The MakeCode Newsletter
This is a newsletter devoted to Microsoft MakeCode, the easy but powerful block and Javascript code creator. We include MakeCode news, highlights, information, happenings, hardware, and more from around the world. If you’re looking to keep up on the latest in the MakeCode-osphere, we can’t think of a better place than right here in this newsletter!
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Missed a previous issue? No worries, you can check out the archive right here!
3rd Official Microsoft MakeCode Game Jam
Go check out the winners of the latest MakeCode Game Jam! You can play them, as well as all of the other games which were submitted to the 3rd Official Microsoft MakeCode Game Jam! The competition pitted game development skills against others to build a game using MakeCode Arcade, a game engine for retro pixel-art games that run in the browser or on handheld game devices - GameJam.
Education Spotlight
8th Grade Students Make Games at Fulton Academy of Science & Technology in Roswell, Georgia on an Adafruit PyBadge with MakeCode - Blog
Inspiring Next Gen Coders with MakeCode - Build Conference.
Microsoft MakeCode Videos
Watch livestreaming Microsoft MakeCode videos on Twitch.
The Microsoft MakeCode YouTube Channel has recordings of livestreams - YouTube.
MakeCode Minute
In this MakeCode Minute, John Park shows how to use two great new features to improve visual organization in the blocks editor. Code formatting and block collapse/expand are here!
Check out all the MakeCode minute videos on YouTube.
MakeCode Arcade Game of the Week!
Tiny Soccer Cars by theCobolKid an amazing MakeCode-alike of Rocket League!!
Check out all the MakeCode Arcade game of the week videos on YouTube.
News from around the web!
Pacific Spin Blaster game for MakeCode Arcade using the Polygon and Spinner extensions. The code is on GitHub and both MakeCode Arcade extensions are also on GitHub.
A MakeCode beat visualizer with Circuit Playground Express - Twitter and Twitch.
Circuit Playground Express and Ultrasonic Distance Measurement in Makecode - Instructables.
A simple gimbal with micro:bit and 2 servos - Instructables and YouTube.
A custom block for DF Robot’s Boson Starter Kit for micro:bit - Twitter and MakeCode.
A micro:bit based robot using servos - Twitter.
The Adafruit Py Hunter game, with instructions translated into German - Twitter and Game.
Using MakeCode to code an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and a Crickit with a servo, a US-100 sensor and a speaker. Used polygonia design for the side design - Twitter.
A Multiplayer Fighting Game on two GameGo units With Makecode Arcade - Instructables and YouTube.
Measuring pendulum decay with BBC micro:bit and XinaBox - hackster.io.
A creative Coding lightning talk for Candid Contributions CodePatch - a quick intro to Processing , SonicPi, Pico8 & MakeCode - Twitter and YouTube.
A Minecraft chessboard using 26 lines of code - Twitter.
A gathering of micro:bit Very Useful Monsters getting ready for coding robotics engineering camps in Indiana @1stMakerSpace and California @StIgnatius. Proto Pasta
Endless Pastabilities colors for the feet - Twitter.
Morse Code on the micro:bit - BloggedIn
A little fun for Remote Developers in the form of an activity book from the Azure community Microsoft.
#ICYDNCI What was the most popular, most clicked link, in last month’s newsletter? Black Girls Code Virtual Summer Camps.
Microsoft is hiring for the MakeCode Team
Microsoft has openings in the MakeCode Team. See their Job Listings for the positions open.
New Guides using MakeCode!
Chatty Light-Up Circuit Playground Express Mask by Kathy Ceceri.
No-Solder PaperCraft Crystal Light Strand by Erin St Blaine.
And check out all MakeCode guides on learn.adafruit.com.
New Extensions!
polygon-ext includes both the Polygon and Spinner Extensions for MakeCode Arcade - GitHub.
The polgon-with-sliders extension for MakeCode Arcade allows for drawing polygons and using on-screen sliders - GitHub and We Code MakeCode.
New Hardware!
The XK05 Internet of Things (IoT) kit from Xinabox consists of two parts: a micro:bit IM01 which includes an SD card and a CW01 core that adds WiFi capability to the micro:bit - BloggedIn.
Latest Releases
Microsoft is looking for feedback on MakeCode Streamer! A BETA web site to create live or recorded coding videos - Product Page and Twitter
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.
