Harvard University Free Course – Introduction to Programming with Scratch

A gradual introduction to programming that gets you ready for more advanced coding classes.

What you’ll learn

• Functions
• Events
• Values
• Conditions
• Loops
• Variables

Course outline

An introduction to programming with Scratch, a visual programming language that allows novices to build code by entering text and instead dragging and dropping graphical elements that look like puzzle pieces. Developed at MIT’s Media Lab, Scratch is used at the beginning of Harvard College’s basic computer science course, CS50. It allows students to create their own interactive tales, games, animations, and games even if they have never programmed before. This course teaches students to the basics of programming using Scratch, as well as more conventional text-based languages like Java and Python. Functions are instructions that carry out tasks; return values are the results that functions give; conditions are ways that programs determine whether or not to carry out an action; loops are ways that programs carry out actions repeatedly; variables are ways that programs store and recall information; and more are among the topics covered. In the end, this course gets students ready for advanced programming courses.