Yes, I'm 20 now and got started with Scratch in middle school at 11/12 thanks to a teacher. I started taking a deeper interest after making a few games for my friends and classmates - it was really nice being able to take a project home and continue working on it :) Like dnsge, I'll also attribute my interest in programming to Scratch, and also thanks to a really great teacher who encouraged us to explore our ideas. Currently in university doing a computer science degree.
Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
41–50 of 54 posts
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#42I made games using the various Clickteam tools back in the early 2000s. They even had a flash competitor which I used to put games online.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#43I'm 20 now and got started programming with Scratch sometime before I was 10... don't remember exactly when. I completely attribute it to my interest in programming and is the reason I'm now in school completing a computer science degree. You can actually go into surprising depth with Scratch. For example, I wrote multiplayer game engines using cloud variables to store player position, chat, etc and let people play t…
I'm curious how you got started and got hooked? My son (7yo) likes 'Scratch Jr' (iPad app) but he's mainly using it like a drawing app. He likes to create characters and then animate them a bit. He's not using any of the more advanced features like making one character moved when bumped by another. I'd like to think he'd enjoy Scratch, but I'm not sure how to introduce it to him in a way that he might find interestin…
Truthfully, I can't remember what my first projects looked like. I started, I created projects using the downloadable Scratch 1.4 application and didn't begin uploading projects to the public website until I was (apparently) already doing complicated things.
Going back to look at my first uploaded project on my first account, I implemented a "programing language" [sic]: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10165000/ which is obviously not a beginner's project.
However, what I expect inspired me to create this project and keep creating was exploring the public projects that other users were uploading. For example, scrolling through my projects, I see several "Operating System" simulators that were inspired by others (operating systems were all the rage on Scratch).
Because you can "See Inside" every public Scratch project, it's easy to see something you like (e.g. a game, an animation) and make your own while heavily borrowing ideas and code from others. I was fortunate that my parents allowed me mostly-unrestricted access to a desktop computer where I was able to explore and create on my own.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#44Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
dnsge, would you be willing to help me carry out some research? Could you please explain in your own words, that is, without doing any searches, what a cloud variable is? I'm 40, and I started on Commodore Basic, but my son is 11, and he started on Scratch. I'm curious where this will go. :)
Sure: a cloud variable is like a normal variable, but its value is replicated to all people using the project. Perhaps important context for Scratch variables: all variables are global in Scratch. If person A uses the project and modifies the cloud variable, person B also using the project at the same time will see the new value update in real time. Related tidbit about cloud variables: When I was on Scratch, there w…
Thank you! I see now that "cloud variables" are a specific feature of Scratch projects.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#46I taught my daughter with Scratch back in 2018.
I have taught it at her school. Think it is miles ahead of how people learned in the past. Kids still get stuck on certain concepts.
For myself, it was basic programming on a green screen typing out line by line in the early 80s.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#47I have taught all my kids some programming using Scratch (then lua, python, C#, Janet, ...).
Scratch is great as a first introduction because it lets kids get something working almost immediately. From there, they mostly self-motivate.
One big issue I have is with Scratch's 'deliberate, because, pedagogy' limitations with the language.
I find there's a big gap to jump between just tinkering around with moving things around, playing sounds, very simple games (catch the falling apple etc), and getting into 'real' programming.
IMHO, as an example, the fact blocks cannot return values (functions are such a fundamental concept in programming) is inexcusable. And there are just so many hacks required to work around other features or lack-of-features. Eg, adding parameters to messages and maybe clones, would clear up whole areas that currently need complex hackery.
For the really motivated/talented, most of these limitations can be overcome, but they're an unnecessary barrier for everyone else, and kind of lead to a 'haves' and 'have-nots' split.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#48I have taught all my kids some programming using Scratch (then lua, python, C#, Janet, ...). Scratch is great as a first introduction because it lets kids get something working almost immediately. From there, they mostly self-motivate. One big issue I have is with Scratch's 'deliberate, because, pedagogy' limitations with the language. I find there's a big gap to jump between just tinkering around with moving things…
Maybe rpg maker? That's the one that hooked me, but i was 12
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#49I’m 18 now and I got started with Scratch when I was 8. It teaches you to think logically without requiring you to learn about editors, the command line, interpreters/compilers, syntax, libraries, or the file system. As an eight-year-old I understood some but not much of that. The ability to open Scratch and create 2d games or other programs is probably why I’m successful today.
I'm curious if you remember the first couple of things you saw in Scratch, or what made you think it was cool? I remember the first computer program I saw was something that printed 'hello' in a continuously-scrolling zig zag pattern on the screen. It was just two FOR loops in BASIC. Something like this: 10 REPEAT 20 FOR x = 1 TO 10 30 PRINT TAB(x,1);"hello" 60 NEXT x 70 FOR x = 10 TO 1 STEP -1 80 PRINT TAB(x,1);"hel…
I created a beach scene with a bunch of animals that would either say something or tween to another location on screen and back or both. One of the animals would ask what your name was and then repeat it back to you.
I don’t remember any programs I saw before I got started.
Re: Ask HN: Did any of you first encounter programming through Scratch?
#50I started out in Scratch thanks to my father installing it on our family computer for me when I was around 12. This lead to making clones of games like Frets on Fire and such. When I took up IT in high school they then also used it for the first two months.
I think it's a great way (especially for kids) to get into the thinking of building out logic and learning to abstract problems, etc.