I found a really neat visual programming tool called Google Blockly. It lets you visually create code by snapping different types of blocks together to create code. It is also able to take the code you write and generate code in a variety of languages including Javascript, LUA, Dart, Python and PHP.

The tool is a fantastic learning tool and makes code both readable and easy to manipulate. Both major pluses in my book. It’s also ridiculously easy to use. You don’t need to know the languages you are working with or even be familiar with programming languages at all to figure this out. This makes it a fantastic learning tool if you are just trying to learn how to code. With Google Blockly it’s possible to learn about conditions and loops without having to learn how each language handles them specifically.

One of the coolest things about Blockly is that it is completely open source on GitHub (https://github.com/google/blockly). This means you can extend it with support for new languages or add your own blocks. But more importantly, it means that other people already have extended it and created a number of awesome platforms and tools around this project.

Want to jump right in? Here is a link to the same editor I use during this video: https://blockly-demo.appspot.com/static/demos/code/index.html

Check out Blockly over at it’s project page here: https://developers.google.com/blockly/
That link connects with a number of projects made with it as well as the source code.

Some of the projects made with Blockly include MIT’s Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/developers) and Blockly Games (https://blockly-games.appspot.com).

What do you think of Blockly? Let me know in the comments!