Scratch 2.0 programming for teens

With Scratch 2.0, getting started in computer programming is easier and more fun than ever. And with this completely updated edition of the popular Scratch Programming for Teens, you'll learn the basics in a fast, friendly way and be sharing your creations online before you know it. Focused on the fundamentals and using the free Scratch programming language, Scratch 2.0 Programming for Teens will teach you to develop interactive stories, games, animations, and other programs on the web, in your computer's browser, using graphic, customizable code blocks. Written especially for first-time programmers, this book's hands-on approach emphasizes the design and development of programming logic. You'll learn important programming concepts without getting bogged down in complicated details. And the basic principles you learn here will build a foundation from which you can move on to other, more complex, programming languages (like Microsoft Visual Basic, Java, and C++), if you decide to go deeper into software development. Additional material, including helpful appendixes and a complete glossary, is available on this book's companion website. Start programming today with Scratch 2.0 Programming for Teens. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. Scratch, the Scratch logo, and the Scratch Cat are trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Author Notes

Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, educator, and IT professional with more than 24 years of experience in information technology, including roles as an automation analyst, technical manager, technical support analyst, automation engineer, and security analyst. He is the author of 37 books and coauthor of two more. Ford has a master's degree in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and has worked as an adjunct instructor teaching networking courses in information technology.

Introduction	p. xi
Chapter 1 Introducing Scratch 2.0	p. 1
Getting to Know Scratch 2.0	p. 1
Imagine-Program-Share!	p. 2
Scratch Uncovered	p. 3
Scratch 2.0's Building Block Approach to Programming	p. 4
Getting Ready for Scratch 2.0	p. 6
Creating Your First Scratch 2.0 Application	p. 8
Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 9
Changing Sprite Attributes	p. 11
Adding Code Blocks	p. 12
Saving Your Work	p. 16
Joining Scratch 2.0's Global Community	p. 17
Sharing Your Application Projects	p. 17
Registering with the Scratch 2.0 Website	p. 19
Changing Your Scratcher Status	p. 21
Keeping in Touch	p. 22
Chapter 2 Getting Comfortable with the Scratch 2.0 Development Environment	p. 25
Getting Comfortable with the Scratch 2.0 Project Editor	p. 26
Getting Familiar with Menu Bar Commands	p. 27
Running Scratch 2.0 Applications on the Stage	p. 28
Running Applications in Full-Screen Mode	p. 30
Controlling Application Execution	p. 31
Working with the Sprite List	p. 31
Generating New Sprites	p. 34
Tracking Mouse Pointer Location	p. 36
Switching Between Code Block Groups	p. 36
Getting Comfortable with the Scripts Area	p. 37
Backpack	p. 44
Adding Project Instructions, Notes, and Credits	p. 45
Creating New Sprites Using Scratch's Paint Editor	p. 47
Examining the Drawing Canvas	p. 49
Working with Editor Tools	p. 50
Working with Button Controls	p. 53
Specifying Color Settings	p. 54
Configuring a Sprite's Rotation Center	p. 54
Chapter 3 A Review of the Basic Components of Scratch Projects	p. 57
Working with Blocks and Stacks	p. 57
Arguments	p. 59
Default Values	p. 60
Six Basic Types of Scratch Blocks	p. 61
Working with Stack Blocks	p. 61
Working with Hat Blocks	p. 62
Working with Reporter Blocks	p. 63
Working with Boolean Blocks	p. 64
C Blocks	p. 65
Cap Blocks	p. 65
Keeping an Eye Out with Monitors	p. 66
Ten Categories of Scratch Blocks	p. 68
Moving Objects Around the Drawing Canvas	p. 69
Changing Object Appearance	p. 70
Making Some Noise	p. 72
Drawing Lines and Shapes	p. 74
Storing and Retrieving Data	p. 75
Event-Driven Programming	p. 77
Implementing Looping and Conditional Logic	p. 78
Sensing Sprite Location and Environmental Input	p. 79
Working with Operators	p. 81
Custom and Specialized Blocks	p. 83
Getting Help with Code Blocks	p. 85
Chapter 4 Mr. Wiggly's Dance-A Quick Scratch Project	p. 87
Programming with Scratch	p. 87
Creating the Mr. Wiggly's Dance Application	p. 89
