5 ms·

Not to nitpick, but why does the coding language jump from Scratch to C++ ? Wouldn't kids find Python less infuriating that Scratch and less intimidating than

Not to nitpick, but why does the coding language jump from Scratch to C++ ? Wouldn't kids find Python less infuriating that Scratch and less intimidating than C++ ?

neatze 5y ago
seems like scratch more efficient in teaching basic concept of programming like while loops, control statements without learning specific language syntax, in addition to, scratch arguably is more visual and interactive.
- daveguy 5y ago
  I am tutoring my son in law and we started with Scratch following cs50. It was thankfully (to me) only 1 lesson before jumping to C. Do you have references for Scratch being more efficient in teaching basic concepts? Or just intuitive because no syntax (which very well may be true)? Scratch is slower interaction for me just because I have muscle memory for text/ide/command-line, but I can see how Scratch would be a lot faster with novices given the pervasive threads and click-to-run.
  - neatze 5y ago
    It's just my subjective assumption, I meant using scratch only in context of beginners with 0 experience in programming/IT.
TaylorAlexander 5y ago
Maybe related to the use of Arduino?
- M-0xFF 5y ago
  C++ is used heavily for robotics (particularly ROS), so I can see why they would need it, but yeah that's steep.
sp332 5y ago
I'm guessing it's a particular subset of C++ that's idiomatic to some ecosystem built around a small selection of robotics libraries.
altantiprocrast 5y ago
I can only speak for Vex V5 (one of the systems they teach) and VRC, but from a competition and user standpoint: Scratch is used when coding isn't a focus, and mechanical engineering students just want to 'get the job done'. C++ is used because it's probably the most 'pro' language. Close to bare metal unlike Python, but object oriented and stuff unlike C. C++ is used pretty much any time complex algorithms, threading, etc. are involved during competition. Recently Vex has been trialing Python in Vexcode, but it's relatively new so they might not have built courses for it yet, if the even plan to.
mettamage 5y ago
Maybe it's me, but I've noticed that C++ isn't that intimidating at all. It has its intimidating things for sure, but I feel C is much more intimidating. The reason for that is that modern C++ has quite a few features. So in certain cases that means that you don't have to program things in a cumbersome way. I always felt like that with C.

Not to nitpick, but why does the coding language jump from Scratch to C++ ? Wouldn't kids find Python less infuriating that Scratch and less intimidating than C++ ?

neatze 5y ago

seems like scratch more efficient in teaching basic concept of programming like while loops, control statements without learning specific language syntax, in addition to, scratch arguably is more visual and interactive.

daveguy 5y ago
I am tutoring my son in law and we started with Scratch following cs50. It was thankfully (to me) only 1 lesson before jumping to C. Do you have references for Scratch being more efficient in teaching basic concepts? Or just intuitive because no syntax (which very well may be true)? Scratch is slower interaction for me just because I have muscle memory for text/ide/command-line, but I can see how Scratch would be a lot faster with novices given the pervasive threads and click-to-run.
- neatze 5y ago
  It's just my subjective assumption, I meant using scratch only in context of beginners with 0 experience in programming/IT.

TaylorAlexander 5y ago

Maybe related to the use of Arduino?

M-0xFF 5y ago
C++ is used heavily for robotics (particularly ROS), so I can see why they would need it, but yeah that's steep.

sp332 5y ago

I'm guessing it's a particular subset of C++ that's idiomatic to some ecosystem built around a small selection of robotics libraries.

altantiprocrast 5y ago

I can only speak for Vex V5 (one of the systems they teach) and VRC, but from a competition and user standpoint: Scratch is used when coding isn't a focus, and mechanical engineering students just want to 'get the job done'. C++ is used because it's probably the most 'pro' language. Close to bare metal unlike Python, but object oriented and stuff unlike C. C++ is used pretty much any time complex algorithms, threading, etc. are involved during competition. Recently Vex has been trialing Python in Vexcode, but it's relatively new so they might not have built courses for it yet, if the even plan to.

mettamage 5y ago

Maybe it's me, but I've noticed that C++ isn't that intimidating at all. It has its intimidating things for sure, but I feel C is much more intimidating. The reason for that is that modern C++ has quite a few features. So in certain cases that means that you don't have to program things in a cumbersome way. I always felt like that with C.