Gamification of learning is quite in vogue these days, and why not, as it makes things even easier! Microsoft has followed the trend too. The software giant recently announced the launch of Code Hunt, a browser-based game for all who are interested in coding. Microsoft is applying the game like the design to the coding which makes it more fun and engaging for the learners.
Microsoft Research Code Hunt
Code Hunt is developed by a team in Microsoft Research, led by Principal Research Software Engineer Peli de Halleux and Principal Development Lead Nikolai Tillmann. Code Hunt runs on Microsoft Azure and focuses on two languages, Java and C#.
The game has 15 sectors and each sector has different levels. The 15 sectors include:
- 00 – Training
- 01- Arithmetic
- 02- Loops
- 03- Loops 2
- 04- Conditionals
- 05- Conditionals 2
- 06- Strings
- 07- Strings 2
- 08- Nested Loops
- 09- 1d arrays
- 10- Jagged arrays
- 11- arrays 2
- 12- Search sort
- 13- Cyphers
- 14- puzzles
Code Hunt is based on puzzles to be explored by the players using the given clues and test cases. The learners/players have to modify the code to match the functional behavior of secret solutions. If their code matches, they get a score and are moved on to the next level and so on.
The way of learning to code in Code Hunt is very different. Unlike the regular coding classes, Code Hunt gives an empty slate to the students, with a set of different test cases. The problems here are presented as a pattern, matching inputs and outputs – and finding the matching pattern would surely be fun for the players.
The game starts with a comprehensive tutorial with a welcome message saying, “Greetings, program! You are an experimental application known as a CODE HUNTER. You, along with other code hunters, have been sent into a top-secret computer system to find, restore, and capture as many code fragments as possible. Your progress, along with your fellow code hunters, will be tracked. Good luck.”
Based on Pex, Microsoft Research’s advanced implementation of dynamic symbolic execution, CodeHunt.com will definitely help you hone your coding skills.