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch Project	p. 91
Step 2 Adding a Backdrop to the Stage	p. 92
Step 3 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 96
Step 4 Adding Mr. Wiggly's Music	p. 99
Step 5 Playing the Dance Music	p. 102
Step 6 Making Mr. Wiggly Dance	p. 105
Step 7 Testing the Execution of Your New Project	p. 108
Chapter 5 Moving Things Around	p. 109
Working with Motion Code Blocks	p. 109
Moving and Rotating Sprites	p. 110
Setting Sprite Direction	p. 113
Repositioning a Sprite	p. 115
Changing Sprite Coordinates	p. 117
Bouncing Sprites Around the Stage and Controlling Rotation Style	p. 118
Keeping Track of Sprite Coordinates and Direction	p. 120
Taking Advantage of Scratch Cards	p. 121
Creating the Virtual Scratch Fish Tank	p. 124
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch Project	p. 125
Step 2 Adding a Backdrop to the Stage	p. 125
Step 3 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 125
Step 4 Adding a Suitable Audio File to the Stage	p. 126
Step 5 Playing the Audio File	p. 127
Step 6 Animating the Swimming of the Fish	p. 127
Step 7 Executing Your New Scratch Application	p. 130
Chapter 6 Sensing Sprite Position and Controlling Environmental Settings	p. 131
Working with Sensing Code Blocks	p. 132
Detecting Sprite Collisions and Distance from Objects	p. 133
Prompting For and Collecting User Input	p. 138
Retrieving Keyboard Input, Mouse Button, and Coordinate Status	p. 139
Retrieving Audio Data	p. 143
Collecting and Processing Video Input	p. 144
Working with a Timer	p. 147
Retrieving Stage and Sprite Data	p. 148
Retrieving the Date, Time Data, and User's Name	p. 149
Creating the Family Scrapbook Application	p. 150
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 152
Step 2 Adding and Removing Sprites and Costumes	p. 152
Step 3 Adding a Suitable Audio File to the Stage	p. 154
Step 4 Playing the Audio File	p. 154
Step 5 Adding the Programming Logic Required to Manage the Display of Photographs	p. 155
Step 6 Saving and Executing Your New Scratch 2.0 Application	p. 156
Chapter 7 Storing and Retrieving Data	p. 159
Learning How to Work with Application Data	p. 159
Storing Data in Variables	p. 161
Creating Scratch 2.0 Variables	p. 161
Assigning Variables to Sprites and the Stage	p. 163
Assigning Names to Your Variables	p. 163
Understanding Variable Scope	p. 163
Deleting Variables When They Are No Longer Needed	p. 166
Accessing Variables Belonging to Other Sprites	p. 167
A Quick Example	p. 168
Storing Collections of Data in Lists	p. 170
Developing the Basketball Quiz Project	p. 175
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 177
Step 2 Selecting an Appropriate Stage Backdrop	p. 177
Step 3 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 177
Step 4 Adding Variables That the Application Requires	p. 179
Step 5 Adding Scripts to Button Sprites to Collect User Input	p. 180
Step 6 Automating the Administration of the Quiz	p. 182
Step 7 Testing Your New Application	p. 185
Chapter 8 Doing a Little Math	p. 187
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division	p. 187
Understanding the Mathematical Order of Precedence	p. 189
Generating a Random Number	p. 190
Comparison Operations	p. 191
Performing Logical Comparisons	p. 195
Manipulating Strings	p. 197
Rounding Numbers and Retrieving Remainders	p. 199
Working with Built-In Mathematical Functions	p. 200
Developing the Number Guessing Game Quiz Project	p. 201
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 203
Step 2 Adding a Stage Backdrop	p. 204
Step 3 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 204
Step 4 Adding Variables That the Application Requires	p. 205
Step 5 Adding an Audio File to the Application	p. 206
Step 6 Adding Scripts to Capture Player Input	p. 206
Step 7 Processing Player Guesses	p. 207
Step 8 Saving and Executing Your New Scratch 2.0 Application	p. 209
Chapter 9 Controlling Script Execution	p. 211
Introducing Scratch Events and Control Blocks	p. 211
Event Programming	p. 212
Initiating Script Execution	p. 212
Sending and Receiving Broadcasts	p. 214
Controlling Script Execution	p. 216
Pausing Script Execution	p. 216
Executing Loops	p. 218
Conditional Programming Logic	p. 220
Nesting Conditional Control Code Blocks	p. 223
Preventing Endless Loops	p. 223
Terminating Script Execution	p. 224
Cloning Sprites	p. 226
