Made with Code

Title: Made With Code

Bibliographic information:

Creator: Google

• Language: English

Interest Level: Ages 8-16

Awards, if applicable: N/A

Reader's Annotation: When Google decided to promote girls who code, they created this website which provides an introduction to object-based coding through interesting projects featuring drag and drop elements

Resource summary: This website features a series of projects which used object-oriented programming to create cool visual effects.  Projects do change periodically.  

In addition to the project section, this website features videos of female computer-science mentors, links to local girls-coding groups and an encouragement to connect with others who are passionate about the projects through social media.

Critical review: This site makes coding interesting. One of the major frustrations for people learning to code is that they can’t see what they are doing: this site resolves that by showing the object oriented code, right next to a visible representation of what they are working with.  When you couple that with the fact that some of these projects have real-world implications (One Christmas, the Made with Code designs powered the White House Christmas trees) this is a dynamic and interesting way to learn to code.

Why include it?

Marvelous things are made with code - but not enough girls and young women are the ones making them!  Encouraging them to grow and try new things is what this program is amazing for.  The programs are most suited for children ages 8 and older; while the projects are suitable for all genders, the page is a bit pink, and some boys may reject it on that basis.