4 ms·

Has anyone here programmed minecraft? Can you report to the rest of us how the following compare as learning experiences: 1. Minecraft 2. Swift Playground 3.

Has anyone here programmed minecraft? Can you report to the rest of us how the following compare as learning experiences: 1. Minecraft 2. Swift Playground 3. Commodore 64 or other old basic 4. Game Salad, or Game Maker, 5. Just learning Javascript in the browser I know #2 is my favorite experience, but I think #5 is the most useful now. Just wondering if anyone has played around with minecraft to compare. If I had to teach a kid: #2 > #5 > #3 > can't speak for the others

the_trapper 10y ago
Regarding #3 as a kid, I remember spending hours in QBasic on our family's DOS 5 computer. Also, nibbles.bas and gorilla.bas were very fun games written with QBasic that came with it on every DOS computer.
- iamthepieman 10y ago
  This is exactly how i got my start. I began by playing go chopper. Then explored the file system read some computing magazines that my dad subscribed to and found out about qbasic. I played gorilla and nibbles and then learned how to use the code files to cheat and experimented with the banana parameters in gorilla.bas[0] to make its explosion and throw distance bigger. Those are fond (and old) memories. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncykt-YJO1M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncykt-YJO1M
weavie 10y ago
What I really enjoyed with Minecraft was using a plugin which enabled you to connect a Clojure repl to the server [1]. It was great fun being able to write some code to spawn cows and then blow them up all in real time. With a bit of work, and some better documentation I think a real time environment coupled with something that kids are really into could make for a great educational experience. [1]https://github.com/SevereOverfl0w/bukkure https://github.com/SevereOverfl0w/bukkure
- cwyers 10y ago
  I have a hard time putting into words how little interest I have in Minecraft personally, but I may have to buy a copy myself to see if I can get this working and get my daughter interested in it.
icebraining 10y ago
I started with #5 when I first learned programming, back in 2000. Personally, I think the usefulness part is overrated - once you learn a language, it's pretty easy to learn another, at least for the typical imperative/OO mix - the concepts usually map pretty well. I'd suggest trying multiple and see what they find more rewarding.
- inputcoffee 10y ago
  Interesting you say that. The reason I thought #5 was the most useful is exactly the opposite: I thought that programming in the browser feels different. There are all these other moving parts, remote libraries, and you have to check things remotely. You're constantly aware that you're plugged into the globe's APIs as opposed to the feeling of being in this little box.
cjdell 10y ago
I created this as a kids learning tool: http://webblocks.uk/ http://webblocks.uk/ Has a built in code editor. Had the opportunity to run a few workshops around it. Kids seemed to enjoy it.
- deskamess 10y ago
  On Chrome/Mac. See console and type stuff (resetPlayer()) and press enter, but nothing happens.
tomgp 10y ago
We have Minecraft on our Raspbery Pi connected to our TV, you can write Python code to add/ remove blocks etc. My 5-year-old is happy to open and run these scripts, my 7-year-old will customise simple functions I've written or write them along side me, she understands why and how they work. This is pretty much the level of coding I was doing back when I was their age on our families ZX Spectrum. But importantly the results are MUCH more compelling e.g. make a 10x10x10 cube of TNT blocks centred 20 blocks underground and then detonate them.
- markdeloura 10y ago
  The Kano OS also has a fun Blockly/Minecraft integration that is worth looking at. You can access it by buying a Kano kit or just download their OS to an SD card and boot it up on your own Raspberry Pi. Great stuff.
gravypod 10y ago
Computer craft, a mod for minecraft, would be a far better experience if extended correctly then most of the minecraft programming setups. I've done a few projects in there and could only see how this would help people. I've been able to do really cool systems in there in my playthoughs.

the_trapper 10y ago

Regarding #3 as a kid, I remember spending hours in QBasic on our family's DOS 5 computer. Also, nibbles.bas and gorilla.bas were very fun games written with QBasic that came with it on every DOS computer.

iamthepieman 10y ago
This is exactly how i got my start. I began by playing go chopper. Then explored the file system read some computing magazines that my dad subscribed to and found out about qbasic. I played gorilla and nibbles and then learned how to use the code files to cheat and experimented with the banana parameters in gorilla.bas[0] to make its explosion and throw distance bigger. Those are fond (and old) memories. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncykt-YJO1M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncykt-YJO1M

weavie 10y ago

What I really enjoyed with Minecraft was using a plugin which enabled you to connect a Clojure repl to the server [1]. It was great fun being able to write some code to spawn cows and then blow them up all in real time. With a bit of work, and some better documentation I think a real time environment coupled with something that kids are really into could make for a great educational experience. [1]https://github.com/SevereOverfl0w/bukkure https://github.com/SevereOverfl0w/bukkure

cwyers 10y ago
I have a hard time putting into words how little interest I have in Minecraft personally, but I may have to buy a copy myself to see if I can get this working and get my daughter interested in it.

icebraining 10y ago

I started with #5 when I first learned programming, back in 2000. Personally, I think the usefulness part is overrated - once you learn a language, it's pretty easy to learn another, at least for the typical imperative/OO mix - the concepts usually map pretty well. I'd suggest trying multiple and see what they find more rewarding.

inputcoffee 10y ago
Interesting you say that. The reason I thought #5 was the most useful is exactly the opposite: I thought that programming in the browser feels different. There are all these other moving parts, remote libraries, and you have to check things remotely. You're constantly aware that you're plugged into the globe's APIs as opposed to the feeling of being in this little box.

cjdell 10y ago

I created this as a kids learning tool: http://webblocks.uk/ http://webblocks.uk/ Has a built in code editor. Had the opportunity to run a few workshops around it. Kids seemed to enjoy it.

deskamess 10y ago
On Chrome/Mac. See console and type stuff (resetPlayer()) and press enter, but nothing happens.

tomgp 10y ago

We have Minecraft on our Raspbery Pi connected to our TV, you can write Python code to add/ remove blocks etc. My 5-year-old is happy to open and run these scripts, my 7-year-old will customise simple functions I've written or write them along side me, she understands why and how they work. This is pretty much the level of coding I was doing back when I was their age on our families ZX Spectrum. But importantly the results are MUCH more compelling e.g. make a 10x10x10 cube of TNT blocks centred 20 blocks underground and then detonate them.

markdeloura 10y ago
The Kano OS also has a fun Blockly/Minecraft integration that is worth looking at. You can access it by buying a Kano kit or just download their OS to an SD card and boot it up on your own Raspberry Pi. Great stuff.

gravypod 10y ago

Computer craft, a mod for minecraft, would be a far better experience if extended correctly then most of the minecraft programming setups. I've done a few projects in there and could only see how this would help people. I've been able to do really cool systems in there in my playthoughs.