The goal of this free game programming course is to get you hooked on programming while learning fundamental programming concepts. The course is 99% video based because videos are great. You get to watch, listen, and learn. Then you complete concept questions and solve coding challenges to practice – video and code solutions are always there for when you need a hint or two.
‘Other online videos and tutorials usually guide you through a single concept quickly or just get you to follow step by step ‘how-to’ instructions. Then when you go to make your own games you get stuck as soon as you want to do something slightly different from what they taught you.’
This course is different. It focuses on developing your programming skills so that you, all by yourself, can figure out how to code cool stuff into your games or programs.
What Topics are Taught?
Programming topics have been carefully arranged so that by the end of the course you will have been exposed to the same concepts taught in traditional computer programming courses at schools or universities. Thousands of students have obtained grade 11/12 computer science programming credits by completing this course.
You can check out the Levels Page for details on topics covered in the various levels of the course.
What’s a Typical Lesson Involve?
Most lessons consist of you reading a few introductory sentences to set the mood. Then you watch a video or two that will introduce you to a new programming topic. After the video you will be given a programming challenge (or a few) that will force you to practice the concepts in the video. Of course all challenges come along with video solutions and code solutions. Many lessons will also have questions and worksheets with answers so you can reinforce and assess your understanding of the course material.
What language is taught?
GameMaker has it’s own programming language that is similar to C++ and Java. If you know any C++ or Java you will pick it up instantly. Students that continue on to learn C++ or Java afterwards have an extremely easy time since much of the syntax is exactly the same for conditions, iteration, arrays, methods, parameters, etc.
Worth a Try!
This course has been successful at teaching students how to program for almost 15 years. Some have continued learning to become great programmers with companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Some simply enjoy a little coding once and a while to create something fun to show off. It’s free, so what’s stopping you from seeing where it might take you?