Learning Coding with the iPad 12.9

Your iPad 12.9 may not be the most ideal way to do serious coding, but it is a great way to take your first steps in that direction. Maybe that’s because it’s just so easy to take around with  you, especially when it’s ensconced in an iPad Pro 12.9 case. Maybe it’s because its responsiveness invites interaction, and encourages you to experiment and try out new things.

Relaxing on the couch with that iPad Pro 12.9 in its iPad Pro 12.9 5th generation case, the sky is the limit. Why not try out a new app and learn a new skill when you’re at it— maybe even a skill that could jumpstart a future career?

Whether you’re looking for gamified coding challenges or a step-by-step course in a new coding language, you’ll find a host of useful apps  that can guide your first steps exploring the wonderful new world of coding. Here we’ll look at a few favorites. 

Swift Playgrounds

Swift Playgrounds was born from Apple’s Everyone Can Code initiative, and if you’re wanting to learn Swift, it is definitely the most fun way to go about that. Accessible to everyone, from kids to adults, it takes a fun, graphical approach to coding. If you’re older than five the first lessons may seem easy, but it’ll ramp up quickly after that.

The first three sections,  Learn to Code 1, Learn to Code 2, and Learn to Code 3 are mostly fun and games, but they’ll give you good understanding of how programming with Swift works as well. Further modules give you what need to know to go further and create your own iPad app.

The newest version of Swift Playgrounds doesn’t only teach you to code, it also provides an interface where you can actually do it— and write an entire app, ready to be exported to the app store.  This is our favorite learn-to-code application, period, and there’s only one problem with it: it only teaches Swift, so if you want to learn C++, Java or SQL you’ll need to go elsewhere.

Sololearn

Sololearn boasts the largest collection of free programming courses anywhere, and offerings include Python, C++, JavaScript, Java, PHP, Ruby and jQuery.  Users enjoy the easy-to-understand lessons, and can get help from a community of others who are also learning but may be at a different point in their journey than you are.

There’s also a free mobile code editor, which allows you to write and run code from your own iPad— no additional installations required. Complete a course on Sololearn, and you’ll get a certificate you can post on LinkedIn or on your resume. To actually complete a course, though, you’ll probably have to pay: only the initial lessons are free. 

Yolmo

Yolmo is another great addition in the line-up of learn-to-code apps. It includes 25+ programming playgrounds, and supported languages include Javascript, Go, C, Python, Rust, Turtle, Java, Lisp, SQL, Cobol, Perl, Lua, Graphviz, Picat, C#, HTML, PHP, Ruby, Typescript, and Markdown.

There aren’t any challenges or quizzes in this app, but there is a good overview of each programming language and an editor that allows you to write your own code. The editor is helpful for discovering syntax errors and other problems in what you wrote, and you can open up unlimited workspaces.

Mimo

Mimo is an easy-to-use app that encourages you to ‘build streaks’ by doing a few minutes of coding a day. The interface is sleek and well-designed, and it’s easy to see where to start and what to do next. Mimo currently includes courses for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Swift, Python, Ruby, Java, C#, C++ and SQL, with plans for new courses to be added in the future.

Mimo is a great coding app, and might have been first on our list except for just two problems t. The free options are limited— great for a beginner, but maybe not much more. The paid options are not only paid, but also expensive. More expensive then they’re worth, in our opinion. Our advice? Download the app, learn what you can for free, and then go on to one of the other apps on our list. 

Related Reading: Is An iPad Good For A Freelancer?

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a little different from the other apps on this list: it’s a general education app, and can teach you everything from geometry to calculus to US history. There are also courses on  computing , and though they might not be quite as Swift Playgrounds, they’ll definitely give you a fair bit of useful information. All of Khan Academy is free and available to anyone anywhere.

Hour of Code is the Khan answer to the Hour of Code initiative and enables students to spend an hour of drawing with javascript, an hour of building webpages, and an hour of databases. There’s also an entire course on computer programming, which focuses on JS, HTML/CSS, and SQL.

Coursera

Similar to Khan Academy, Coursera offers online courses in a wide variety of subjects. Courses are usually at a higher level— think college rather than highschool, and they are written and administered by colleges and universities around the country and around the world.

Open for enrollment at the moment is an Introduction to Programming with Python and Java from the University of Pennsylvania, an Introduction to Programming by the University of Edinburgh, and HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers from John Hopkins University. You an even earn a Masters in Computer Science on Coursera, though it will cost you. Individual courses are often free, or financial aid is available.

What is your favorite way to learn coding on the iPad 12.9? Do you prefer using a visual interface like Swift Playgrounds, or do you prefer the academic atmosphere of Coursera? Either way, the iPad is a great place to start learning. Get a iPad Pro 12.9 5th generation case with keyboard, or a ipad pro 12.9 case 2021 with an external bluetooth keyboard if that’s what you prefer. Then get coding.