Stride in BlueJ -- Computing for All in an Educational IDE
Michael Kölling, Neil C. C. Brown, Hamza Hamza, Davin McCall · 2019
Block-based programming languages and environments have several benefits for introductory programming courses, compared to more traditional text-based languages. In particular, blocks remove the burden of learning language syntax and dealing with syntax-related errors. Many blocks-based environments are tightly focused on developing graphical games, stories and simulations, while the more general programming environments are typically text-based. In this tool paper, we describe the incorporation of a Stride editor within the BlueJ programming environment. Stride is a frame-based programming language, intended to combine the best of blocks and text programming, usable both as a stepping stone towards text-based languages and as a comprehensive language in its own right. The incorporation of Stride into BlueJ brings some aspects of block programming into a general purpose educational environment.