Blockly vs Underscore

Overview

Underscore

Stacks1.9K

Followers589

Votes290

GitHub Stars27.4K

Forks5.5K

Blockly

Stacks75

Followers67

Votes2

GitHub Stars13.2K

Forks3.8K

Blockly vs Underscore: What are the differences?

Introduction

This markdown code provides key differences between Blockly and Underscore.

1. Purpose: Blockly is a visual programming language that allows users to create programs by manipulating graphical blocks. It is primarily designed for beginners and educators to learn programming concepts through a visual interface. On the other hand, Underscore is a utility library that provides a set of functions to manipulate and operate on arrays, objects, and other data types in JavaScript. It is aimed at enhancing the functional programming capabilities of JavaScript developers.
2. Programming Paradigm: Blockly follows a block-based programming paradigm where users connect programming blocks together to create a program. It provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows for easy arrangement and organization of the blocks. In contrast, Underscore promotes a functional programming paradigm where functions are used to transform and manipulate data. It emphasizes immutability and encourages the use of functional programming concepts like map, reduce, filter, etc.
3. Learning Curve: Blockly is designed to be user-friendly and beginner-friendly, making it easier for novices to learn programming concepts. Its visual interface, block-based approach, and intuitive design make it accessible to a wide range of users. Underscore, on the other hand, requires a solid understanding of JavaScript and functional programming concepts. It may have a steeper learning curve for beginners who are not familiar with JavaScript.
4. Usage: Blockly is commonly used in educational settings, coding bootcamps, and online learning platforms to teach programming concepts and logic. It provides a fun and interactive way for learners to understand programming principles. Underscore, on the other hand, is widely used in JavaScript development projects where functional programming concepts are employed. It provides a set of powerful utility functions that simplify common programming tasks.
5. Extensibility: Blockly allows for the creation of custom blocks and extensions, enabling users to extend its functionality and adapt it to specific use cases. This extensibility allows for the creation of domain-specific languages and tailored programming environments. Underscore, on the other hand, is a standalone utility library that does not have an extensibility mechanism built-in. It provides a fixed set of functions that can be used out-of-the-box.
6. Dependencies: Blockly is a standalone library that does not have any external dependencies. It can be included in web applications without requiring additional libraries. Underscore, however, is built on top of the JavaScript language and requires JavaScript as a dependency. It needs to be included as a separate library in web applications.

In Summary, Blockly is a visual programming language designed for beginners and educators, featuring a block-based programming paradigm and a user-friendly interface. Underscore, on the other hand, is a utility library that enhances the functional programming capabilities of JavaScript developers, focusing on arrays, objects, and data manipulation.

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Advice on Underscore, Blockly

Abigail

Dec 6, 2019

Decided

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) provides standard data objects in JSON format for the healthcare industry. Since JSON objects are hierarchical and tree-like, we had a need to defensively 'pluck' fields from our JSON objects and do lots of mapping. We tried jQuery and Underscore and a few other technologies like FHIRPath; but Lodash has been the most well supported, works in the most contexts, has the cleanest syntax, etc. We particularly like the ES6 version of Lodash, where we can import the method names directly, without resorting to * or _ syntax. We got hooked on the 'get' function to defensively pluck fields from objects without crashing our user interface, and have found countless uses for the other lodash functions throughout our apps. Lodash is great for developing and optimizing algorithms.

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Detailed Comparison

Underscore	Blockly
A JavaScript library that provides a whole mess of useful functional programming helpers without extending any built-in objects.	It is a client-side library for the programming language JavaScript for creating block-based visual programming languages and editors. It is a project of Google and is free and open-source software.
-	Pure JavaScript library; 100% client side. No server side dependencies; Compatible with all major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and IE; Highly customizable and extensible.
Statistics
GitHub Stars 27.4K	GitHub Stars 13.2K
GitHub Forks 5.5K	GitHub Forks 3.8K
Stacks 1.9K	Stacks 75
Followers 589	Followers 67
Votes 290	Votes 2
Pros & Cons
Pros 85 Utility 55 Simple 40 Functional programming 32 Fast 28 Open source	Pros 1 Easy to use 1 Open Source
Integrations
No integrations available	GitHub JavaScript Node.js Java

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Related Comparisons

Blockly vs Underscore: What are the differences?

Introduction

This markdown code provides key differences between Blockly and Underscore.

1. Purpose: Blockly is a visual programming language that allows users to create programs by manipulating graphical blocks. It is primarily designed for beginners and educators to learn programming concepts through a visual interface. On the other hand, Underscore is a utility library that provides a set of functions to manipulate and operate on arrays, objects, and other data types in JavaScript. It is aimed at enhancing the functional programming capabilities of JavaScript developers.
2. Programming Paradigm: Blockly follows a block-based programming paradigm where users connect programming blocks together to create a program. It provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows for easy arrangement and organization of the blocks. In contrast, Underscore promotes a functional programming paradigm where functions are used to transform and manipulate data. It emphasizes immutability and encourages the use of functional programming concepts like map, reduce, filter, etc.
3. Learning Curve: Blockly is designed to be user-friendly and beginner-friendly, making it easier for novices to learn programming concepts. Its visual interface, block-based approach, and intuitive design make it accessible to a wide range of users. Underscore, on the other hand, requires a solid understanding of JavaScript and functional programming concepts. It may have a steeper learning curve for beginners who are not familiar with JavaScript.
4. Usage: Blockly is commonly used in educational settings, coding bootcamps, and online learning platforms to teach programming concepts and logic. It provides a fun and interactive way for learners to understand programming principles. Underscore, on the other hand, is widely used in JavaScript development projects where functional programming concepts are employed. It provides a set of powerful utility functions that simplify common programming tasks.
5. Extensibility: Blockly allows for the creation of custom blocks and extensions, enabling users to extend its functionality and adapt it to specific use cases. This extensibility allows for the creation of domain-specific languages and tailored programming environments. Underscore, on the other hand, is a standalone utility library that does not have an extensibility mechanism built-in. It provides a fixed set of functions that can be used out-of-the-box.
6. Dependencies: Blockly is a standalone library that does not have any external dependencies. It can be included in web applications without requiring additional libraries. Underscore, however, is built on top of the JavaScript language and requires JavaScript as a dependency. It needs to be included as a separate library in web applications.

Blockly vs Underscore

Overview

Blockly vs Underscore: What are the differences?