A French coder has developed what is thought to be the smallest-sized chess computer program.
BootChess is only 487 bytes in size, and the code can be run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux computers.
That makes it smaller than 1K ZX Chess – a Sinclair ZX81 computer game, which contained 672 bytes of code and had held the record for 33 years.
via BBC News – Coder creates smallest chess game for computers.
Tony Zanders Dec 29, 2014
With foreign language degree programs going on the chopping block across the country, and media, business and education leaders sensationalizing the need for a million coders by 2020, one would assume that investment in foreign language training should decrease to fund teaching kids how to code. But is there more to the relationship between human languages and programming languages than meets the eye? In the digital age, the impact of immigration and globalization provides new context for the role of foreign language training, as these two entrepreneurs realized.
via Is Foreign Language Training the Key to Creating More Coders? | EdSurge News.
Katrina Schwartz | November 11, 2014
Proponents of stronger computer science and programming courses in schools generally focus on the usefulness of those skills in today’s world. Some argue that computer programming should be offered instead of a foreign language requirement, while others say it’s crucial to engineering and robotics. Rarely is coding considered a complement to the English curriculum. But what if learning to code could also make students better writers
via What Can Programmers and Writers Learn From One Another? | MindShift.
Codeanywhere is cloud based code editor that enables users to develop, maintain and collaborate on their web sites and application from any device, anywhere in the world.At Codeanywhere people keep up with their projects, edit their web sites and the like – without having to drag their computer along.Enjoy the freedom of traveling light and the security of knowing that if you need to, you can log on to Codeanywhere from any device and get to work! Think of it as Google Docs for developers.
LearnToMod teaches you how to code by teaching you how to mod Minecraft. It gives you two different ways to code: with blocks or with Javascript.
Learn To Mod from Stephen Foster on Vimeo.
Hello! p5.js is a JavaScript library that starts with the original goal of Processing, to make coding accessible for artists, designers, educators, and beginners, and reinterprets this for today’s web.Using the original metaphor of a software sketchbook, p5.js has a full set of drawing functionality. However, you’re not limited to your drawing canvas, you can think of your whole browser page as your sketch! For this, p5.js has addon libraries that make it easy to interact with other HTML5 objects, including text, input, video, webcam, and sound.p5.js is a new interpretation, not an emulation or port, and it is in active development. An official editing environment is coming soon, as well as many more features!
via p5.js.
This self-paced online visual programming course for beginners tells a story about the friendship of a little girl and a robot. It is being taught at K-12 schools, programming clubs, after-school programs, and in home-schooling families. The teacher or homeschooling parent do not have to know computer programming. Students progress at their own pace with the help of hints, video tutorials, and a textbook (preview PDF). Gamification and gently increasing complexity of projects ensure an exciting and fulfilling learning experience for all students. The course includes an optional algorithmic thinking pre- and post-test.
By Christina Tynan-Wood, ITworld | IT Management
June 10, 2014, 6:03 AM —
Savannah Kunovsky was working toward a computer science degree when she learned of Hack Reactor, a coding boot camp in San Francisco. She applied, got in, and ended up walking away from the four-year degree program.
At first, she intended to go back to school after sharpening her coding skills. But – a year later – she doesn’t think college will happen any time soon. “It was life changing,” she says of the immersive twelve-week program. It saved her the cost of two more years of college and landed her a well-paying job she loves. “You can earn the cost of college in one year after this program,” she says. But that’s not the only reason she did it. “College was an awesome experience. I grew socially. I figured out how to work hard and find balance in my life. But here? I am constantly stimulated and get to meet people from all backgrounds. College seems stagnant by comparison.” (Disclosure: She works as a software engineer at Hack Reactor.)
Savannah is part of a growing number of computer science students being lured away — sometimes right from high school — from a traditional four-year degree path directly into an IT job. Instead of investing four years and as much as $100K in a college degree, they learn to code at a boot camp or by taking online classes and go directly into lucrative and interesting work. No one’s path is exactly like anyone else’s but an ecosystem has sprung up – especially in the high-tech corridor of the San Francisco Bay Area – where there is so much demand for programmers that it is the actual skills – not a diploma that indicates they have those skills – that gets you in the door.
via Drop out of college; earn a six-figure salary coding | ITworld.
Computational thinking (CT) involves a set of problem-solving skills and techniques that software engineers use to write programs that underlie the computer applications you use such as search, email, and maps. However, computational thinking is applicable to nearly any subject. Students who learn computational thinking across the curriculum begin to see a relationship between different subjects as well as between school and life outside of the classroom.
Specific computational thinking techniques include: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, pattern generalization to define abstractions or models, algorithm design, and data analysis and visualization.
Building software applications can be a complex, time consuming process, however utilizing a framework can help you develop projects faster by reusing generic components and modules, and work better building on one unified structural foundation. Using a framework also facilitates scalability and long-term maintenance by complying with development standards, keeping your code organized and allowing your application to evolve and grow over time.
