Scratch

Developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT Media Lab, Scratch is a new programming language that allows users to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art.



Fifteen-to-twenty years ago, programs like Hypercard, Toolbook, IconAuthor, TenCORE, and Authorware established the foundation for visual programming, decreasing flexibility but allowing an interface for anybody to be a programmer of basic interactions and functionality. As these programs progressed, they became complicated (or, nonexistant) to the point where it took a "technical mind" to use them successfully. Scratch may revisit the early days of these technologies in a vastly more accessible format.