What do you think?
Rate this book
Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Games, Art, Science, and Math
Scratch is a fun, free, beginner-friendly programming environment where you connect blocks of code to build programs. While most famously used to introduce kids to programming, Scratch can make computer science approachable for people of any age. Rather than type countless lines of code in a cryptic programming language, why not use colorful command blocks and cartoon sprites to create powerful scripts?In Learn to Program with Scratch, author Majed Marji uses Scratch to explain the concepts essential to solving real-world programming problems. The labeled, color-coded blocks plainly show each logical step in a given script, and with a single click, you can even test any part of your script to check your logic. YouOCOll learn how to: OCo Harness the power of repeat loops and recursionOCo Use if/else statements and logical operators to make decisionsOCo Store data in variables and lists to use later in your programOCo Read, store, and manipulate user inputOCo Implement key computer science algorithms like a linear search and bubble sortHands-on projects will challenge you to create an OhmOCOs law simulator, draw intricate patterns, program sprites to mimic line-following robots, create arcade-style games, and more! Each chapter is packed with detailed explanations, annotated illustrations, guided examples, lots of color, and plenty of exercises to help the lessons stick. Learn to Program with Scratch is the perfect place to start your computer science journey, painlessly."
290 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2014
58 people are currently reading
374 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 15, 2014
I've taught Scratch programming to 9 to 13 year-olds for a Saturday morning programming class for two years, and have written three programming books for young adults. As far as I’m concerned, Scratch is the only educational tool that teaches programming in a direct but still fun way. And “Learn to Program with Scratch” is the best book I've found on the market to learn Scratch.
The book covers a wide amount of ground while presenting fun projects for the reader to follow along with. Like a musical instrument, Scratch is very much a “hands on” tool that you learn through practice, and this book is a well-versed guide. There’re plenty of web tutorials and videos that teach Scratch piecemeal, but this is THE manual that Scratch has been needing for a while. At 250 pages, it is thorough while still being a light-read; it’s easy to just jump into any chapter and follow along.
The one downside is that this book is probably best for teenagers and may be too verbose for kids around 10 or younger. But it makes an excellent book for parents or teachers to read through with their child (and a great way to introduce adults to Scratch programming as well). Otherwise, younger readers might like No Starch Press’s other Scratch book, “Super Scratch Adventures” which is not as thorough but is a gentler introduction to Scratch programming.
I highly recommend this book for schoolchildren to learn programming from.
Full disclosure, I am currently writing a Python programming book for adults for No Starch Press.
The book covers a wide amount of ground while presenting fun projects for the reader to follow along with. Like a musical instrument, Scratch is very much a “hands on” tool that you learn through practice, and this book is a well-versed guide. There’re plenty of web tutorials and videos that teach Scratch piecemeal, but this is THE manual that Scratch has been needing for a while. At 250 pages, it is thorough while still being a light-read; it’s easy to just jump into any chapter and follow along.
The one downside is that this book is probably best for teenagers and may be too verbose for kids around 10 or younger. But it makes an excellent book for parents or teachers to read through with their child (and a great way to introduce adults to Scratch programming as well). Otherwise, younger readers might like No Starch Press’s other Scratch book, “Super Scratch Adventures” which is not as thorough but is a gentler introduction to Scratch programming.
I highly recommend this book for schoolchildren to learn programming from.
Full disclosure, I am currently writing a Python programming book for adults for No Starch Press.
December 26, 2019
Learn kids to program. Learn yourself to program. Simple games. Graphical. Blocks.
From leading engineer at General Motors. Good introduction to basic algorithms and data structures.
Learn to program and solve drawing and logical problems, animations and games.
Good basic introduction to structural and procedural programming, objects (sprites and scenes) and events and messaging.
Projects can be published online and using cloud shared variables.
Personally I'm interested in Scratch as a descendant of old tools for learning kids programming such as Turtle environment with Logo language. I used them when I was Computer Science teacher at secondary school around 1994 - 1998.
Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Art, Science, Math and Games
From leading engineer at General Motors. Good introduction to basic algorithms and data structures.
Learn to program and solve drawing and logical problems, animations and games.
Good basic introduction to structural and procedural programming, objects (sprites and scenes) and events and messaging.
Projects can be published online and using cloud shared variables.
Personally I'm interested in Scratch as a descendant of old tools for learning kids programming such as Turtle environment with Logo language. I used them when I was Computer Science teacher at secondary school around 1994 - 1998.
Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Art, Science, Math and Games
February 28, 2017
Liked the book a lot. Some great examples and exercises. The only thing I can say is that I would have had the project downloads with projects with completed code and projects with just assets. In some cases creating the drawings would be more challenging than coding the examples. Though it would really depend on which part of Scratch you are interested in spending time on.
May 18, 2019
Book is written out like one of those "For Dummies" book, informative but whether you learn something that is ultimately up to you, the reader.
If you're someone who likes those "For Dummies" book and love the formatting/teaching style, you'll love this book.
If you're someone hoping to copy a string of code and see what it does on Scratch, then this book isn't really for you.
If you're someone who likes those "For Dummies" book and love the formatting/teaching style, you'll love this book.
If you're someone hoping to copy a string of code and see what it does on Scratch, then this book isn't really for you.
