Man, my memory’s kinda foggy, but here’s all I can remember.
I was randomly scrolling the web till I randomly found MakeCode. I was surprised that Microsoft would make this. I decided to check it out. And for some reason, I stuck with it. Although I didn’t know how to use Makecode, I tried some stuff, it was pretty bad lol.
Now my school didn’t use Makecode to teach coding or anything. They don’t even teach coding. I practically just played around and… only understood a few blocks.
Then I discovered the forums through the settings tab in the editor. Seeing this might help, I singed up right away.
Apparently I didn’t learn a thing or two, but instead a buncha stuff. Like how variables were used (not what they were exactly) and how to use functions and all that stuff. An all of that came from looking and analyzing users’ projects. And in a couple of months, I got the hang of Makecode and achieved intermediate status.
I’m proud I got this far. But I can’t stop there. My online coding classes (who didn’t teach Makecode) cleared up some block-coding stuff and some of that learning has been applied here. I also viewed tutorials and read user help posts.
My first game was Bird Run- a remix of Raptor Run, and, yes, it was an remix. But doing remixes taught me more Makecode and eventually I was able to make my own game from scratch like Duck Hunters (scroll till you find it). And I guess I was able to make it good.
With learning makecode stuff, it made me feel like I can create other stuff beyond just retro games. What about a website? An app? Maybe a robot vacuum? Who knows?
It really got me interested in retro stuff. I literally started emulating old operating systems because of Makecode! Funny how making pixel-based games makes you hungry for retro nostalgia. Or for me, I guess.
I’m really loving Makecode now, aside from Scratch. It got me a great head-start on working with other block-based coding languages. I definitely feel that schools or others who teach coding should use Makecode for their coding lessons.
Overall, if anyone asks, how, is Makecode, and is it great? My response is YES. Learn it and do it if you want to get a good foundation in coding. That’s how I got mine.
Happy anniversary to Makecode!!!