Code.org has the noble goal of making coding more accessible to everybody, to make users of technology more self-sufficient as it becomes a larger part of daily lives across the globe. In a move that will presumably help them reach a bunch more people, the organization has partnered with Microsoft, who owns Swedish video game developer Mojang, to create a coding tutorial based on the world of Minecraft.
In the latest installment of Hour of Code — intended for ages 6 and up, but beneficial for aspiring coders of all ages — users piece together plain-spoken commands, which are actually stand-ins that teach Javascript, that allow Alex or Steve to navigate their world and solve Minecraft-inspired problems.
Jens Bergensten, the lead developer of Minecraft, explains in the introductory video above how he discovered why coding is so important for gamers: “I think I was 11 or maybe 12, and I started programming because I wanted to make games. One of my father’s friends told me that in order to make games, you needed to learn how to program, so that’s how I got started.”
Even for those who don’t have dreams of making the next Minecraft or getting into game development, this tutorial is still an engaging way to better understand what really goes into making our favorite games.
You can check out the tutorial for yourself here, and let us know in the comments if you think you would be a master coder by now if you had instruction like this as a kid.
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HT: Gizmodo
Featured image courtesy of Mojang
