Notes

MakeCode for Minecraft makes Learning To Code Super Fun

A few years ago, my team in Microsoft's research organization began to experiment with tools that could make it possible for kids to learn how to code within the context of Minecraft the immensely popular game where players build fantasiastic virtual worlds using digital blocks, create and play mini-games within the game, and learn to survive monster-filled nights.



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Confused? That's okay. Many adults don't know Minecraft. While they may think they do, a lot of adults don't understand Minecraft. It is all about the free-world environment and there are no rules. We hope to harness this passion to teach children how to code Minecraft while they play. minecraft profiles Games are the best method to learn.



The research is a product of our TouchDevelop program which we began in 2011 to help people learn how to program and build applications using the touchscreen on their phones. These phones are far more powerful, graphically and sensor-rich than those we were taught to code on when we were kids. Our TouchDevelop group wanted anyone to be capable of programming their phones as easily as we did 8-bit computers.



Then Minecraft was the game everyone was playing and we were then compelled to write code in Minecraft. The rest is history, as they say.



My students in after-school computer science classes could play with Minecraft coding. It was an amazing experience. The ability to write code and immediately see the results in Minecraft such as avatars that can jump 100 blocks high, climb mountains and create rain chickens, sent my students running through the classroom from screen to screen to see what their peers did , and shouting out the IP addresses of their servers across the room.



Today today, our Microsoft Research and Microsoft MakeCode teams are excited to make this learning experience available to everyone through Microsoft MakeCode for Minecraft on Windows 10.



The MakeCode for Minecraft editor has the pixelated look and feel of Minecraft. MakeCode allows you to code using visual blocks, based on a drag and drop interface for those who are new as well as in text with an JavaScript interface for more advanced learners.



MakeCode teaches you to code with blocks or text. It also shows you the 101 languages of programming including variables, control loops, flow and loops as well as functions. Advanced users can easily advance to more complicated concepts like recursion, fractals as well as object-oriented or distributed programming.



The Microsoft MakeCode team also works on other editors that permit the programming of physical things such as micro-controllers including the micro:bit and the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express. In all these scenarios the programming is directly linked to building something real that is the main reason most computer programmers learn to code in the first instance.



Instead of thinking that they are coding, students are playing a game and are building their next superpower. Minecraft is an interactive game. MakeCode for Minecraft integrates the gaming experience of coding into Minecraft. It's worth a take a look.


Here's my website: https://mcprofile.net/