Comprehensive Review of Mainstream Arduino Visual Programming Software in China

Mainstream Arduino Visual

Hardware Programming Software Comprehensive Review

With the popularity of Arduino open-source hardware

more and more people without an engineering background

can easily use Arduino to quickly realize their ideas

Arduino has gradually entered schools

We must thank Uncle Board (Massimo Banzi）

and his team for creating Arduino

Although Arduino has separated hardware and software, the software side has also achieved a separation of low-level and application code, users only need to learn some simple introductory programming knowledge to quickly get started.

However, programming with code still poses a technical barrier for some people.

Therefore, a large number of easy-to-use graphical programming software began to appear. Next, we will conduct a comprehensive review of several mainstream graphical programming software currently available in China. With a pragmatic and neutral attitude, we will evaluate each software based on the following six indicators:

Evaluation Indicators:

Suitable Age Group

Completeness of Software Functionality

User Experience

Supported Hardware Types

Update Frequency

Supporting Tutorials

Note: ☆ indicates half a star, ★ indicates 1 star, with a maximum score of 5 stars.

Before the evaluation, we must introduce the pioneer of graphical programming, Google Blockly (official website requires VPN) and Scratch.

Google collaborated with MIT to establish App Inventor (official website requires VPN), an online programming platform that allows graphical programming to create Android apps. The drag-and-drop block operation makes the user experience very simple and friendly, and subsequent graphical programming software can generally see this feature.

Later, MIT launched the Scratch online programming platform, allowing children to create various animations, and all of Scratch’s original code is open-source. Google also launched the Blockly graphical programming library, providing developers with the ability to develop various graphical programming software based on its library. Now on the Blockly official website, both Scratch and App Inventor are using the core of Blockly.

Here we must also thank Google and Scratch for their open-source spirit.

1. Ardublock

Suitable Age Group: 14 years and above

Completeness of Software Functionality ★★★

User Experience ★★★

Supported Hardware Types ★★★★☆

Update Frequency ☆

Supporting Tutorials ★★★

ArduBlock is considered the first Arduino graphical programming software in China, developed by Li Dawei and He Qichen, founders of New Workshop. For a period of time, it dominated the market. However, it has now stopped updating, and its interface and functionality have been surpassed by later competitors, which is a pity. ArduBlock supports most Arduino hardware and allows users to write their own unique hardware libraries, with some supporting courses available, suitable for high school and above.

2. S4A

Suitable Age Group: 12 years and above

Completeness of Software Functionality ★★★

User Experience ★★★

Supported Hardware Types ★★★☆

Update Frequency ★★☆

Supporting Tutorials ★

S4A (Scratch For Arduino) is derived from the open-source code modification of Scratch, and its entire interface style is similar to Scratch, possibly due to the color scheme, it does not look as comfortable as the original Scratch interface.

Since it was developed and researched by foreigners, the Chinese support for S4A is not very good. In terms of user experience, it can basically perform some simple common functions, but some advanced modules cannot be used. There are not many supporting tutorials, but they are relatively simple, and many can be quickly grasped. It seems that the official website has not been updated much and has started to transition to a similar software called Snap, which will not be elaborated on here. Interested users can explore it themselves.

3. Webduino

Suitable Age Group: 12 years and above

Completeness of Software Functionality ★★★★☆

User Experience ★★★★☆

Supported Hardware Types ★

Update Frequency ★★★

Supporting Tutorials ★★★★

Webduino comes from Taiwan and is an online programming platform based on Google Blockly. Programming only requires opening a web browser, without needing to download a dedicated client, making it convenient to use. The software has an OK user experience and complete supporting tutorials, but it seems to only support its own hardware, suitable for upper-grade elementary school students and above.

4. mBlock

Suitable Age Group: 8 years and above

Completeness of Software Functionality ★★★★☆

User Experience ★★★★☆

Supported Hardware Types ★

Update Frequency ★★★

Supporting Tutorials ★★★★

mBlock is produced by Makeblock, based on the open-source code modification of Scratch, with an interface and user experience that are OK, being the closest to the original Scratch style. Additionally, it supports viewing the code corresponding to graphical modules, making it suitable for children to gradually transition to coding. Early versions could support Arduino hardware, but later versions gradually only support their own hardware products, with complete supporting tutorials, suitable for lower-grade elementary school students and above. Recently, a web version has also been launched, but it is still not open to the public and only supports their own products.

5.haohaodada

Suitable Age Group: 8 years and above

Completeness of Software Functionality ★★★★☆

User Experience ★★★★☆

Supported Hardware Types ★★★★

Update Frequency ★★★

Supporting Tutorials ★★★★

haohaodada is an online programming platform developed by the Haodada team in Hangzhou, which only requires opening a browser and is based on the open-source code modification of Scratch, achieving cloud compilation functionality. During the high traffic of Scratch Day events, the platform remains stable and easy to use. haohaodada supports Scratch animation programming, Arduino hardware programming, and some other third-party hardware support, allowing children to transition seamlessly from animation programming to hardware programming. It also allows viewing the code corresponding to graphical modules, with rich supporting tutorials, and the website regularly launches influential activities, suitable for lower-grade elementary school students and above. The only downside is that the current UI design of the website is not perfect, but it is said that they are already optimizing this aspect, so we look forward to it.

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