Google's Grasshopper app may be a
way for beginners to start out coding With dazzling ease
There's no shortage of coding tutorials or programs that aim to show coding to beginners — but Grasshopper is
specialQuite different and
Google's
workshop for experimental projects, Area 120, released a very interesting new
app for Android and iOS
Grasshopper:
Learn to Code for free of charge is an app that gives basic lessons in coding
with Javascript during a gamified format alongside coding puzzles built around
a sensible code editor..
It's
just the app that you have on your phone that's a Javascript tutorial system.
The objective is creating things, which is different from tons of the opposite
"how to code" programs which are often like solving problems in a
system that's almost like a game where you're building "if this… then
that" kind of structures to solve problems, and the idea is to teach you
how to think about coding, not necessarily how to create things with code. From
the very first module, Grasshopper is walking you thru creating simple
constructs using Javascript.
M.L.:
Yea, and the way it does it, too, is very intuitive. I'm an adult, but I've
never done much coding beyond HTML, and positively nothing with Javascript. I
came into this at the ground level as a beginner who's interested in that side
of things, but I don't understand the core concepts of it yet. After those
first couple modules, you get that breakthrough moment where you are like
"Oh, this is new and I understand it."
It's
different from other web-based programs where you're following alongside the
projects because the way Grasshopper has been put together is basically
interesting. They show you what the code needs to do and then give you an
incomplete section of code and have you complete the code to make it work. It
kind of feels like an "edutainment" puzzle game, but making
edutainment the way it should be where you see the process unfold and learn as
you go as opposed to trying to make it more of a game than it needs to be.
R.H.:
There are a couple of important elements here that tie it all together. The
first that even though you're using this on your phone, from the very beginning
all of the code is structured and placed in something that looks like an editor
—what a programmer would use. And that's an important thing because you don't
get that with a lot of the "how to code" things.
There
are these blocks that you simply simply drag around for "if"
statements and variables that you click and drag, and once you get sat down
ahead of an actual editor or a developer studio, it's extremely easy for
somebody who doesn't have tons of developer or programming experience to then
feel overwhelmed because this is often not the environment you're used to.
From
the very beginning, all of the code is structured and placed in something that
looks like an editor — what a programmer would use.
Whereas,
Grasshopper starts you off right from the very beginning during a proper code
editor with the acceptable color breakdowns for various variables in order that
you're watching an actual editing suite from beginning to end. It becomes more
complex as you progress along but from the very beginning, as you said, you are
looking at actual snippets of functional code that do things, and it's
explaining to you how those different things work. I think the primary few
challenges are building flags — like actual country flags — where you're just
assembling the various color pieces in javascript, and every one you're really
seeing at the top may be a web element for that flag. It's a simple thing, but
it's a very easy way to feel a sense of accomplishment, and the cool thing is
how it's all broken up into little pieces where it is the little risk/reward
things that cause you to want to only dive right into subsequent module.
M.L.:
the opposite thing that's novel about this app is because it's an app that's on
your phone, and since everything is choppy into such bite-sized chunks, you can
do a lesson or two anytime. I've been standing in line at the grocery and see
the small notification crop up asking me "Hey, does one have a while to
try to to some Grasshopper?" And I'm like "Hey, I actually do. I do
have the time."
R.H.:
Yeah, the notifications are cool. It caught me off guard at first, that I got a
notification telling me "hey, come back and do this thing" because
you have a minute. That surprised me because you don't get that with a lot of
things — and it worked well.
Like
you said, it's a good thing to have that little reminder where instead of
playing MiniGuns or Pokemon Go or something like that, there's that little
reminder that you can go and do this thing instead.
I've
been standing in line at the grocery and see the small notification crop up
asking me "Hey, does one have a while to try to to some Grasshopper?"
And I'm like "Hey, I do. I do have the time"
M.L.:
Yea, totally! You can be as proactive or passive if you would like . You could
burn through the whole app in a day if you just don't want to put it down. Or,
you can kind of have it remind you to revisit the app over time so you don't
burn yourself out. I found using the app in random sessions helped me retain
more information because I come back and jump right into a new lesson and have
to rediscover these new concepts, but once you start some puzzles, everything
starts to come back. It's such a good feeling when you realize these concepts
are sinking in over time — especially if you've come into it completely new to
coding, those first moments It's rewarding.
R.H.:
It is, and at the same time that it's rewarding it's not overly negative in its
reinforcement when you get something wrong. It's not just a flat out "you
messed this thing up" — it didn't work, which is common. The puzzle failed
so you only return to the beginning and take a glance . Because you are looking
at a correct editor, it can escape the segments of code that failed and be very
specific about it. And that's very important because you can set up a
programming environment to work exactly like that. It's very on the brink of
how small sections of things could fail within the world , while also being
that sort of entertaining, almost game-like experience.
M.L.:
Yea, it's sort of like an edutainment game, like those games you remember from
elementary school. Except rather than teaching the way to multiply numbers, it
might be teaching a child in grade school the way to code their first website
or dip their toes
Like
you said, it gets you used to the code editing platforms and concepts that can
be really overwhelming when you don't know what anything does.
R.H.:
And it is also important that there is no real age guideline for Grasshopper.
My kids aren't strangers to code tutorial programs and truly building things in
Scratch and other applications. So one of the first things I did was to see
what my kids thought, and when I tossed at them and it was really the same kind
of experience for them. It's not catered towards any particular age bracket or
knowledge level, i do not think. It's really are some things where anybody who
doesn't have a background can easily pick these things up and go quite ways
with little or no background .
M.L.:
And the way the app is designed, it could unlock something new for you. Maybe
it turns into a replacement hobby or a replacement career path counting on your
situation and what you would like to try to to with it. In my experience, it
opened a door in my mind where I realized that even though I'm turning 30, I
can still learn new things. It gets me excited about the stuff I use every day
— technology and apps — I can still learn how those things work rather than
just being a consumer. Sure, there's still a long way to go if I want to make
my own app or whatever, but it's such an encouraging and rare thing to find
these days — an app that actually makes you feel good about yourself at the end
of the day.
R.H.:
It's good and it really can be a stepping stone to some of the basic programs
that are actually adult-oriented tutorials like Udacity, which are education
suites for different forms of programming. This could be a legitimate stepping
stone for that, for the start of maybe programming for Android or something like
that. Any of these programs that do not usually have a really strict beginning
component, but it can still be quite overwhelming to desire taking a tutorial
course for introduction to programming, Grasshopper I feel does that job for
getting that kind of beginner experience found out
.
M.L.:
Best of all, it's free so you don't have to put any money down and you're not
feeling like you've wasted your money or time. It's free. Just try it out —
don't like it, that's fine.
R.H.:
Yeah, it's free and it's not platform-dependant. You don't need an Android
phone to pick
this up. It works just as well on an iPhone, too.
Git Grasshopper now and learn how to code at your own pace
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق