My dad has always wanted me to get into programming. He loves computer science himself, and despite the limited resources he had at the time, he still strives to understand it due to hes love for it. In our current times, the advancement of technology is growing at a quick rate, and more and more things are being developed. And thanks to our technological advancements and the available resources we have, There are many easy ways to learn how code, and pick up on it fast. One of these ways is to code with Tynker, an app that can be downloaded on mobile devices for free. Looking the the top photo, it looks like a kids game. In fact, it is a kids game, and its meant to teach kids how to code. And no I didn't play with this app as a kid, but I merely started only 3 years ago. You probably see coding as a really complicated course, with all the syntaxes, and wierd punctuations involved in it. But in tynker, your coding tools are merely building blocks, with pre-built in codes. From that, you get the fundemantles of coding, and telling things what to do with a computer. Tynker will do exactly what you want it to do, even if thats not what you really want.

After finding out that Tynker was a little too easy for me, I moved on to hopscotch. It was the exact same thing as tynker, accept that there are more features and functions in it. In hopscotch, you can code games or other cool things, and post it online. Other people will be able to see your projects, and you will be able to see their projects. Another cool thing about hopscotch is the fact that not only will you be able to see another persons project, but you also get to see the code and program behind it and further develop your coding skills. In tynker, there are story modes and quests that you have to pay for, but in hopscotch, the learning experience is all free.

Hopscotch may have more features and functions than tynker, but in the end, it's still pretty much the exact same thing. All you do is stack blocks that tells your video game characters what to do. People who plays with hopscotch may understand the concept of programming, but due to the limitations of the apps, there is only so much you can do. The next step was to learn the programming langguage that powers our every day uses, like computers, or home heaters. And the very first programming langguage I have ever learned, and I'm still far from mastering it, is C. But what exactly am I programming? Arduino. Arduino is micro-controller that is designed by italians to make coding and electrical technology easy to understand. The program is free to download, and the microcontroller only costs 18 dollars. And with something so cheap, you can learn very much. Anyone can pick up an arduino, hook it up to a computer or a laptop, and make any with it, whether its an automatic pet feeder, or your own self made digital clock, arduino can do anything. Although I havent done anything too productive with it yet, I would like to build things that will improve my home.

As summer dawned, my parents wanted me to learn new things everyday, and thats when we found Mission Bit. Mission Bit is a non profit community that pays kids to learn how to code, and help others with their technological skills. Kids, including me, learn how to make websites, or video games. The coding langguages that I have developed were, HTML, the structure of a website, CSS, the beuty of the website, and JavaScript, the buttons, and interactable things in a website. As I dont really have much of an interest in making websites myself, learning these langguages are useful skills that I can aquire, and watching things work the way I want it to is very satisfying. Not only do we learn how to code in Mission Bit, but we also help people in need as a community. We look at problems in the city, and we try to fix them.

Everything I have learned before Mission Bit, has all been self taught, with a some help and encouragement from my dad. It can be fun sometimes, but other times, I get discouraged easily when things that I program aren't working out well. I was never given the structure needed to learn, and truly understand what I'm coding. But that's exactly what I get in Mission Bit. I was taught coding the proper, and structural way. And thanks to strong encouragements from the teachers, I picked up on coding quickly. And thanks to the way I have been taught, I was, and I still am, encourage to learn more things myself, and one of those things, were Unity. Unity is a Game Engine that is used to make games. You can make your own characters and levels, and animate and program them all. Or, you can download pre-made assets for free, or with money. You can either use JavaScript to code your game, or you can use the programming langguage of C#, which is what I use. I play many video games myself, and watched other people play, and from that, I get ideas of my own. Unity is still very new to me, and can be difficult to use, but thanks to all the resources I have on the internet, learning is simple.