Programming Languages

Programming Languages

I was given the opportunity to use the website scratch.mit.edu to create a program.  This website gave me a chance to explore the logic of computational thinking with a simple drag-and-drop, block programming language.  I created a short program which has a group of kids interacting at a local basketball court.  While using the website I found some difficulty with the layout.  When I first started developing my program, I did not understand what everything did and how to combine the blocks.  I was able to use the tutorial option to understand the basics of creating the program.  When I began wanting to add characters to my animation, I search the available characters and did not find the characters that I imagined but was able to use the available characters to my advantage as I learned what actions I could do with them.  The browser was a small interface to use, but I was able to find the shrink and expand function to help me see all my actions as I completed them.  

While completing this assignment and using Scratch, I was able to understand how in computer programs, with every input there is an output.  When I added blocks of code such as “when this sprite clicked”, I could add an output action such as “speak hello”.  I was also able to see how many different things a computer program can do, with a collection of statement and inputs and outputs given to the program.  I could see how through programming; computer programs will do only what you tell them to do and being specific is important. 

            As I used Scratch, I could further understand the participation activities 2.8-2.11 and how machine language works.  When connecting my blocks of code in Scratch, I could see how a CPU takes instructions such as input, add, output and stop.  When I added a block of code with an input from the user, it would present an output.  The 0’s and 1’s would not be visible while using scratch because assembly language which is human readable would be converted to machine language runnable by the CPU.  When using Scratch there are options to add premade code-blocks to your code and set them together to make the animation complete actions.  Using a high-level programming language makes this possible because it automatically converts to assembly/machine language before being run (Vahid & Lysecky, 2017).  This was visible while using Scratch because I was able to see that I needed to tell the program to run by pressing the green flag before it ran.  In the participation activity, it was easy for me to see how assembly language would be more useful for hardware manipulation and processor instruction.  The difficulty of a human needing to use machine language with 0’s and 1’s to make a program do what they want it to do can be difficult. Being able to use high-level programming languages such as C++, JavaScript, and Python, programmers can use their program across any type of computer.  High-level programming languages are closer to human languages and further from machine languages (Beal). 

            I found that using high-level programming language such as Python to be easiest.  Being able to type in my own variable names to specify what the variable would mean, makes it easier to understand.  Using multiplication and addition and actual names of variables, makes forming my simpler.  When using assembly language programming, there was more code to write, making for a longer time period it would take to write code.   It would be effective to use assembly programming language with code that must interact directly with hardware such as device drivers, it is also useful for developing new operating system.  High-level programming can be used with many tasks but specifically with building web application and making websites which have many different interactions with users. 

            High-Level programming languages such as Python are most popular because of the readability of the code.  It is popular because programmers can be very creative with their code and being able to put their own spin on the code, makes it more useful. 

            Using Scratch can be a good way for beginners to learn how programming languages work and how code is blocked together to form interaction on screen.  There are many different programming languages that can be used to make a computer do what you would like it to do.  Using high-level programming languages are the present and future of programming for the reason of easier usability and many different options of manipulating computer programs.