Scratch

Hi Simon,

the MIT-Squeak version running under a current Squeak VM (3.9) works fine for me (I did get an error using a 3.10 version). You can also open the dev-image using a copy of the Scratch.exe (which I personally prefer). Which error did you get?

Besides the Squeak vm (or the Scratch.exe) you also need a v2 Squeak sources file. Download that from: http://ftp.squeak.org/2.0/SqueakV2.sources.gz , uncompress it and put it into the same directory as your vm.

BTW, you can unzip the .gz from within Squeak (or Scratch for that matter). Just open Squeak, open a file list, select the .gz file and choose 'decompress to file'. Now you should be all set to go!

Last edited by Jens (2008-01-02 07:18:14)

Hi Simon,

now the url for the squeakV2.sources should work. You can also get it via the squeak.org site.

I prefer the Scratch.exe (or app if you're using a mac) simply because you already have it and don't need to download it again. Plus, it already has the Scratch-Plugin for the graphic effects in presentation mode in it, so it's sort of 'custom tailored' for Scratch.

SimpleScratch wrote:

Got it opening now with no errors - thanks 
Have you worked out how to add a block yet?

Check out this project:

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Jens/75626

Here, Jens teaches the community how to work with the Scratch source code, by adding a new block to the set of blocks available. It's very nicely done and instructive...

Thanks Jens!
- Evelyn

Now that we will be able to edit scratch code and such, will we be able to 'share' our user-created blocks/enhancements? Will the Scratch team hold contests for adding user-submitted blocks? Or will we have to keep the blocks to ourselves?

Also, it would be even cooler if the Scratch team also posted an easy to use block editor so we could make our own blocks, share them, and edit them.

Most advanced Scratch users have no want or time to make their own version of Scratch- they'd probably just use the code to make blocks. (at least I would- forgive me if I am wrong)

The file format of the Scratch Source Code version is the same as in the Scratch product. So you can make your own Scratch-variant using the source code and create a perfectly compatible Scratch-project in it. If you want to upload such a project to the website, you'll need to use the real Scratch product, though, because the source code release doesn't have the code for sharing projects online (which IMO is a very sensible decision).

That way you can e.g. write your own Scratch-IDE tools (like I've done an XML file utility), and apply these to your Scratch projects (for example to trace broadcasts or variables, or to automatically generate certain blocks sequences for music), without breaking their compatibility. If you create your own blocks, however, these will - of course - not be supported by the online player, and shown as red blocks labelled 'obsolete' in Scratch. So you should indeed not upload such projects.

Hi, all.

While we want to allow experimentation with the Scratch source code, we want to be careful to have a well-defined "standard" Scratch so that people will be able to easily share Scratch projects on this website and they will work in the Java player and, when downloaded, in the standard version of Scratch. We don't want there to be dozens of incompatible extensions of Scratch, which would make project sharing difficult or impossible.

The terms of the license are intended to prevent confusion between the standard, MIT version of Scratch and experimental versions. It's fine for Scratch hackers to share experimental versions and extension code with each other; that's what a healthy research community does, and it's a great way to explore new ideas. But my hope is that we can all work together to maintain a clear distiction between the research community and the Scratch user community.

  -- John

How do I open up the Scratch source code in squeak?

For those wondering how to open the Scratch source code image in Squeak:

Note: You'll need to know or learn at least a little bit about Squeak and Smalltalk-80 to make any sense out of the Scratch source code. Most Scratch programmers probably won't care to learn Squeak--and that's totally fine! We created Scratch so people could learn to program without becoming professional programmers. But some professional programmers asked about the Scratch source code, so we made it available.

But, to answer the question...

First, download and unpack the Scratch source code--a folder containing Squeak .image and .changes files. Second, download Scratch if you don't already have it. Put a copy of the Scratch application (Scratch.exe or Scratch.app) in your Scratch source code folder. Next, download:

  http://ftp.squeak.org/2.0/SqueakV2.sources.gz

Uncompress SqueakV2.sources and put that, too, in your Scratch source code folder. Finally, drop the file ScratchSourceCode1.2.1.image onto the Scratch application in your Scratch source code folder. The Squeak programming environment will start up and you'll be able to start exploring the Scratch source code.

You might also look at the excellent tutorial Jens created:

  http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Jens/75626

  -- John

Thank you for your help, I had just figured it out last night. I had already downloaded "Squeak", and I may only be a kid, but I did learn a lot about it. My ambition is to go to MIT when I go up (and to become a programmer). Do you think smalltalk will be a good language for me to start with to learn and work my way up to more advanced programing?

I agree with John that Scratch is a great first language, and that Java is a good choice for a second language.  I learned many programming languages when I first started programming, some of which have turned out to be of lasting usefulness, others of which have disappeared.  Each taught me somewhat different ways to approach programming, so I encourage new programmers to learn one language very thoroughly and several others at least superficially.  Currently, the most popular teaching language in universities is java, but there is a lot to learn from lisp, smalltalk, and assembly languages.  Most of my real programming is done in C++, but I also have to teach and do a lot with perl. 

Quite frankly, perl should *not* be among the first languages you learn, as it is an ugly language that will teach you to write sloppy, hard-to-maintain code.  You need it if you are going to do bioinformatics, because so much of the existing "glue" between programs is done in perl, but it is not a good language in a lot of ways.

C++ is a good language for writing fairly efficient code (usually about twice as fast as java for the same programming effort), but it is not as cleanly designed as java, as c++ evolved slowly out of C, while java was created from the beginning with c++ as an existing model of what to do and not to do.  I recommend c++ as a language for professional programmers who care about speed (bioinformaticians and game engine builders, for example), but suggest learning it after learning java.

but guys how do i get the code into scratch??

Last edited by Sidharth (2008-01-15 23:06:43)

posted this on the feature list but seeing as its being discussed here will add here
(love scratch; i wonder if it might be a better Squeak image to go on the OLPC than e-toys?)

anyway, i think it might be nice if one could see a more syntax orientated description of the code blocks

ie be able to switch views between the blocks -which would remain the main approach - and a more language orientated code view of some sort

i guess thats happening at some level - the meaning of the blocks gets translated into smalltalk - but i would think showing accurate smalltalk is maybe too heavy?

yet i think it might help kids transition in into other langauges if they could see a language orientated translation of the blocks, when they are ready 

i guess you could offer various BASIC (i know smalltalk purists probably hate BASIC), or Java like, or other langauge, translations 

(Jens' Chirp version, with the export script to XML option, sort of suggests the code view is possible)

important that this be editable i think - so the blocks and the language code/view would reflect each other

ie a little like the source / design view of web authoring

Alice offers a hybrid code / language view - maybe thats a thought - but i'd suggest a sort of alternate view / way to edit script

for kids ready to move on, it could add some more 'height'

also, after a while, might be a more succint and efficient way to handle scripts -
the blocks would offer a constant learning environment (and safety net) for the language constructs as well

also, option to resize the script window - why constrain the view if its a "visual programming" approach?