The MakeCode Newsletter
Welcome to the newsletter devoted to Microsoft MakeCode, the easy-but-powerful block and Javascript (and sometimes Python!) code creator. We include MakeCode news, highlights, information, happenings, hardware, and more from around the world, so you can read the latest MakeCode info all in one spot!
If you’d like to receive this newsletter via email early each month, sign up here.
Missed a previous issue? No worries, you can check out the archive right here!
Arcade Mini Game in a Text Adventure
Game development teacher Steve Isaacs posts: “I LOVE this idea - one of my students has realized that he can embed @MSMakeCode #makecode arcade games in a @twinethreads game! What a neat concept - play the mini arcade games to unlock clues, advance in the game, etc. Brilliant!” - Game Design Class Blog.
Education Spotlight
Microsoft continues daily and weekly video streams on using MakeCode. This includes the new MakeCode Live with John Park (from Adafruit) Tuesdays at 12 PM Pacific, 3PM Eastern US Time. Microsoft writes:
With many schools closed due to COVID-19, we know that parents and educators are looking for online learning resources for students. We’ve compiled a list of helpful resources that students can access to continue their computing education outside the classroom.
Microsoft and Mixer.
Microsoft has also released “Intro to Computer Science”, a 14 week course for ages 11-14 years of age. Materials are free to download in a number of formats - makecode.microbit.org.
MakeCode Minute
Use Maker MakeCode to help you build circuits to go along with your code - YouTube.
Check out all the MakeCode minute videos on YouTube.
MakeCode Arcade Game of the Week!
WC Man by reyhanPanci256 is an incredibly fun (and difficult) wall jumping platform game in the vein of Celeste! - MakeCode Forum.
Check out all the MakeCode Arcade game of the week videos on YouTube.
News from around the web!
An emergency Microsoft Teams mute/unmute arcade button, built with an Adafruit Feather and MakeCode - Twitter.
Clicker-box turns a microcontroller into a mouse / keyboard clicker, optimized for button smashing games - GitHub.io.
Ivan Bosnić built a micro:bit facimile in Microsoft Minecraft and connected it to a physical micro:bit for control. The project uses mostly MakeCode with a little bit of Python - Twitter.
The delightfully delirious day clock narrows the day of the week down to roughly eight different possibilities - Instagram and YouTube.
Croatia drawn in MakeCode for Minecraft. It uses a Python script taking an image to draw - Twitter.
The Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB) in Taipei launched a series of DIY anti-virus workshops for all ages on April 12th, the first of which focused on transforming a micro:bit micro-computer into an infrared thermometer - Adafruit.
A micro:bit calculator tutorial in MakeCode - YouTube.
A DFRobot HuskyLens uses facial recognition to follow the user. The bot uses MakeCode Arcade on a Meowbit - Twitter and Robot.
An update in the MakeCode editor now allows use of PWM to control motors on the Kitronik Motor Driver Board - Kitronik.
A tutorial on how to trim a continuous rotation servo with code. This uses Microsoft’s MakeCode Editor for the BBC microbit - Kitronik.
micro:bit sending data to a computer via USB serial - A/B/tilt and RGB slider demos.
Grow is a multilevel game coded by students - Blogger, Twitter, and Download
Five Nights at Frogers Pizza Delivery: MakeCode Arcade and Motors - YouTube.
Seven year old Nicolas presents another great MakeCode lesson: BrainPad Space Shooter Game II - Twitter and YouTube.
Digital Skills 4 All: MakeCode Arcade tutorial, part 3 - YouTube.
Design a Video Game Virtual Class, learn to design your first video game - Haking Innovation and Instagram.
MakeCode: Types, Games and Machine Code - infoq.
Make2Learn has a number of guided lessons with videos - Make2Learn.
#ICYDNCI What was the most popular, most clicked link, in last month’s newsletter? Microsoft Online Learning
Microsoft is hiring for the MakeCode Team
Microsoft is a major employer and recently announced they have openings in the MakeCode Team. See their Job Listings for the positions open - Twitter.
Coming Soon
Beta Testing - MakeCode 2020 for micro:bit Update
…range of new features and improvements (are) available in the MakeCode Editor 2020 beta available now. You can also find details about this update on the MakeCode Blog and a walkthrough on mixer.
New Guides using MakeCode!
Make It Glow - Your First NeoPixel Project from Erin St Blaine.
Your First Power Switch Relay Project - Circuit Playground Smart Plug from Erin St Blaine.
And check out all MakeCode guides on learn.adafruit.com.
New Extensions!
A DS3231 real-time clock extension for MakeCode for micro:bit - GitHub.
Resources for Educators and more!
If we missed any resources, please let us know on GitHub, we’ll be updating this list each newsletter.
Join the MakeCode Discussions on Discord
The Adafruit Discord community has a dedicated #makecode channel to discuss all things MakeCode, seek advice, etc. - Join us now.
What is Microsoft MakeCode?
Microsoft MakeCode is a free, open source platform for creating engaging computer science learning experiences that support a progression path into real-world programming - YouTube.
Simulator
An interactive simulator provides students with immediate feedback on how their program is running and makes it easy to test and debug their code.
Block Editor
Students new to coding can start with colored blocks that they can drag and drop onto their workspace to construct their programs.
JavaScript Editor
When they are ready, students can move into a full-featured JavaScript editor with code snippets, tooltips, and error detection to help them.
MakeCode Arcade
Microsoft MakeCode Arcade is a web-based beginner-friendly code editor to create retro arcade games for the web and for microcontrollers. In this guide, you will learn how to assemble your own Arcade hardware from different parts. MakeCode Arcade is open source, and on GitHub.
Microsoft has produced an excellent overview video of MakeCode Arcade - YouTube.
Contribute!
The MakeCode Newsletter is a community-run newsletter with support from Microsoft. The complete archives are here. Contributions are welcome! Please make pull request to modify the latest draft from inside the _drafts directory on GitHub.
