Programming theory taught through clever app
Cargo-Bot created by Two Lives Left is a game centered around programming concepts strategy. It serves as a great platform for one to visually watch there code blocks run before their eyes instantly. The goal is to program the cargo-bot to solve various task, problems and perform basics operations. While the game starts off at a beginner level teaching you the ways of loops, boo-leans, and if statements, it quickly progresses into more advanced concepts leaving you hung up and mind boggled.
I installed the game out of interest for the sheer wit behind it and wanted to see what it had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised with the overall feel, from the very beginning starting off, to the point from where I left off (around level 9 I think). Generally I don’t game too much, however I ended up being glued on this app for a number of hours straight. The user interface was clean and pretty, the graphics and animation were great.
Wanting to see how others fared with this game we introduced it to a 10 year old kid we were baby sitting. He thinks he’s a pretty solid gamer and so we set him loose on it. It was not very long before he was looking up the walk through videos on YouTube. My brother on the other-hand is an fairly advanced coder and went to the point were he was amazed at how deep the game was going. Levels started requiring computer science concepts such as recursion (defined here)A programming method in which a routine calls itself. Recursion is an extremely powerful concept, but it can strain a computer's memory resources. Some programming languages, such as LISP and Prolog, are specifically designed to use recursive methods. and stacks (defined here) In programming, a special type of data structure in which items are removed in the reverse order from that in which they are added, so the most recently added item is the first one removed. This is also called last-in, first-out (LIFO). Adding an item to a stack is called pushing. Removing an item from a stack is called popping..
The game demonstrates the Codea framework the new IOS framework for apple, it was completely created on the Ipad. Looking to target developers in order for Codea to strut their stuff and make a mark.
Codea was voted most innovative App in 2011. IOS Division Winner!
