DEV Community: Chiara Massironi

Learn PHP aboard the OSS Elephpant

Chiara Massironi — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 08:57:16 +0000

Enhance your programming skills with TwilioQuest

TwilioQuest is a PC role-playing game inspired by classics of the 16-bit era. Free forever, and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Learn practical skills that are critical for success in the programming field.

A new mission

Embark on the OSS Elephpant, a massive living colony ship with residents that need your help! The evil legacy systems have attempted to sabotage the ship, and only you can restore order by repairing the ship’s systems. Navigate through the ship as you use your expanding PHP skills to unlock challenges and help save the ship!

Meet the creator of the PHP mission

"Hi, my name is Margaret and I got to take the lead creating this new part of the TwilioQuest universe! As a Developer Evangelist I loved to create arcade-like experiences at events using TwilioQuest because I love the concept so much, and earlier this year I was very excited to get to join the team creating it!
I've been working primarily with PHP for the last 20 years, and have often lamented the lack of assisted learning experiences available for what is a truly outstanding open source programming language. Getting to tackle that challenge within the context of a retro sci-fi video game is a bizarrely specific dream come true!" You can learn more about Margaret here.

See you in the Cloud!

TwilioQuest Earth Day Challenge

Chiara Massironi — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 09:06:22 +0000

Earth Day 2020

Wednesday, April 22nd is Earth Day’s 50th anniversary (www.earthday.org). Some pretty incredible milestones have been achieved over the years, including the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts in 1970, and the signing of the historic Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016. This year’s Earth Day theme is climate action, and at a time when social distancing is a necessary requirement, Earth Day is going digital. TwilioQuest started the year with a goal of planting 10,000 trees to support reforestation efforts in Australia, and we’re participating in Earth Day with our Earth Day tree-planting challenge.

#SaveTheCloudSaveTheEarth

If you’ve played TwilioQuest, you may have already encountered a few tree-planting chests in the game. In light of Earth Day, we have added 8 additional tree-planting chests that will be visible from Tuesday, April 21st. The goal of this challenge is to see how many trees the TwilioQuest community can plant in one day. To get started, download TwilioQuest (www.twilio.com/quest), join the event "Earth Day 2020", find as many tree-planting chests as you can, and take on the Earth Day challenge! Share your progress online using the hashtag #SaveTheCloudSaveTheEarth.

Earth Day Challenge on Twitch

In addition to the new chests, we will be live on Twitch (www.twitch.tv/twilio) with the support of streamers from around the world who will be planting trees in TwilioQuest from 5am EDT (10am BST). Show them some love by tuning into their streams, and join the Earth Day tree planting challenge live.

TwilioQuest Earth Day Challenge

Chiara Massironi — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 09:42:30 +0000

Earth Day 2020

#SaveTheCloudSaveTheEarth

Earth Day Challenge on Twitch

TwilioQuest 3, the RPG for Developers and New Programmers

Chiara Massironi — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 16:51:24 +0000

More and more of our lives are lived inside the virtual worlds of computers. This universe, which we refer to as The Cloud, expands every second of every day. The ability to write code - the laws of these virtual worlds - has become a precious resource.

There are those who would use the power of code to steal, deceive, and oppress. We know these evil forces as the Legacy Systems. From the shadows, they conspire to dominate the free people of The Cloud. Their wealth and privilege have carried them to the edge of victory, but one thing stands in their way - the Operators.

From every race, religion, gender, and background, Operators in the TwilioQuest program are known across The Cloud as champions of justice. They are sworn to uphold the Operator's Code - that their technical skills will be used only to unlock hope, power, and freedom for all humanity. But today, their numbers are few.

We turn to you for help. Take up the tools of software development. Become an Operator. Save The Cloud.

About the Game

Chapter 1 of TwilioQuest challenges players to take their first steps as an Operator in the TwilioQuest program. The player is placed in command of the Fog Owl, a prototype Cloud Exploration Vessel designed to allow users to travel deeper into The Cloud than ever before. Players will be supported by Cedric, an advanced virtual intelligence designed to act as your advisor and executive officer. However, the Fog Owl is not yet fully operational. While technicians finish their work on the ship, the player can undertake training missions to prepare for their inevitable confrontation with the Legacy Systems.

Using the integrated code editor or your own programming tools, you will hack locked barriers and treasure chests by completing programming challenges. Your efforts will be rewarded with rad loot and experience points to track your progress as a developer. Today, most of the challenges you'll encounter are related to Twilio products and APIs. In the future, the overwhelming majority of content in TwilioQuest will be general-purpose technical training content aimed at teaching a new generation of Operators (at any experience level) to join the struggle against the Legacy Systems.

Download the game (www.twilio.com/quest/download) and see how far your skills will take you today!