Users can now learn and practice writing JavaScript with Grasshopper, an app from Google’s Area 120.
Learning how to code isn’t as difficult as it was before. Of course you wouldn’t be an expert coder in an instant, but Google’s Grasshopper will at least help you get started.
Developed by a small team of Googlers from Area 120, the mobile app is designed for beginners. Grasshopper teaches would-be coders the basics of writing JavaScript with just their phones. This will help users in developing their proficiency with the core concepts and build on them for future skillsets.
The first course, aptly named The Fundamentals, tackles on how coding works and various terminologies that students will encounter in the coding world. As they progress, students will get on more complicated tasks such as drawing shapes using the D3 library. The lessons are designed as quizzes and puzzles to make it more interactive and fun.
“Each coding puzzle has the student writing real JavaScript code using a custom built code editing environment. The student is given a challenge, and the user has to solve it using code, but it only takes a few taps to write out,” Grasshopper founder Laura Holmes explains.
“Each time the student runs code, they’re given real-time feedback to help guide them towards solving the challenge. Many students have told us that this real-time feedback feels like a tutor, since the feedback feels so tailored to the student’s current state.”
Although Grasshopper has been available internally for a while now, it is only today that they made the app public.
Area 120 was started two years ago by Google as an internal incubator. Its goal is to provide an avenue for talented engineers to work on their own passion projects and startups. Of course, discovering the next breakthrough product isn’t too bad either. 😉
