One major announcement at this year’s WWDC is the introduction of a brand new app for the iPad, aiming to help kids learn how to code
Swift Playgrounds combines Apple’s Swift programming language with the iPad. A new way to learn how to code, right from within an iPad app. A new way for kids to learn. There are lessons and challenges.
Fundamentals of Swift is the first lesson. There is a preview of the content, with graphics and the description. There’s an introduction of the coding concept, and when the user is ready, there is an option to quickly jump into the coding part.
On the right, there’s an interactive aspect, which can be swiped, pins-to-zoom, and more. On the left of the screen there are instructions, which have a problem to solve, with the area below to enter the code.
Commands appear on the bottom and are quick type suggestions for code. Entering code has the animated content on the right follow suit, and students will complete lessons one-by-one.
Users can move from one lesson to the next, or use the Table of Contents to choose which lesson they want to go into next. There are quite a few options to choose from.
There are easy lessons, but also more details lessons that deal with more complex ideas and coding elements. There is a new coding keyboard specifically made for the Swift Playgrounds app, which features numbers and symbols for Swift programming. There are suggestions that pop up as well, making it even faster to enter code.
Swift Playground will be a free app. It will release to the public this fall, and a beta launches next month.
Apple’s WWDC keynote is still happening, and you can follow along with our liveblog right here, to stay up-to-the-minute on everything being announced.
