Play the computer - CCT 001
When doing coding workshops with young people, I have noticed that some concepts are difficult to grasp. For example, that the programming space is an area of complete freedom, where you need to invent. That the computer knows nothing. That the variables names you choose mean nothing to the computer - naming a variable velocity or position won't give the computer any more understanding of what you are doing (thought it will be helpful to you to properly name your variables). The computer will simply, blindly execute whatever you ask it to do, like a machine, which it actually is.
Sometimes I ask my "students" to reread their code as if they were this dumb computing machine, which just does what is written there, without thinking at all. It can help understanding why things don't work as expected sometimes.
I thus wanted to make this simple game that lets you experience what it feels like to be a computer. Process code line by line, without paying attention to any context. Move data from the memory, do some computing, then push the results back to memory. Here is the game:
https://microstudio.io/gilles/cct001/
Let me know what you think!
