Strype



King's College London
Strype Logo
Figure 1: Strype editor, visual Python visual programming for the micro:bit.


Strype is a novel frame-based editor for programming the micro:bit through Python. It was designed in order to have the benefits of both block-based 4 (like drag&drop and recognition over recall) and text-based editing (such as keyboard only interaction).
In this project I was assigned as the coordinator and thus guided the design, development and evaluation of this new tool.
Strype was designed using modern front-end web technologies (Vue.js and Typescript) and runs completely on the user's browser, without the need of installation.
The final outcome is Strype, is a conjunction of Python language with a popular educational hardware device in order to program it. More on this, and the on the tool in general, will be posted in my here as soon as the first prototype is functional.

screenshot of Strype
Figure 2: A screenshot of Strype with its main UI elements. (1) A frame (While in this case) is a block which allows drag and drop and, if it has a body, can enclose other frames in it. (2) The Frame Cursor is an indicator of where you are currently editing and contextualises the frames that can be added at each place. (3) The frame palette shows all the available frames that can be added at each place. The symbols on the left are the keyboard keys that spawn the frame to the position of the frame cursor. (4) An Editable Slot is an area in the frame's header where free text code can be added by the user. (5) Method calls are blank frames (contain only a single editable slot) in which the user has to write the code themselves.

Strype has been evaluated for usability with 7 teachers from different countries around the world. Currently we are running a study to assess its effectiveness in helping students transition form block-based programming.
More news and details about Strype will follow soon, as the project is still running.