Microsoft and GitHub announce that they are making online integrated development environments (IDEs) such that students can get right to work in a web browser, avoiding software conflicts that might happen with code installs on their local machines.

Code on a laptop or with a tablet—students won’t be slowed down by their devices. Students can get started quickly in the same coding environment, so educators may teach instead of troubleshooting.

A familiar scenario for teachers: students need to run your starter code for an assignment, but software conflicts and varying devices get in the way. Whether they’re in your classroom or working from their homes, you want all of your students to successfully complete their assignments, but first, you’ll have to help them navigate their different devices and setups.

The system currently includes:

MakeCode Arcade

MakeCode Arcade is an easy to use and accessible IDE that allows students to develop retro arcade games using drag-and-drop block programming. Students can pursue their creativity, then run and play their programs from within the browser, including on a mobile device.

MakeCode is the primary code editor for working with micro:bit and also works with Minecraft, Adafruit Circuit Playground Express, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3, and Cue robots as well as other physical computing devices. Your students can learn development best practices whether they’re learning block-based programming or transitioning to JavaScript and Python.

“With Microsoft MakeCode Arcade now integrated directly into the GitHub Classroom management process, educators can use a single tool to manage their student’s work and track both individual and group assignments quickly and easily.”
– Jacqueline Russell, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft MakeCode

Repl.it

With Repl.it you can run code in any language you know. Create an assignment using a repl, which is a set of code files and directories on Repl.it. Teachers can create assignments using private repls, in addition to public ones, so you can decide whether students’ code should be shared or not with other students and the public.

The Repl.it IDE allows students to edit, run, and debug code all from within their browser. Development environments and bugs in the code are instantly reproducible.

“As more people use Repl.it for education, GitHub Classroom is one of the best tools we’ve found that lets students be organized, utilize all of the great repos on GitHub, and take full advantage of Repl.it’s collaboration features all at the same time.”
– Amjad Masad, Founder and CEO, Repl.it

Read the GitHub Blog for details.