Jellyfish Bubbletime, Coding with Scratch and Comparison to Other Programming Languages.

When creating the Scratch game “Jellyfish Bubbletime”, there was a lot to learn. Please see the game created with Scratch at this website: Jellyfish Bubbletime.  It was interesting to see the way other people worked out the coding. I watched a video that that a child made, and based my game off of his work (Kids Coding Playground, 2020). It really made me think that if he can do this, I should be able to also put something together. I will explain the game, the difficulties, the insights, compare Scratch to other programming languages by describing the differences and comparing levels of difficulty, as well as describe which programming language is the most popular and why.

“Jellyfish Bubbletime” is a simple shooter game created in Scratch. It uses blocks of coding that can be dragged and dropped to create starts, stops, if then statements, sounds, and motion. Scratch made the coding so simple to use, and the possibilities are endless. There were backgrounds and sprites to choose from. I created the game rather quickly considering I have never tried to do something like this before. I wanted to create 2 different objects that could be shot at. I created bubbles for 100 points, while the hearts come to the screen less often, for 1000 points. I changed the speed around a little bit to see if slower would be better. I ended right back where I started, a level that seemed slightly challenging, but could be completed.

I had an issue with difficulty when I realized that my air was shooting straight through the middle of the screen, when it was supposed to follow the jellyfish. The spacebar would enable the shooting, but it only went right from the center of the left side of the screen, so while the jellyfish moved, the air shooting was stationary. I went through the coding on the air shooter and found that I had the correct x position, but the y position was not on jellyfish. Once I fixed this, it started to work.

This gave me some insight into the coding. I needed to be extremely careful with each block. It is important to double check every piece put down. It is also important to ensure that each part of the block is exactly right.  This program makes things simple, as does some of the other best programming languages.

When doing the interactive participation sections in the book, I found that manipulating the codes and testing it was the best way to see if it worked. Machine language is so impressive since someone even dreamed up the idea to program the central processing unit (CPU). Although it seems primitive now, it creates potential for further programming opportunities. I was able to use the binary coding to add 2 numbers and show on the output screen. Assembly language did the same thing but was more readable to humans. After this, the activities showed codes for high level languages such as C, C++, and Python. This was more complicated in the way that coding represented more possibilities. For example, input for assembly language was “01 101 000 000”. Using a compiler, the high-level language lets formulas be translated. Input was “x = input ()”. This allows programmers to program more efficiently (Vahid, 2017).

Comparing this to Scratch, it was similar in process. Put codes together to create outputs. It was quite different because the codes were laid out in Scratch in blocks, that must be dragged and dropped. Scratch also has libraries of backgrounds, sounds, and sprites to choose from. The interactive activities from the book showed simple inputs and outputs to display on the screen. The Scratch website allowed me to create an entire game. This is possible to do with the high-level languages but will most likely be more time consuming to learn. I imagine the high-level programming languages, however, would allow for more freedom (Vahid, 2017). Anything a programmer can dream up, can be made with the one high programming languages.

I found Scratch to be the easiest to use for now. It did look like this website was made for children to learn how to make simple animations and games. The cool thing about Scratch, is that is allows the user to get as complicated with the coding as they desire. If a person were to spend months, I am sure they could create extremely complex games. I think that if anyone were to spend a long amount of time learning any high-level programming langue it would become easier as time went on.

Scratch is a great tool to learn the basics of building codes with” if, then” statements. It offers the opportunity for someone that has never coded to create a straightforward game or animation. I am doubtful that most programmers would try to create complex social networks with Scratch.   If a person was attempting to create a complex application such as “Instagram” or “Pinterest”, then a high-level programming language such as python, C, or C++ would be the way to go.

C is the most popular programming language according to TIOBE (TIOBE Index for October 2020, n.d.).  The reason that it is so widely used, is that a lot of software is written in C already. For example, Microsoft, Windows, Mac, and Mobile are all written in C.  It is widespread through databases, including Oracle Database, MySQL, and many more. These databases are utilized by most types of businesses including banks, media, government, and many more (Munoz, n.d.). The reason C is so widely used is that it is flexible and easily controlled. Because so many strong bases of code were written in C, it is makes sense to build on top of this strong infrastructure, and that is what programmers have done.

Scratch took the codes and lets programmers build their own projects. This assignment was one of the best I have ever had to complete. I learned so much, and it was interesting to learn how to code a simple game. I have explained the game, the difficulties, the insights, compared Scratch to other programming languages by describing the differences and comparing levels of difficulty, as well as described which programming language is the most popular and why.

References

Kids Coding Playground. (2020, May 29). Scratch Tutorial | Rock Blaster | Easy Beginner. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fqv4LNGOIA&t=419s

Munoz, D. (n.d.). After All These Years, the World is Still Powered by C Programming. Retrieved from Toptal: https://www.toptal.com/c/after-all-these-years-the-world-is-still-powered-by-c-programming

TIOBE Index for October 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from TIOBE: https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index//

Vahid, F. &. (2017). Computing technology for all. Retrieved from zybooks.zyante.com/