When there is demand, there is supply. With the IT sector becoming more popular as technology continues to evolve, Google wants to at least help those in it get a head start.
Here, Google employees have teamed up and created an app called 'Grasshopper'. Named after programming pioneer 'Grace Hopper', it teaches users the fundamentals of programming with simple challenges and quiz questions from programming languages like JavaScript, using visual puzzles.
This should ease those learning how to code, in developing their problem-solving skills and solidify coding concepts.
"We see Grasshopper as a launchpad to help introduce people to code. For one-third of our users, Grasshopper is the first time they’ve ever encountered coding,” said Laura Holmes, founder of Grasshoppers. "Many people think that coding isn’t for them or don’t have the access and time needed to consider it as a viable career path, and we want to help change that perception."
Initially, the app that is available on both iOS and Android, includes three sets of lessons. They cover the fundamentals of programming (calling functions, using variables and objects, and so forth), as well as animations.
“Coding is becoming such an essential skill, and we want to make it possible for everyone to learn even when life gets busy,” the app’s About Us page explains. “We made Grasshopper to help folks like you get into coding in a fun and easy way.”
This is because Grasshopper uses animations and visual graphics that walk users through the challenges.
"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," said Holmes.
"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."
With each lesson getting harder has the user advances, Grasshopper is just like similar learning apps in the market, which rewards users for their achievements. From medals to prizes, Grasshopper awards users based on their usage and when passing new levels.
Grasshopper was born from Google's Area 120 internal incubator, which is a program which allows Google employees to work full-time on their side projects.
In October 2019, Google launched a web-based version of Grasshopper, with a three-panel interface that resembles many popular code editors, and IDEs such as Atom and Eclipse.