Program development is an intensive endeavor. You have to be able to accurately and routinely break complex problems down into small enough pieces that they can become represented by such simple concepts as “and”, “or”, and “if”, to name a few. Using just these basic building blocks, programmers create massive projects that shape how we interact with technology and our world around us.
What first sparked my interest in coding was the popular sandbox building game Minecraft. In Minecraft, there is a substance called Redstone that can be used to form basic circuits. With Redstone circuits you could open doors and create basic locks, but there was also another more technical usage, the command block.
Command blocks in Minecraft allow you to store commands and then execute those commands when hit with a Redstone signal. Effectively, it was my first experience with a console terminal. The command would only successfully execute following strict syntax I had to type in manually, and the enter key was the Redstone. The commands that could be executed by the command block were far more game-breaking than what could be done with Redstone alone, but their careful application could improve the player experience for everyone significantly. It was integral for me to learn commands in order to set up and admin servers for my friends. Sometimes I would use my knowledge for good, and sometimes I would use my knowledge for god-mode, but no matter what, Minecraft became much more fun.
As I have learned more programing languages, I constantly relive the experience I had with Minecraft. I find new and cooler things I can do and ways I can do them. I learn how to take all the basic components to create complex programs that simplify and improve my life. In the future, I hope to be able to continue programming and developing truly useful applications. I was able to shape the world in Minecraft; just maybe I can shape it in real life as well.