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I really think Minecraft mods are an underused method for teaching programming. I first got into programming in 7th grade developing mods. Times have changed, b

I really think Minecraft mods are an underused method for teaching programming. I first got into programming in 7th grade developing mods. Times have changed, but ~5 years ago there were great tutorials, documentation, and good support channels (IRC) for modders. If regular development is too complicated, there are mods that add programmable computers (Lua, iirc). You can use them to mine, build, automate, or in the spirit of Minecraft, really do whatever you want.

sansnomme 7y ago
The most popular variety of Minecraft modding frameworks, Forge, is non-trivial. Think Android Java level of boilerplate and equally terrible homebrewed build tooling involving a ton of groovy. The developer friendly modding systems tend to be server-side only e.g. Bukkit. The classic "fun" mods like Buildcraft, Thaumcraft, and the grandparent of all Redstone mods, Redpower, are all Forge mods involving a ton of duplicated client-server code. Unless you enjoy IAbstractSingletonProxyFactoryBean Enterprise Java, coding Minecraft mods is a far cry from the UX modern engines like Unity provides. Source of one of the most popular mods: https://github.com/AppliedEnergistics/Applied-Energistics-2 https://github.com/AppliedEnergistics/Applied-Energistics-2 Other examples: https://github.com/agaricusb/ForgeMod/wiki/List-of-Open-Source-Forge-Mods https://github.com/agaricusb/ForgeMod/wiki/List-of-Open-Sour... How people usually run mods (in packs): https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/ftb-official-pack https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/ftb-official-p... Open source alternative client: https://multimc.org/ https://multimc.org/ The core tooling that helps with modding: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Programs_and_editors/Mod_Coder_Pack#History https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Programs_and_editors/Mod_Cod... It's a set of decompilation scripts included with most modding frameworks. Not officially endorsed by Mojang but the developer is a Mojang employee.
askvictor 7y ago
Nowadays there is Minecraft education edition; a variant of the Bedrock version which has a code editor to create automations, and a classroom mode. Aimed much more at schools than at individual student-hacker-learners, but a lot more accessible IMO, and has a heap of resources/docs and communities for those teachers.
- mrlala 7y ago
  Is there any way to get this version? I would love to use this with my kids.
  - AgentME 7y ago
    If you just want the code editor part, then https://minecraft.makecode.com/ https://minecraft.makecode.com/
    - mrlala 7y ago
      Thank you! Will definitely check this out.
  - jdkee 7y ago
    https://education.minecraft.net/ https://education.minecraft.net/
    - mrlala 7y ago
      You can't just download that.. you need valid accounts linked to education etc.

sansnomme 7y ago

The most popular variety of Minecraft modding frameworks, Forge, is non-trivial. Think Android Java level of boilerplate and equally terrible homebrewed build tooling involving a ton of groovy. The developer friendly modding systems tend to be server-side only e.g. Bukkit. The classic "fun" mods like Buildcraft, Thaumcraft, and the grandparent of all Redstone mods, Redpower, are all Forge mods involving a ton of duplicated client-server code. Unless you enjoy IAbstractSingletonProxyFactoryBean Enterprise Java, coding Minecraft mods is a far cry from the UX modern engines like Unity provides. Source of one of the most popular mods: https://github.com/AppliedEnergistics/Applied-Energistics-2 https://github.com/AppliedEnergistics/Applied-Energistics-2 Other examples: https://github.com/agaricusb/ForgeMod/wiki/List-of-Open-Source-Forge-Mods https://github.com/agaricusb/ForgeMod/wiki/List-of-Open-Sour... How people usually run mods (in packs): https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/ftb-official-pack https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/ftb-official-p... Open source alternative client: https://multimc.org/ https://multimc.org/ The core tooling that helps with modding: https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Programs_and_editors/Mod_Coder_Pack#History https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Programs_and_editors/Mod_Cod... It's a set of decompilation scripts included with most modding frameworks. Not officially endorsed by Mojang but the developer is a Mojang employee.

askvictor 7y ago

Nowadays there is Minecraft education edition; a variant of the Bedrock version which has a code editor to create automations, and a classroom mode. Aimed much more at schools than at individual student-hacker-learners, but a lot more accessible IMO, and has a heap of resources/docs and communities for those teachers.

mrlala 7y ago
Is there any way to get this version? I would love to use this with my kids.
- AgentME 7y ago
  If you just want the code editor part, then https://minecraft.makecode.com/ https://minecraft.makecode.com/
  - mrlala 7y ago
    Thank you! Will definitely check this out.
- jdkee 7y ago
  https://education.minecraft.net/ https://education.minecraft.net/
  - mrlala 7y ago
    You can't just download that.. you need valid accounts linked to education etc.