As someone who learned to code in Pascal over 25 years ago, I thought coding was cool back then and still think the possibilities are vast and the opportunities endless. I accidentally learned to code because I wanted to take as many Advanced Placement classes as possible in high school, not because I knew what programming was or what it would involve. What I remember from that class is learning and writing Pascal to solve problems, and the challenges are what made it fun and something I wanted to continue to do in college.
If I were given the task today to write a story where a young dancer falls into a spaceship and travels to the moon, I would take her on a fun journey with her dog and best friend where she becomes an astronaut on her 19th birthday. Similarly, coding is fun because it involves problem-solving with an empty slate. There are many languages one can use to solve problems and multiple ways of solving the same problem. Coders can also use tools such as a graphics library to add a visual dimension. For example, a coding challenge might be to create a guessing game where the computer randomly picks a number from 1 to 25 and the user has to guess the number. Such a game could be developed using a drag-and-drop block coding interface, web design tools, or Python. A UI could be developed where the numbers 1 through 25 are blocks that need to be clicked on, or the game could be text-based with a timer added for fun.
In two weeks, My Coding Place will have our one-year anniversary party and open house. One year ago on this date, Oct 6, 2018, our friends were helping us assemble chairs, furniture, and computers to get ready for our Grand Opening event on Oct 13. What a crazy year it's been with over 175 students visiting us, 18 staff members coming and going, and a name change from theCoderSchool franchise to our own brand called My Coding Place. Or, as our kids call it, Mommy's Coding Place. Thanks to all our friends and our community for supporting our studio. We look forward to growing and reaching more kids with the joys of coding!