McCue - Getting started with coding: get creative with code!

GETTING STARTED WITH CODING

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Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 201594739

ISBN 9781119177173 (pbk); 9781119177197 (epdf); 9781119177203 (epub)

This book was produced using the Myriad Pro typeface for the body text and callouts, and Bangers for the chapter titles and subheads.

1. TABLE OF CONTENTS

SO YOU WANT TO GET STARTED WITH CODING! Writing computer programs, or coding, is a skill that will take you from a user of technology to a maker of technology. Coding is a skill that is fun, creative, and productive. By discovering the language of the computer, you become capable of inventing toys, games, and apps that you can share with, well everyone!

There are so many computer languages you can use to get started with coding. What youll find in this book is an introductory treatment of coding in a single programming language a teaching language, called MicroWorlds EX, that is conceptually transferrable to every other programming language. Its easy to learn because the vocabulary and punctuation look like regular words and symbols. And its fun to do because you can add graphics, motion, and sound to make your projects into real apps.

Getting Started with Coding is put together as a series of projects with steps for constructing each project from start to finish. Projects are crafted to make sure you learn key ideas youll need over and over again when coding. Every project begins with a game plan you can follow to stay organized as you work. And every game plan features coding and graphics activities to complete. Best of all, projects can be customized to bring to life the craziest ideas your imagination can concoct!

Heres what you need to do the projects in this book:

• A computer running a reasonably modern version of a Windows or Mac OS X operating system
• MicroWorlds EX software (free with this book!)
• An Internet connection to download the MicroWorlds EX software

As you work through each project, keep in mind the following writing conventions:

Code and web addresses are in monofont . If youre reading this as an ebook, you can click web addresses, like www.dummies.com , to visit that website.

Some figures will have a magnifying glass, like you see here. The glass is drawing attention to the parts of the screen that you use. The highlighted text draws your attention to the figure.

I also give you instructions like Drag a Y into the X or Click the X category and then click X. Or I may simply tell you to click a link or a tab.

Finally, every project wraps up with a last look at the projects big ideas in coding. The big ideas consist of both codes and concepts youll find useful for future projects.

Everybody has to start somewhere, right? I had to start writing this book by assuming that you can do this stuff:

• Type on a computer and use a mouse. Your experience can be either on a Windows or Mac system either one will do! Instructions for coding each project are written for both platforms, and figures are shown for MicroWorlds EX operating on a Mac.
• Youre capable of installing software, because you will be installing the MicroWorlds EX program on your computer.

Further, Ive made some assumptions with regard to your entering into the world of coding:

• Youve played games on a computer, so you know how people interact with computer games (which is different than how people play video games using a gaming console).
• Youre comfortable with basic math, math operations such as adding whole numbers, and logical operations such as comparing two whole numbers. I introduce algebraic variables in this book, but you dont need to have any prior knowledge of variables.

Lastly, if you struggle with spelling, you may need to spend extra time troubleshooting your code for misspellings. A programming language doesnt understand spelling errors, but it can give you clues about which commands it doesnt understand.