There is some degree of overlap between the two. In Scratch, for example, all yellow bricks generally denote control-flow, while green blocks denote arithmetic expressions. Each of them uses shape, color, connectors, etc.

Conceptual Scaffolds - Blockly, Scratch, Snap! and AppInventor are good examples of these kinds of languages.

In these languages, the block shape is designed to hint at the physical shape of the equivalent text expression.

Syntactic Scaffolds - Block languages made with PencilCode are good examples of this.Block languages tend to fall into one of two categories, depending on how they use their limited-but-powerful set of visual cues: In 2015 we authored a paper on some of these lessons.īlock Languages have long been considered an ideal way to introduce novice programmers to programming constructs. We learned a great deal building those prototypes, and we learned a lot more working alongside to build, ship and then train teachers with a block language. We've built multiple block environments along the way, starting with one of the first web-based block environments ever in 2008, a Blockly implementation in 2012, and then a yearlong partnership with in which we co-developed a block language that would allow them to adapt Bootstrap to their own CS in Algebra curriculum.Īt Bootstrap, we don't do anything without thinking it through. The truth is, we love visual scaffolds, and have been thinking about visual syntax for more than a decade! In fact, we developed the Circles of Evaluation back in 2005 (two years before Scratch was released), as a visual syntax for thinking about Order of Operations, Function Composition, and Racket syntax. For years, people have asked us why we don't use blocks. You Bootstrap guys should really use blocks. Building a Block Language: Getting Started

Block bootstrap builder