Tag: Coding »

Codarica Inc has released a new update for their children's learning app, CodeQuest. The app offers a quick and easy way to teach children the basics of coding, HTML, and CSS through games and activities.

The new ‘Baby, it’s “Code” Outside’ update gives CodeQuest a wintery theme. The app also has new interactive stories before certain levels, and holiday characters for the iPad. Codarica has updated the buttons with colors to make coding easier and fixed a few bugs along the way as well.

You can download CodeQuest for $1.99 on the App Store and get your kids coding their first website in no time.

A few weeks ago, LEX developer Simple Machine took the unusual step of making the code for it open-source, thereby enabling anyone with the knowledge to manipulate the code in whatever manner they wished.

At the time Kurt Bieg, CEO of Simple Machine, explained their reasoning in doing so: "we believe ownership is becoming obsolete, this is our way of inspiring young and old people to read, learn, and ultimately manipulate code that came from a studio known for taking chances and innovating puzzle games."

A few weeks into making LEX open-source, and given the rarity of this occurring, we thought we'd take the time to follow up with Kurt and see how things have progressed.

One such outcome was this:

Simple Machine's 'dream outcome' according to Kurt, with coder Bill Kendrick having played LEX then used the source code to create a variant for the 8-bit Atari system.

"We don't have any quantifiable numbers on how many people read it or anything, but this made it real for us. The first point to point cause and effect. Now we just have to buy an Atari for the office so we can play it," explained Kurt.

Enlightening us on their motivations, Kurt told us about Chupamobile: a site where you can buy game code, press publish, and effectively make money with little effort.

"I was horrified at first, then I showed some of the team, and one person, Anne Peng, our community manager at the time who has since moved on, actually thought it was a good thing. Insta-curious.

"The team ended up having an hour long discussion about the depths of open sourcing our code or not. We talked about the Threes/2048 controversy, the 1982 Pac-man/K.C. Munchkin court case, and overall where everything in this whole crazy planet is heading."

Kurt went on to compare the situation to the Napster/Metallica issues of early 2000s. "We are moving towards an ownerless society, and the current "clone craze" in games is a path where the lines between who owns what are visibly blurring. What you have is an amazing new way for games to be distributed, where the code is available for everyone to read and learn from. Not everyone has the best intentions, that's for sure, but we feel like it's very parallel to the Napster/Metallica issues of early 2000s. Here we have a band that grew to popularity by people copying their songs on blank tapes off the radio, only to sue their fans for the very same behavior a couple decades later. In my view, we've been moving towards this sharable culture for quite some time, only now do we have the technology where it has become mainstream."

Kurt felt particularly invigorated by their decision when a vote of confidence came in the form of Elon Musk of Tesla opening up their patents to the public, suggesting that Simple Machine are onto the right idea when it comes to shareable culture.

One significant issue, however, is the financial aspect of open sourcing. How is Simple Machine planning to stay financially solvent if their code is available to everyone?

Kurt explained, "The answer is, we don't have an answer yet. We believe that Simple Machine is about being a window to new ideas. With each game we try innovate in some unexplored area, like The Outcast for instance. Open source has huge benefits for everyone involved. I can't say that we've seen any profit lost from doing it. I can say that our hearts are warm after seeing some one interpret LEX and demake it for Atari. You could maybe draw a line and say that open sourcing has connected us directly to more fans and that our reputation has grown in a new direction.

"Overall, we're happy some people are finding inspiration from our code and that it makes the overall developer/customer experience more than just a money transaction. It's a bit more of a two way street, and that's our ultimate goal."

It's certainly ambitious and ultimately very positive and selfless of the folks at Simple Machine. It'll be fascinating to see how things turn out in the long term for them and, of course, we'll be keeping an eye on their progress and future titles.

Thanks to Kurt Bieg for taking the time to answer our questions. LEX is available now from the App Store, priced at $0.99.

SparkNET has released two new apps as part of their L2Code series that uses apps to help teach people how to code various programming languages. L2Code jQuery and L2Code Javascript will help users make their own web pages, with Javascript being a great entry point for doing things like making games.

L2Code jQuery and L2Code Javascript are both available now, for $4.99 and $2.99 respectively.

Ever use an app and think "Wow, if I knew how to code, I'd be able to do something better than this?" I know I have! Which is why, of late, I've been slowly trying to pick up more knowledge about how to do exactly that. It's a slow process and, no, I'll never be a millionaire because of it, but it's an interesting hobby. There's a wide selection of iOS apps already out there, keen to make the process simpler for enthusiasts. Here are our favorite four.

Developer Cheat Sheet for iOS
Previously covered on the site earlier in the year, Developer Cheat Sheet for iOS is an immensely handy resource by one's side. Offering a mixture of tutorials and quick reference tools, the app covers a variety of useful skills and abilities in a simple to read format. It even offers source code for users to evaluate and learn from.

Objective-C Programming
For aspiring coders who already have some experience in the C Language, Objective-C Programming is a handy app, building upon that knowledge to get users up to scratch with Objective C, the language used by Xcode to develop apps. Approaching the subject from a different angle than most, the app offers a series of training videos to educate its viewers with over 12 hours of material and 30 lessons. Significantly, it keeps light hearted at all times so do expect some adult humor within.

iTunes U
Still one of the best kept secrets on iTunes, iTunes U is ideal for learning about pretty much anything imaginable. It's an app that offers many thousands of free courses, often from some of the best known Universities across the world, for anyone who's interested. Over 600,000 free lectures are available, with plenty of videos, slides and other information, too. Crucially, for the purposes of this feature, there are plenty of different lectures on learning Objective C as well as many other programming languages. It's a fantastic resource to consult.

Koder Code Editor
There isn't an Xcode client for iOS, unfortunately, but Koder should prove handy for those testing their skills while on the move. It's a code editor that works with a variety of web development languages, as well as C# and C++, both languages that are useful foundations for iOS development skills. No matter what kind of code you want to produce, while on the move, the simple and clear to use Koder has you covered.

kode80, LLC, developer of 1-bit Ninja, has unveiled their latest app, a programming environment for programming graphics in OpenGL ES 2.0, called GLSL Studio. OpenGL graphics can be created in this app, supporting vertex and graphic shaders. GLSL Studio provides plenty of handy tools for OpenGL developers - syntax highlighting in a native code editor, shader input management, vertex data generation, with uniform binding and runtime options also available. Images can be imported from the Camera Roll for use with textures in the app, with up to 8 textures able to be managed at once. As well, there's live camera streaming for camera-enabled devices, with the ability to create camera filters with OpenGL code, and to add these images as part of the managed textures. The app is universal and supports 3rd-generation devices and later, so OpenGL coders can code from anywhere, at any time. Projects can be exported from the app, either attached to an email or exported through iTunes File Sharing, and are usable in any program that supports OpenGL ES 2.0, including iOS apps.