Scratch
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#1 2010-03-16 12:02:28
Question about programming transition
Hello all. I have two questions, but one is primary. Since scratch is mostly used to help kids and beginners transition into the world of programming, I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best language to transition to after you've mastered Scratch. Do you feel there is a specific language that works most like Scratch that would be easiest to learn coming from this foundation?
My second question is: I'd like to begin with a pong game, playing two computers against each other. Is Scratch a powerful enough tool to do something like this, or should I be starting out with smaller projects? I have a very very basic "hello world!" background in programming, so I understand the concept but have never gotten past creating a few simple calculators by following guides, etc.
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#2 2010-03-16 12:09:08
Re: Question about programming transition
Scratch covers the most basic parts of all programming languages. So you could probably transition into any other language. Java, C/C++, Ruby, Python, Php are all good options for a language to get in to. If you want something that is most similar to scratch that would be flash (used for flash game sites) but you have to buy Adobe's expensive software.
Scratch is good at very simple graphical programs, pong is a good example of this. You could learn how to make such a game by looking at the code from other people's projects.
I find that a good way to learn programming is to learn all the little bits and work your way up. Once you learn something, make a program that focuses on that feature and learn to use it properly.
Hi, I am Archmage coder extraordinaire. I do Scratch,pascal,java,php,html, AS2 and AS3. Leave me a message if you want coding advice. Also check out my personal website, lots of good stuff about web development, Flash, and Scratch (v1 and v2) !
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#3 2010-03-16 16:25:03
- soupoftomato
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-18
- Posts: 1000+
Re: Question about programming transition
Welcome to Scratch!
Having two computers play each other in pong would require AI, and from a "Hello World!" background, would be hard to do.
I'm glad to think that the community will always be kind and helpful, the language will always be a fun and easy way to be introduced into programming, the motto will always be: Imagine, Program, Share - Nomolos
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#4 2010-03-16 16:49:58
- juststickman
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-05-31
- Posts: 1000+
Re: Question about programming transition
Hello world is a complicated thing to do...
Do you say hello world?
Do you make a variable that says hello world?
Do you make a variable CALLED hello world?
Meh, but your second question:
If you want to have two players on different computers play a pong game, you would need to use mesh, which involves quite a lot of variables (that ALL have to be global). If you just want 2 AI players, it's rather simple, depending on what kind of AI you want.
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#5 2010-03-17 13:30:30
- dominoespizza
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2010-02-28
- Posts: 10
Re: Question about programming transition
how do you put the things in variables that let you change the variable just by moving the dot side to sider
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#6 2010-03-17 13:31:33
- dominoespizza
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2010-02-28
- Posts: 10
Re: Question about programming transition
i mean side
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#7 2010-03-17 14:07:57
Re: Question about programming transition
Thank you all for your feedback. I actually created a program that allowed two pong paddles to hit a ball back and forth, but neither of them could possibly lose because they were both setting X to the ball sprite. 
I guess that's satisfactory for now, considering how little spare time I have to work on it.
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#8 2010-03-17 14:34:30
- midnightleopard
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2007-09-13
- Posts: 1000+
Re: Question about programming transition
axiomwolf wrote:
Hello all. I have two questions, but one is primary. Since scratch is mostly used to help kids and beginners transition into the world of programming, I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best language to transition to after you've mastered Scratch. Do you feel there is a specific language that works most like Scratch that would be easiest to learn coming from this foundation?
My second question is: I'd like to begin with a pong game, playing two computers against each other. Is Scratch a powerful enough tool to do something like this, or should I be starting out with smaller projects? I have a very very basic "hello world!" background in programming, so I understand the concept but have never gotten past creating a few simple calculators by following guides, etc.
You could use Mesh to create a player vs player pong game
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#9 2010-03-17 16:02:22
- Paddle2See
- Scratch Team
- Registered: 2007-10-27
- Posts: 1000+
Re: Question about programming transition
dominoespizza wrote:
how do you put the things in variables that let you change the variable just by moving the dot side to sider
Hi! Please make your own topic for your questions in the future. Look for the "Post new topic" in the upper right area of the main screen for a forum.
To change a variable to a slider, try right clicking on the variable display. It should give you the option to switch it to a slider. On a Mac, it's option-click, I believe.
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#10 2010-03-17 16:18:35
- juststickman
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-05-31
- Posts: 1000+
Re: Question about programming transition
Paddle2See wrote:
On a Mac, it's option-click, I believe.
There is a right click function on the mac, but you need a mouse.
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