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I don't think it is - after learning how to build things in Scratch, one still has to transition to a language with different syntax which is text-only. What was presented in this submission might just be the solution that helps reduce the anxiety of transitioning from icons to programming languages with text-based source code.

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Scratch is intended for older children who already have a certain level of literacy. There is another product, ScratchJr, for younger children that uses an icon-based UI: http://scratchjr.org/

The transition path between them is indeed what you described.

Blockly is based on Scratch and offers a transition path between visual and text-based programming.

https://developers.google.com/blockly/

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