Using a Dashboard (IDE)

USING A DASHBOARD (IDE)

No matter what language you choose, you need a way to write and test your code in that language — a coding dashboard. Real coders use a special name for the dashboard: integrated development environment, or IDE. A coding IDE, or dashboard, is an all-in-one place where you do all the things needed to create your code and make it ready for end users. End users are the people who will use your programs.

The dashboards you will use are web-based, meaning you go to a website and do your work online. Scratch has its own dashboard, and JavaScript can be written in many different IDEs — in this book, you use the MakeCode dashboard to write code in block-based JavaScript. In the dashboard, you do these things:

• Write code. You write code by dragging code tiles (individual blocks) to a workspace and snapping them together to build larger code blocks.
• Create the screen layout. Put together assets — such as sounds and graphics — to display onscreen in your program.
• Compile your code. Compiling means translating your code from a human-friendly form to one that the computer understands. Scratch and MakeCode do this for you automatically.
• Debug. You debug your code by editing it to fix any errors, or bugs. Bugs cause your program to not work.
• Test. You try out your code in a display window or simulator.

The following sections help you set up and understand the Scratch and MakeCode dashboards.