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Post # 1 - Programming Languages!

 Link to my scratch program! 

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/782382332/

Describe your experience building a program using Scratch.

When I first read this assignment, I was completely lost. I went to the scratch website and felt even more confused until I started to navigate around. I then started to realize I was overthinking the entire assignment. Scratch ended up being an extremely easy program to utilize. The click and drop feature is beyond user friendly and then being able to see your work as you go along makes it even easier to make adjustments. The video tutorial helped me understand the program even further.

Identify the difficulties that you encountered in Scratch.

I honestly did not experience any difficulty when I went into the website and watched the video tutorial. Once I watched the tutorial, I was able to navigate and build my program with ease.

Explain how you overcame the difficulties.

When I was unsure what a block did, I would add it to the series. I would then see what the result was to get an understanding. This allowed me to decide if I wanted this block in my program or not.

Describe the insights that you gained about programming from this exercise.

I never realized there are such simple programming systems out there that does a lot of the work for you. I always thought of programming as something that was complicated. I now know there are software’s out there that even someone who doesn’t understand programming can utilize.

Compare your experience programming in Scratch with the participation activities in Sections 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, and 2.11 of the textbook that explored machine language, assembly language, and high-level languages, such as Python.

The textbook provides a more indepth teaching on how the computer works. It explains how the hardware and software work to provide what the program populates. The textbook explains how a CPU runs the programs so without a CPU a program would be unable to process from what I have understood so far. Scratch is a simple program that runs step by step to display what you created.

Describe the differences between the programming languages.

Programming languages are a type of on and off switch. Different CPUs can understand different variables of programming languages. One example in the textbook is a CPU that understands input, output, add and stop but there are other CPUs that understand even more.

Identify which language you found easiest to use.

I think that Scratch was beyond easy to use. There is not a ton of thought process behind this program because you attach the block in order of how you want them to perform. My 13-year-old daughter would be able to create a program with Scratch which shows how easy it is to use.

Describe scenarios where each type of programming language would be most effective.

Machine language would best be used for more simpler needs. This language was utilized in the beginning of programming to connect phone calls. It is a simple input and output.

Assembly language would be a good language to use for a beginning programmer. Since it is easy for the user to read it would be a good intro program to learn.

High-level language is a more complex system to utilize for programs that require a lot of features. I think of company systems that would utilize this type of language and would require a more advanced programmer to utilize this.

Explain which programming language you think is the most popular and why.

I think High-Level language is more popular because it has much more functionality and capabilities for the users. I know my employer uses this type of language daily for the programs we utilize.

References

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


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