Alice vs Scratch

Developers should learn Alice when teaching or learning introductory programming, as it simplifies complex concepts like objects, methods, and events through a visual, interactive approach meets developers should learn scratch when teaching programming fundamentals to beginners, such as children or non-technical audiences, as it introduces core concepts like loops, conditionals, and variables in an intuitive, visual way. Here's our take.

Alice

Nice Pick

Developers should learn Alice when teaching or learning introductory programming, as it simplifies complex concepts like objects, methods, and events through a visual, interactive approach

Pros

• It is ideal for educational settings, such as K-12 or university courses, to build foundational skills before transitioning to text-based languages like Java or Python
• Related to: object-oriented-programming, java

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Scratch

Developers should learn Scratch when teaching programming fundamentals to beginners, such as children or non-technical audiences, as it introduces core concepts like loops, conditionals, and variables in an intuitive, visual way

Pros

• It's also useful for rapid prototyping of simple interactive projects or educational demos, and for understanding the basics of event-driven programming and user interface design in a low-stakes environment
• Related to: blockly, computational-thinking

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Alice is a concept while Scratch is a platform. We picked Alice based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Alice wins

Based on overall popularity. Alice is more widely used, but Scratch excels in its own space.