Strype: a Versatile Python-like Programming Environment for Novices

Novice programmers often start their learning journey with block-based editors, to later focus on traditional text-based editors. The transition between these two different editing paradigms is notably known to be difficult, as students may not easily transfer the knowledge they acquired while using blocks to the textual counterpart in a text-based editor, and in a programming language that differs in syntax. In a response to facilitate this transition, Strype, an online editor for Python, proposes an intermediate approach using frame-based editing that combines the safeguards and simplicity of the blocks, with the flexibility and realism of the text. With educational purposes in mind, Strype can be used to create different kinds of applications. This poster aims to briefly (1) introduce the advantages of frame-based editing when transitioning from blocks to text, and (2) present Strype core environment principles along with (3) the different kinds of applications students can create using Strype to learn Python: console-based, Turtle Graphics, or micro:bit.