Meet Pip. Pip is the study companion inside Stride, a free learning app I built for Maths, Python and Java.
👉 Try it now: stride.crooli.com
No account. No sign-up. No paywall. Open it and start learning.
Why I made it
Most learning sites want an email address before you've learnt anything, then bury you in streak guilt and quizzes that punish you for not knowing something yet. I wanted the opposite: a calm place where "I'm not sure" is a perfectly good answer.
How it works
- Pick a subject. Maths, Python or Java.
- Take a six-question starting check. It doesn't matter how well you do. It only decides which lessons you need, and "I'm not sure" is always allowed.
- Follow your personal path. Lessons are small steps: learn an idea, explore it, modify it, then apply it.
- Watch evidence build, not a score. Each topic moves from introduced to practised to used independently. Answers after hints or retries never count as independent, so the progress you see is honest.
Java goes all the way to 26 topics, from your first program to tested applications and engineering projects, with a downloadable Maven/JUnit starter that has deliberately failing tests for you to fix.
Say hi to Pip
Pip lives in the corner of every page and has opinions about your code (kind ones). Pip can:
- give hints instead of handing over answers
- explain error messages in plain language in the Playground
- nudge you when it's time to back up your progress
- chat about lessons, what to practise next, or how Stride works
There's a full-screen chat at stride.crooli.com/chat. Ask Pip who made Stride. Pip knows. 😉
Other things in the box
- Playground: write and run code in many languages at stride.crooli.com/playground
- Focus timer: 15, 25 or 50 minute sessions with breaks, if you like them
- Your data stays yours: progress lives in your browser. Move it between devices with a progress code, or turn on optional sync that's encrypted on your device before it's stored
- Accessible by default: reduced-motion is respected, including Pip's animations
Under the hood
For the curious: Stride is a build-less, framework-less static site made of plain ES modules, with zero npm dependencies. Pip's character is an SVG driven by small spring animations, and its hints and error explanations are deterministic rather than AI-generated. Only the optional chat uses an AI model. Code runs through the public Wandbox API, so nothing executes on my server.
Where to use it
🌱 stride.crooli.com, free, in any modern browser, on desktop or phone.
If you try it, I'd love to hear what you think. Which subject did you pick, and did Pip say anything that made you smile? Let me know in the comments. 💚
Top comments (0)