Developing the Ball Chase Game	p. 228
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch Project	p. 230
Step 2 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 231
Step 3 Adding Variables That the Application Needs	p. 232
Step 4 Adding an Audio File to the Application	p. 233
Step 5 Adding a Script to Control Ball Movement	p. 233
Step 6 Adding Scripts That Display Game Over Messages	p. 233
Step 7 Adding Scripts Needed to Control and Coordinate Game Play	p. 234
Step 8 Saving and Executing Your Scratch Project	p. 237
Chapter 10 Changing the Way Sprites Look and Behave	p. 239
Looks Blocks That Affect Sprites Versus the Stage	p. 240
Making Sprites Talk and Think	p. 241
Making Sprites Appear and Disappear	p. 242
Changing Sprite Costumes and Stage Backdrops	p. 243
Changing Sprite Costumes	p. 243
Changing a Stage's Backdrop	p. 246
Applying Special Effects to Costumes and Backdrops	p. 247
Changing a Sprite's Size	p. 249
Determining What Happens When Two Sprites Overlap	p. 250
Retrieving Costume and Backdrop Data	p. 252
Developing the Crazy Eight Ball Game	p. 252
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 254
Step 2 Adding and Removing Sprites-	p. 255
Step 3 Adding a Variable Required by the Application	p. 256
Step 4 Adding an Audio File to the Application	p. 257
Step 5 Creating a Script to Control the Display of the 8 in the Eight Ball	p. 257
Step 6 Adding the Programming Logic Needed to Control the Eight Ball	p. 257
Step 7 Saving and Executing Your Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 259
Chapter 11 Spicing Things Up with Sounds	p. 261
Playing Sounds	p. 261
Play a Drum	p. 263
Playing Musical Notes	p. 265
Configuring Audio Volume	p. 268
Setting and Changing Tempo	p. 269
Creating the Family Picture Movie	p. 271
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 273
Step 2 Adding and Removing Sprites and Backdrops	p. 273
Step 3 Adding a Variable That the Application Requires	p. 276
Step 4 Adding a Sound to the Application	p. 277
Step 5 Developing the Application's Programming Logic	p. 277
Step 6 Naming and Testing Your Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 282
Chapter 12 Drawing Lines and Shapes	p. 283
Clearing the Stage Area	p. 283
Stamping an Instance of a Costume on the Stage	p. 284
Drawing with the Pen	p. 286
Setting Pen Color	p. 287
Changing Pen Shade	p. 291
Working with Different Size Pens	p. 293
Creating the Doodle Drawing Application	p. 296
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 297
Step 2 Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 298
Step 3 Creating Scripts to Control the Doodle Drawing Application	p. 299
Step 4 Naming and Testing Your Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 304
Chapter 13 Improving Code Organization	p. 305
Simplifying Script Organization Through Procedures	p. 305
Creating Custom Blocks	p. 306
Using a Define Block to Create a Procedure	p. 310
Adding Clarity Through Comments	p. 311
Simplifying the Project and Reducing the Project Size with Cloning	p. 313
Creating the Gone Fishing Application	p. 316
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 318
Step 2 Adding an Appropriate Backdrop	p. 318
Step 3 Adding Your Application's Sprites	p. 318
Step 4 Defining an Application Variable	p. 320
Step 5 Creating Scripts Used to Control the Application	p. 321
Step 6 Testing Your Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 325
Chapter 14 Game Development Using Collision Detection	p. 327
Key Features Found in Most Computer Games	p. 327
Managing Game State	p. 328
Controlling Game Play with Loops	p. 330
Managing Screen Refresh Rates	p. 331
Moving Things Around the Stage	p. 331
Making Sprites Visible and Invisible	p. 332
Making Some Noise	p. 334
Detecting Collisions	p. 335
Collecting Player Input	p. 341
Capturing Keyboard Input	p. 341
Capturing Mouse Input	p. 342
Tracking Mouse Movement and Location	p. 343
Detecting Mouse Button Clicks	p. 343
Creating Scratch Pong	p. 344
Step 1 Creating a New Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 346
Step 2 Setting Up the Backdrop and Adding and Removing Sprites	p. 346
Step 3 Adding Sound Effects	p. 347
Step 4 Defining Variables	p. 347
Step 5 Creating Scripts Used to Control the Scratch Pong Game	p. 348
Step 6 Testing Your Scratch 2.0 Project	p. 353
Index	p. 355

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Table of Contents