Microsoft truly believes that Minecraft is an exciting and interesting platform that can get kids into programming. With such perspective, a project was launched by both giant tech companies.
Microsoft and Minecraft just teamed up with Code.org to introduce the "Minecraft: Hour of Code Designer", a tutorial that teaches young newcomers how to create a simple game. The Designer uses a drag-and-drop interface to illustrate familiar code concepts, such as object-oriented programming and loops, while letting imaginations run wild in Minecraft's blocky universe. You can make chickens that drop gold, and otherwise set rules that are as logical or ludicrous as you'd like.
Students are presented with a small Minecraft world display in which a character of their choosing is present. They learn to control that character by dragging code blocks from the panel into the editor, then running their creation.
The tutorial is available right now in 10 languages, and it'll be available in 50 languages by the time Computer Science Education Week kicks off on December 5th. The tutorial is designed for kids at young as 6 years old, and is intended to get kids interested in coding and to give them a very basic idea of how it works.
However, Microsoft and Code.org are betting that this will reveal the importance of code to kids, and start some of them on a path to computer science careers, according to EnGadget.
"If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything," Obama said in a 2013 video. "Don't just buy a new video game. Make one... Don't just play on your phone. Program it."
Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the "The Office" and "40 Year Old Virgin" star Steve Carell is in talks to join Warner Bros' upcoming big-screen adaptation of the video game "Minecraft."
