Interested in Programming

[shogunofharlem3]

Not sure if anyone here knows how to code, I don't, but I wanted to learn and to teach my students about Computer Science. I came across a drag and drop programming language called Scratch which was created by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT.

It is very accessible and a hell of a lot of fun. I am going to try to take a course this summer on Python as this really intrigued me and it has been very accessible, however, not easy.

Here is an example project I'm working on now. You'll see it is build 7. I did a 5 part tutorial with my 7th and 8th graders at school Then I added to it for next school year.

If you've ever been interested in actually coding a game but have never coded before or are completely overwhelmed with the syntax of actual code. Give, http://scratch.mit.edu a go.

Cool thing is if you click, See Inside you can see all the Scripts for all the sprites.

Mario Build 7 (does not work on tablets or phones)

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/107852182/

[boxboy99]

Re: Interested in Programming

If you are learning I would highly recommend the following resources.

- thenewboston.com
- codebat
- codecademy

Hopefully I got those correct but if you have trouble finding them let me know.

[FlyRice]

Re: Interested in Programming

Codecademy is awesome. It's where I learned JavaScript, which then helped me transition to UnityScript in Unity, and now I'm using C# for my basketball game.

Unity is free so if you're interested in making your own game I would highly recommend it, and there are tons of free tutorials out there as well.

[boxboy99]

Re: Interested in Programming

The videos on the new Boston are excellent. Bucky has a great way of explaining how stuff works. Codebat is great for general programming exercise. Coedcademy is codebat on crack I suppose.

[mgoblue]

Re: Interested in Programming

Great you're into it! Sorry I don't have any advice on where to go though...I learned in college back in 1998-2002 and there's so much more stuff out there now.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Interested in Programming

I bought a game programming book a long time ago did maybe a chapter or two them stopped. It was really simple language and mostly if/then prompts
Really wanna get into learning to code so I'm gonna check this out for sure.

Sent from my LG-AS991 using Tapatalk

[FlyRice]

Re: Interested in Programming

I bought a game programming book a long time ago did maybe a chapter or two them stopped. It was really simple language and mostly if/then prompts
Really wanna get into learning to code so I'm gonna check this out for sure.

Sent from my LG-AS991 using Tapatalk

If you get back into game programming, be sure to check out this book. It's free on the web or you can also buy it to support the author.

http://gameprogrammingpatterns.com/

[shogunofharlem3]

Re: Interested in Programming

I bought a game programming book a long time ago did maybe a chapter or two them stopped. It was really simple language and mostly if/then prompts
Really wanna get into learning to code so I'm gonna check this out for sure.

Sent from my LG-AS991 using Tapatalk

I always wanted to get into it but never did. With Scratch, I've made some pretty good projects. Nothing ground breaking but really fun watching things come to life.

I'm a k-8 technology teacher and I started working with the old kids to create educational games for our younger students. They've been part of making match games, math games, etc. All of which we can share and the kids can play.

We had a Scratch Club after school once a week and got the kids interested in programming. Some of their projects were terrific. It has me interested in moving on and starting to learn Python this summer (I'm not coaching this summer, so it is beers and Python).

It really is fun, rewarding, frustration but when you logically work out an issue it is really satisfying. For someone like me that has very limited exposure to code, learning the logic behind a program is a lot of fun. I'm honestly hooked and hoping to take it further with other languages now. I'm a gamer that always wanted to make his own game. Now I can.

And it is damn fun! Someday OS will be rating my sports games. a cool .5 out of 100. BUT AT LEAST IT GOT RATED!!!!

Here is my 2 player baseball game:
Frozen Rope Baseball

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/49166150/

Working on the sequel now. Haven't programmed bat ball collision yet.
Frozen Rope Baseball 2

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/71206776/

[mjavon]

Re: Interested in Programming

For an easy and free Python tutorial, check out www.automatetheboringstuff.com

Another open-source option is R, which is more geared towards data science/statistics, but is a top-down programming language itself also.

[slickdtc]

Re: Interested in Programming

Definitely something I've always wanted to get in to. Just the way the world is going, so it makes sense to have the skill. Plus, I did very extreme basic stuff in my early teens and building something was always so satisfying. Especially when it took hours to have it come out right!

Recently came across freecodecamp.com which teaches you while also helping non-profits. Giving back while also learning, what a deal.

Nowadays there are so many resources that you can learn on your own instead of shelling out thousands for a college course. You can parlay that experience in to an actual job, though the almighty piece of paper will give you a leg up.

I love what I do now, but learning to code is always in the back of my mind. In case anything ever happens with my job, it would be a very nice fallback to have that experience.

[dickey1331]

Re: Interested in Programming

I recently finished my college class on C++ and my Java class begins in June.

I'm not a big fan of programming but it is part of my degree program

[shogunofharlem3]

Re: Interested in Programming

I've always wanted to make games but I never took any programming or anything in school. Business management major with a minor in marketing that is a now a school teacher and high school baseball coach. To say I didn't follow my educational path is an understatement.

Messing around on scratch at the least for now, pardon this pun coming, scratches the itch I have to make games. I have a ton of fun with it. It really has interested me in doing something this summer.

Take last night for example. I spent like 3 hours programming enemy movement examples in a scrolling platformer (goomba just left right between pipes, goomba moving left, koopa that bounces and moves left, bullet bill that flies left, hammer brother that arcs hammers). Felt like I was doing that for half hour, next thing I know the Red Sox game was over. It is nothing more than some examples that can be used as a model or engine if you will. Because enemy placement and movement is much more complex in scrolling game than opposed to a single screen level, ex, the original Zelda. Screen to screen compared to Contra, scattered across the world.

Hoping this summer between coaching, smoking pork shoulders and smushing beers, I'll learn some Python (after some research it appears to be a scripting language. Scratch uses scripting so I think that make sense to move from here to there).

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/108361157/#player