Post #1 - Programming Languages

 Scratch Project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/878721726

It seems silly looking back on what I have made, but at the time I was simply proud of myself for creating anything at all! My Scratch project is the story of a baby chick, looking out for his little unhatched sibling. A story of chaos and unlikely heroes and friends. Enjoy!

    Before beginning this course, I had little to no experience when it came to programming languages. My first introduction to Scratch was full of confusion and apprehension. I was enormously worried that my limited knowledge would hurt me greatly and leave me with no progress when the time came to share my first project. Luckily for me, after messing with multiple features within the Scratch website, I could compile a straightforward project. Despite the amateur nature of my project, I am still proud of myself that I was able to create something at all with my limited knowledge. I also utilized instructional videos on YouTube when I found myself misunderstanding a certain command, and realizing there were other commands that were better suited for what I was attempting to create.

       I can appreciate how using Scratch exposed me to a simplified drag-and-drop code language that helped make coding less daunting. This is especially the case after reading that week's chapter, where we were introduced to several types of coding languages. This included machine language, which uses a simple concept of 0's and 1's in a multitude of orders to make sense to a machine. These number sequences equate to Input, Add, Output, and Stop. An easy-to-understand concept due to specific sequences corresponding with simple commands. Assembly language is an attempt to make machine language understandable and more human-brain friendly. This type of language is translated through an assembler and is also a relatively simple concept to understand. High-level language is similar to assembly language but has more precise and complex instructions, leading to more complicated commands and possibilities for a programmer. A compiler, similar to an assembler, is used to translate this high-level language to assembly or machine language. Python is a common example of a high-level language, being one of the more popular ones. This is a language used within my own workplace, in addition to JavaScript. Python is known to be an easier language within the high-level family, hence its popularity.