June 14, 2021
This title is not well structured as a studying companion. It harshly jumps into making games and animation, without really explaining the basic concepts. It's not a good choice if you need to explain programming to someone from a junior school. I will sure use some bits and pieces from the book, but overall it's not worth buying.
PS Scratch is amazing. That's for sure.
PS Scratch is amazing. That's for sure.
Read
January 25, 2021Is a good program book!
May 7, 2016
The only reason I didn't finish this book is because a quick flip-through told me I'll be buying it for myself. Suitable for older teens through curious adults, this manual uses Scratch 2, the web-based visual programming product from MIT, to create all sorts of neat animations and designs. Scratch has been hailed as a great way to learn programming concepts visually, without all the weird, jargony rules you tend to get in Python, C++, or Java. Dragging and dropping a bunch of blocks around and making kittens dance is a hell of a lot more fun (and better for visual and kinesthetic learners, to boot).
The nine chapters here are hands-on walkthroughs of the Scratch environment and everything you can do in it. Programming concepts covered include procedures variables, loops, string processing, lists, and decision-making. You can download a whole bunch of neat supplementary stuff from the companion website, there's a great appendix on sharing and collaboration that will appeal to classroom teachers and homeschooling parents (definitely pick this up if you want to teach your kids computer science in homeschool but don't know the first thing about it yourself).
I've used Scratch before, and adore it. So far I've designed a game where you try to hit a bat with baseballs (see what I did there?). However, I'd love to kick it up a notch, so on the list this goes. Recommended for all teen collections and larger adult computer science collections.
The nine chapters here are hands-on walkthroughs of the Scratch environment and everything you can do in it. Programming concepts covered include procedures variables, loops, string processing, lists, and decision-making. You can download a whole bunch of neat supplementary stuff from the companion website, there's a great appendix on sharing and collaboration that will appeal to classroom teachers and homeschooling parents (definitely pick this up if you want to teach your kids computer science in homeschool but don't know the first thing about it yourself).
I've used Scratch before, and adore it. So far I've designed a game where you try to hit a bat with baseballs (see what I did there?). However, I'd love to kick it up a notch, so on the list this goes. Recommended for all teen collections and larger adult computer science collections.
March 25, 2014
*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Read and I am reviewing it after giving it a thorough reading.*
So first up allow me to say that I am by no means a computer programmer, but my boyfriend is currently studying the Computer Sciences in college and I very much so wanted to be able to talk to him about his studies. Luckily this book will help me with that, and it turns out I was not as ill knowledged as I thought I was. Terms like 'sprites' 'command blocks' and such were already familiar to me thanks to my love of gaming, this familiar footing helped me no be so overwhelmed.
The book is very easy to understand. The layout, wording, and examples are suitable for younger students who wish to start programming, while not feeling to juvenile for an adult who wants a very introductory book to the subject.
So first up allow me to say that I am by no means a computer programmer, but my boyfriend is currently studying the Computer Sciences in college and I very much so wanted to be able to talk to him about his studies. Luckily this book will help me with that, and it turns out I was not as ill knowledged as I thought I was. Terms like 'sprites' 'command blocks' and such were already familiar to me thanks to my love of gaming, this familiar footing helped me no be so overwhelmed.
The book is very easy to understand. The layout, wording, and examples are suitable for younger students who wish to start programming, while not feeling to juvenile for an adult who wants a very introductory book to the subject.
January 9, 2015
Scratch is a visual programming language designed by MIT lab for children and beginners to learn programming. An initial trial 2 years back did impress me, but when I read this book, I realized that there are so many features that makes it really enjoyable to learn programming. With Scratch 2.0 (the web version) that was released sometime back, there are more possibilities. This book is based on this version.
The book has lots of visual elements. This makes it easy to understand. Several examples to illustrate each command and its options are given throughout the book. Some projects are also given in each chapter.
For a more detailed review, check out PlusMinus'n'More
The book has lots of visual elements. This makes it easy to understand. Several examples to illustrate each command and its options are given throughout the book. Some projects are also given in each chapter.
For a more detailed review, check out PlusMinus'n'More
Read
January 3, 2016Good introduction to a very fun language! I got involved in using the language thanks to 1) Getting a Raspberry Pi, 2) Volunteering for Hour of Code.
Scratch is a fun language, with a low floor and high ceiling! Though I program all the time (mostly Perl), Scratch has just been a great tool to sketch out fun, visual programs - as well as translating tools I've written in other languages - I recommend it!
Scratch is a fun language, with a low floor and high ceiling! Though I program all the time (mostly Perl), Scratch has just been a great tool to sketch out fun, visual programs - as well as translating tools I've written in other languages - I recommend it!
October 15, 2014
Still working on it, but it's fun and a lot less intimidating than 'Programming for Dummies'.
June 26, 2015
Excellent range of examples and suitable for younger kids.
April 30, 2017
Really good and deep book about Scratch and programming in general. There are multiple programs with great algorithms and workarounds to make it work in Scratch.
Not sure if it is good for starting with Scratch, but it is great book to improve development skills.
My son lives it.
Not sure if it is good for starting with Scratch, but it is great book to improve development skills.
My son lives it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews