{"id":15055,"date":"2020-11-04T08:17:13","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T08:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.codemonkey.com\/?p=15055"},"modified":"2026-09-09T11:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:15:32","slug":"a-kids-guide-how-to-find-common-coding-language-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.codemonkey.com\/ru\/blog\/a-kids-guide-how-to-find-common-coding-language-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0414\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 \u0440\u0443\u043a\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e: \u043a\u0430\u043a \u043d\u0430\u0439\u0442\u0438 \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043e\u0448\u0438\u0431\u043a\u0438 \u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043c\u043c\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When your kids are first learning to code,\nno matter what language they\u2019re writing, of course they\u2019re going to make\nmistakes. This is just a natural part of learning, and essential to experience\nfor your child to get better. However, while it may be easy to spot errors in\nverbal languages, in coding it\u2019s not because they can be a little bit more\ncomplicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re with your kids and you\u2019re\ntrying to help them figure out what\u2019s wrong, obviously this is super hard work.\nIf you don\u2019t know coding yourself, then it can be even more complicated because\nwhata re you even looking for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t worry, you don\u2019t need to be put off\nwith how complicated coding and feel, and you don\u2019t need to feel as though you\ncan\u2019t help your kids be the best coders they can be. There are a few tricks and\ntips that can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s guide, I\u2019m going to talk you\nthrough some of the key ways to find common errors in your kid\u2019s coding,\nhelping them to identify easily where they went wrong, and what they need to\nimprove on. Ultimately, this is going to help your kid become a successful\ncoder!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working on Ranges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, your children have written out a code,\nbut something doesn\u2019t work. You\u2019re getting errors pop up, the code keeps\nrunning infinitely and it\u2019s ending with an end result like it should do, and\nlittle errors like this. One of the first things you\u2019ll want to look for is an\nerror known as an \u2018infinite loop\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infinite loops are perhaps the most common\nerror to occur because it literally just means the program or script will keep\non running forever, hence the name. When a program doesn\u2019t end, then it\u2019s never\ngoing to finish, and this is where bugs occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at this in a little more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infinite Loops When Coding with Java<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say your child writes a small piece\nof code where they can run the program to print the numbers one through to\nnine. A really simple coding example of this may look like;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For(int index = 0; index < 10; index–)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

{<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 System.out.println(index);<\/p>\n\n\n\n

}<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right off the bat, we have an error. Can you get your child to spot it? Let me give you a clue. The output of the code once running will look like this; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

index\n= 0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is index < 10? Yes<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Print index 0<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
index = index \u2013 1 index = -1<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Is index < 10? Yes<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Print index -1<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
index = index \u2013 1 index = -2<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Is index < 10? Yes<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Print index -2<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
index = index \u2013 1 index = -3<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
And so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at the end result. It says the index = -1, -2, etc. This is\nan infinite loop because the code will never be larger or equal to ten. It will\nalso be in the minus figure, so it will just keep printing numbers until you\nturn the code off yourself because it will never reach the point of being +10,\nonly -10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To fix something like this in JavaScript, your original code\nwill need to look like this;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For(int index = 0; index < 10; index++)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
{<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 System.out.println(index);<\/p>\n\n\n\n
}<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re checking through your kid\u2019s code, always look for little\ndetails like plus and minus signs being in the wrong place. The best way to\ncheck for this is to run the program and see what happens. If there\u2019s numbers\nand maths involved in the code, then make sure the code is using the correct\nrange, like in the example above!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coding in a complex language like JavaScript can be tough because\nthe details, like having a plus or minus sign, can make such a big difference.\nIf you\u2019re comfortable figuring these errors out, then keep going and you\u2019ll\npick it up in time. However, it may pay to start with a simpler coding\nlanguage, like Scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"common<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How the Infinite Loop Error in Scratch Is Resolved<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While infinite loops are mostly problematic in languages like\nJavaScript where you need to be super on the ball with your accuracy, you be\nsurprised to know that they can actually be beneficial in some cases. Look at\nthe Scratch language, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a feature within the Scratch language known as \u2018off by one\u2019.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, let\u2019s say you have a little cartoon character onscreen\nthat says hello to members of the family. The coding is \u2018Hi FamilyName\u2019, in\nwhich \u2018FamilyName\u2019 is replaced with text from a list of family names that\nyou\u2019ve written up before. You run the code and the cartoon says \u2018Hi Mom\u2019, \u2018Hi\nDad\u2019, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a missing family name in the list, what\u2019s clever about\nScratch is that it will automatically handle this error itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So say you run the program four times, but your family name list\nonly has three entries (let\u2019s say Mom, Dad, and Ben), the fourth time the code\nwill run, it will omit the FamilyName because there\u2019s no entry, and will simply\nsay \u2018Hi\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning a language like Scratch is great because it omits these\nerrors, and allows your children to focus on the fundamental aspects of coding,\nrather than precise details that can be taught later down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making Things a\nLittle More Intense with Python<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Python is perhaps\nthe most complicated language out the coding languages we\u2019ve spoken about above\nand would be much easier if it used the \u2018off by one\u2019 rule like Scratch does,\nbut it doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s say you\nwrite a similar code to the Scratch, but in Python, that looks a little something\nlike this;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
family = [\u2018Dad\u2019, \u2018Mom\u2019, 'Ben']<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
for x in range(1, 3):<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
print (\u2018Hi \u2018 + family[x])<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Note, you\u2019ve got\nyourself an error. The \u2018Dad\u2019 entry on this code won\u2019t print because you\u2019re\nstarting the range at \u20181\u2019, rather than \u20180\u2019, so this is where your error will\noccur. You\u2019d need to write the following for the code to run properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
family = [\u2018Dad\u2019, \u2018Mom\u2019, 'Ben']<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
for x in range(0, 3):<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
print (\u2018Hi \u2018 + family[x])<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re\nwriting code, whether in Scratch, JavaScript, or Python, perhaps the most\nimportant thing you need to think about is the ranges that that coding language\nuses. If your child is learning multiple languages, then the ranges will\ndiffer, as we\u2019ve spoken about already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scratch will\nautomatically cover itself by omitting code that doesn\u2019t work, Python starts it\nrange at 0, and Javascript will use multiple ranges, depending on what you set!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what do you\nthink would happen if you wrote a Python code like this;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
family = [\u2018Dad\u2019, \u2018Mom\u2019, 'Ben']<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
for x in range(0, 4):<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
print (\u2018Hi \u2018 + family[x])<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Well, you\u2019d get\nsomething like this;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hi Dad<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Hi Mom<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Hi Ben<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Traceback (most recent call last):<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
 File \"filename.py\", line 4, in <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
  print ('Hi ') + family[x]<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
IndexError: list index out of range<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Python doesn\u2019t use\nan \u2018off by one\u2019 feature, because family4 doesn\u2019t exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When teaching your children how to code, don\u2019t be put off with how challenging off by one errors can be, especially since the ranges will change depending on which language they\u2019re writing in. Just take your time to learn the differences and it will become second nature in no time at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Kristin Herman is a tech\nproject manager at <\/em>Academized<\/em><\/a>. She enjoys\nteaching children to code and helping more people get into STEM fields of\nlearning.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When your kids are first learning to code, no matter what language they\u2019re writing, of course they\u2019re going to make mistakes. This is just a … <\/p>\n
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