Scratch vs Blockly

Developers should learn or use Scratch when introducing programming to beginners, especially in educational settings like schools or coding camps, as it teaches fundamental concepts like loops, conditionals, and variables in an accessible way meets developers should learn blockly when creating educational software, interactive tutorials, or applications aimed at teaching programming to novices, as it simplifies complex coding concepts into visual, drag-and-drop components. Here's our take.

Scratch

Nice Pick

Developers should learn or use Scratch when introducing programming to beginners, especially in educational settings like schools or coding camps, as it teaches fundamental concepts like loops, conditionals, and variables in an accessible way

Pros

• It's also useful for rapid prototyping of simple interactive ideas or for educators creating engaging STEM content, as it fosters computational thinking without the steep learning curve of text-based languages
• Related to: block-based-programming, computational-thinking

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Blockly

Developers should learn Blockly when creating educational software, interactive tutorials, or applications aimed at teaching programming to novices, as it simplifies complex coding concepts into visual, drag-and-drop components

Pros

• It is also useful for building custom visual programming environments in web applications, such as for configuring IoT devices, game logic, or data workflows, where users need a low-code or no-code interface
• Related to: javascript, python

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

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

The Bottom Line

Scratch wins

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