“Scratch
2.0 Beginner’s Guide: Second Edition” was written by Michael Badger and
provides several projects that engage the reader and encourage exploring the
Scratch 2.0 game engine. Scratch 2.0 is
a game engine that is maintained by MIT and requires very little programming
knowledge. For this reason, Scratch 2.0
is great for children and adults just getting started with creating their own
games. The book’s projects are as simple
as creating a greeting card and as complex as a unique version of the classic
game “Breakout.”
I
enjoyed trying the projects in the book.
Code is provided in download form from Packtpub’s webpage for the
book. I found the code a great reference
for each project as it was a simple matter to compare your code to the code
from the provided download. The Scratch
2.0 engine is available online and in a desktop version. I found myself using both versions, depending
on the project. The desktop version
makes it very easy to try code that others have written; by providing an “open
document” command. If you use the online
version of Scratch 2.0 you will need to upload the project; and that didn’t
always work for me.
The projects that you create include
a simple storybook, a multimedia
slideshow (which lets you use your own pictures), and a fortune-telling game.
My favorite project is the “Breakout” clone. Each project lasts the length of a
chapter, except for the “Breakout” clone which lasts two chapters. At the
chapter’s end there is a short quiz, whose answers are found in Appendix
B. Appendix A provides information on
using Scratch with a PicoBoard, and Raspberry Pi.
I recommend “Scratch 2.0 Beginner’s
Guide: Second Edition” to anyone who is interested in trying Scratch 2.0. By the end of the book you will have enough
confidence to start a project of your own.
There is an extensive community supporting Scratch 2.0 and they will be
happy to provide help with any problems that you might have.
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