Scratch is a unique interactive product that allows you to learn the basics of programming from scratch, making this process extremely fascinating. All the tools of the program are intuitive and very entertaining: originally the target audience of the environment was supposed to be school-aged children, but Scratch is ideal for starting anyone who dreams of mastering programming. Working with the application will give an idea about multithreaded and object-oriented programming.
Features of Scratch
The main constitutive element of Scratch is a sprite: an object combining the graphical component (or, a suit which can be changed in a special editor) and a script-scenario. The sprite is placed on a special field-scene, and all its actions are set, using the blocks placed on the palette.
The following groups of blocks are available to the user:
- motion: for controlling the sprite's movement;
- appearance: to change the exterior of the sprite;
- sound: to add audio effects;
- Pen: for implementing "turtle graphics";
- events: to describe an object's actions;
- controls: for creating control structures and event handlers;
- sensors: for interfacing with input devices;
- operations: to implement arithmetic and logical operations;
- variables: provide the possibility to work with lists and variables.
It is possible to directly edit the code if the capabilities provided by the standard objects of the package are not enough for the user.
Advantages of
Scratch allows getting a functional and multimedia bright result even for beginners, while advanced users will get a chance to hone their skills and enrich their product with interesting solutions. The program is still evolving, constantly improving its functionality.
