introduced to computer programming. The pre-built templates quickly incorporated standard functions such as character dialogue, moving characters around the screen, and music. What was most enjoyable was the flexibility to change scenes and introduce new characters to the story. I didn't have to have every character in every scene. However, there were a few encountered challenges that made programming challenging. I was looking for a way for the characters to ask the reader's name and address the reader directly when decisions needed to be made to progress the story. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to program that function and did not proceed with that idea. Another challenge was trying to add a new sprite. When I went to add a spirit, all of my previous programming disappeared, and I thought everything had been deleted. After further investigation by clicking around the page, I discovered that each sprite had its own programming page. Once I clicked back on the original spirit (the centaur), all previous programming was still intact. One attribute I liked about the site was that there needed to be a complete description of how to use each pre-built template. For example, all templates are under the "Operators" tab. I needed to figure out how to incorporate or use those templates.

The insights I gained about programming were that you have to program every detail, the slightest mistake can change everything you've previously programmed, and it's more complicated than it looks. When it comes to programming, there is nothing that can be implied. Programmers must input every single detail, no matter how big or small. For example, just to have the centaur move from one pose to another, I had to do multiple lines of programming to ensure he changed positions and returned to his original pose for the next scene. Programming is very time-consuming and meticulous. One mistake can void all previous work. The first time I tried to add music, the music worked, but all other movements and dialogue did not because they separated. Programming is much more complicated, even with the pre-built templates on Scratch, than I realized. 

Compared to the participation activities in Chapter 2, Scratch was an easier program to use. In Chapter 2, the activities included configuring machine instructions, converting high-level language into assembly language, and coding in python (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). Some high-level programming languages include C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python. C Language "is designed to encourage cross-platform programming and is available on many platforms" (Shaleynikov, 2022). C++ Language is "compiled, imperative, and program-oriented and allows low-level memory manipulation" (Shaleynikov, 2022). Java Language "is object-oriented and class-based and follows the "WORA" principle: write once, run anywhere" (Shaleynikov, 2022). Javascript Language "is an object-based and dynamic language and is one of the core technologies of WWW content production" (Shaleynikov, 2022). It is the most popular programming language. Python Language is a "general-purpose language that emphasizes code readability and enables developers to use fewer lines of code" (Shaleynikov, 2022). Python is the easiest programming language to learn because of the fewer lines of code and because it is so widely available. 

Happy Coding!

Lotus 

References

Shaleynikov, A. (2022, December 31). Top 10 Programming Languages in 2017. dzone.com. https://dzone.com/articles/top-10-programming-languages-in-2017. 

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