This year I am doing a second round of #100DaysOfCode and I want to squeeze in as many practice lessons as possible. I’m mainly focusing on JavaScript this time around but still review HTML and CSS. This lead me to dive into the world of mobile coding apps. Below are two free apps that can help you in your coding journey today!
1. Grasshopper by Google
Grasshopper is an app created by Google that focuses on JavaScript fundamentals but the app is code agnostic as these concepts can be applied to a number of languages.
This is the first app I tried as it allowed for me to do lesson after lesson with no daily limit. Like most apps you can set a goal of how long you want to learn for. I chose 15 mins a day.
At first I thought it was going to pretty simple given its deceivingly playful aesthetic. There is a grasshopper named Grace, which pays homage to Grace Hopper, that guides you along your journey. There is a lot of great bits of symbolism in the design, like how you start on the ground and reach for the stars and beyond.
The puzzles can be solved in about five minutes and there are 7 courses total. After each course you receive a digital certificate you can save. I completed all 7 in about two weeks but I will revisit Intro to Interviewing. This section started to dive into computer science and at the end of the course you had to complete a challenging Google Interview question. This by far was the hardest section in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
What drew me to the app was their commitment to keeping it free. In their FAQ they state “We firmly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn to code, regardless of their means. We’re committed to keep Grasshopper free to use.” The programming community is great because of projects like this. Also the team Lead and founder of Grasshopper is a woman and that is also pretty rad!
Here are my certificates 🤗
2. m1m0
m1m0 is the second app I have dived into after I finished Grasshopper. Unlike Grasshopper which has a set path, with m1m0 you choose a track. You can choose from a number of categories ranging from web development to cyber security and AI. I chose the web development path.
Limited Access
This app has a limit or health line of ‘3 hearts’ ❤️. When you get a question wrong you loose a heart. If you loose all your life you will have to wait 4 hours before continuing on with lessons and challenges. This is a cool feature so that you don’t overload your brain and rush through lessons. It also helps to make sure you are understanding the lessons. When you lose your final heart in the middle of a lesson you have to cancel and start that lesson over.
In-App Purchase
This app is not 100% free. For $9.99 / month or $79.99 a year you can get m1m0 Pro which opens up all of the tracks, courses, and challenges. You also have unlimited hearts when you sign up for the pro account but for now I am using the free version which is pretty robust and satisfying my educational needs.
Leaderboard & Leagues
m1m0 has different leagues that you are automatically entered into. You gain ⚡️Sparks by completing lessons and challenges. At the end of your sessions your points are added up and there is a leaderboard of the top 50 leading members.
You start off with the Wooden League and all the other ones are locked for a certain period of time. At the time of writing this it says there is 15h and 21 min left. I’m not sure what happens after that but I’m excited to find out!
Conclusion
And there you have it! Two free apps you can use on the go to round out your coding journey. Each one with a different flavor language but each equally as effective. Do you use coding apps in your learning? If so let me know down below in the comments some other great apps!
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