Abstract:
The paper introduces a visual programming language and corresponding web- and cloud-based development environment called NetsBlox. NetsBlox is an extension of Snap! and it builds upon its visual formalism as well as its open source code base. NetsBlox adds distributed programming capabilities to Snap! by introducing two simple abstractions: messages and NetsBlox services. Messages containing data can be exchanged by two or more NetsBlox programs running on different computers connected to the Internet. Services are called on a client program and are executed on the NetsBlox server. These two abstractions make it possible to create distributed programs, for example multi-player games or client-server applications. We believe that NetsBlox provides increased motivation to high-school students to become creators and not just consumers of technology. At the same time, it helps teach them basic distributed programming concepts.
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A visual programming environment for introducing distributed computing to secondary education
The paper introduces a visual programming language and corresponding web and cloud-based development environment called NetsBlox. NetsBlox is an extension of Snap! and builds upon its visual formalism as well as its open source code base. NetsBlox adds distributed programming capabilities by introducing two well-known abstractions to block-based programming: message passing and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). Messages containing data can be exchanged by two or more NetsBlox programs running on different computers connected to the Internet. RPCs are called on a client program and are executed on the NetsBlox server. These two abstractions make it possible to create distributed programs such as multi-player games or client-server applications. We believe that NetsBlox not only teaches basic distributed programming concepts but also provides increased motivation for high-school students to become creators and not just consumers of technology.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1640199
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10073041
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of parallel and distributed computing
- Volume:
- 118
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1096-0848
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 189-200
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- The DOI is not currently available.
