Welcome to Scratch Programming for Teens! Scratch is a programming language intended to make programming easier to learn for novice programmers. It can be used to create computer games, interactive stories, graphic artwork and computer animation, and all sorts of other multimedia projects. Scratch can also be used to play digital music and sound effects. If you aspire to one day become a professional programmer, Scratch provides everything you need to build a foundation. Scratch also packs all of the programming power and punch needed to satisfy the programming needs of most computer enthusiasts and hobbyists. Best of all, it’s actually fun to use! Scratch Programming for Teens provides all the instruction that a first-time programmer needs to quickly get up and running with Scratch. Before you know it, you will be creating all kinds of projects that incorporate graphics, sound, and animation. As you learn how to program with Scratch, you will learn programming principles and techniques that you can later apply to other programming languages such as Microsoft Visual Basic and AppleScript. Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, educator, and an IT professional with over 18 years of experience in information technology, including roles as an automation analyst, technical manager, technical support analyst, automation engineer, and security analyst. He is the author of 24 other books and co-author of two additional books. His published works include AppleScript Studio Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Programming for the Absolute Beginner, and DarkBASIC Programming for the Absolute Beginner. Jerry has a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and he has over five years of experience as an adjunct instructor teaching networking courses in information technology.