BlockLike.js is an educational JavaScript library that attempts to extend the block-based Scratch learning experience to JavaScript text-based programming.

Scratch is a visual programming environment that aims to help kids learn the foundations of coding by creating interactive stories, games, and animations. According to BlockLike.js creator  Ron Ilan, while Scratch does a great job enabling the learning experience, the gap with text-based programming remains large. Web programming in particular, notwithstanding its appeal as an accessible environment, is hard to crack for beginners, says Ilan.

I realized, that if we want to progress, we need something that will help us bridge the gap between Scratch and the web. Something that will be to JavaScript what training wheels are for bikes.

The relationship between Scratch and BlockLike.js is close enough you could say there is a direct mapping of abstractions. Scratch makes basic objects available to users including Sprites, Costumes, Backdrops, and others, which can be manipulated to change their position, movement, and looks. It also provides control blocks corresponding to loops, if-then-else conditionals, waits, etc.

BlockLike.js defines objects, methods, and patterns that resemble Scratch’s in an attempt to make the transition from one environment to the other smooth.

What you’ve learned, practiced and mastered at Scratch is transferable. Scratch and BlockLike.js are meant to be used simultaneously. You can try something in Scratch and then immediately translate it to the web. You can go the other way if you like. At the basic level they are interchangeable.

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