Uma plataforma de jogos para introdução à programação paralela utilizando linguagem visual baseada em blocos

Abstract

Due to the advances in technology, multicore systems are found in notebooks, desktops, and smartphones nowadays. With parallel programming approaches inserted in program- ming codes, we can harness the computing power on these devices. In many computing majors, parallel programming subjects are usually offered as an optional class, after ba- sic programming classes. With this, the students first develop knowledge about sequential programming, not considering the resources of the computational environment used, and then they are challenged to implement parallelism in their codes if there is further need for optimization. However, this can be an inefficient approach to develop high-performance pro- grams, compared to start the development considering parallel approaches. Block-based languages have become a popular alternative to introducing coding to kids and learners in Computer Science. Tools that use block-based programming usually offer games and tutorials activities, using sequential data structures and event-oriented programming. This project presents BlocklyPar, a set of three tutorials for teaching parallel programming using block-based programming, target to freshmen students from higher education courses in Computer Science. The difficulty levels of the games increase linearly, and each game has scenarios involving student’s day-to-day tasks, such as going to the library and to the clas- sroom. With the user tests, we observed that BlocklyPar has potential to instigates parallel thinking in higher education students with different levels of knowledge about programming so that they can use parallel approaches naturally in their applications. The platform is avai- lable online and its code is hosted on a public repository to promote the continuity of this project.