PickCode – An educational coding environment for students after Scratch

In plain words

PickCode is an educational coding environment for students transitioning beyond visual block languages like Scratch. It runs on desktop and tablet and lets users create chatbots, visual designs, and 2D games using a visual programming approach. Designed as a bridge between block-based coding and text programming, PickCode aims to help students progress without the steep jump to traditional coding while enabling them to build projects they can be proud of quickly.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Pickcode is an online IDE with teacher tools to create lessons and streamline your classroom

You're in control: Pickcode Pro is the best tool for building your own lessons, it's not a premade curriculum. AI-free learning environment: We believe AI coding assistants are a powerful tool for professionals, but beginners should learn the fundamentals first by writing code themselves. There's no AI assistance in Pickcode, and there never will be. Student collaboration: With a Pickcode Pro subscription , teachers can set up group projects where students can collaborate in real time, just like Google Docs. Support: Email the CEO (a former CS teacher) or development team and receive an answer within hours, not weeks. Some of Pickcode's best improvements were suggested by teachers!…from pickcode.io

In the maker’s words, at launch

PickCode is designed for use on desktop and tablet, and supports creating chatbots, visual designs, and 2D games. There is plenty of functionality missing - you can't add media to games for instance, but the current version shows off the foundation of what I'm aiming at. I taught myself to code using MIT's App…

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  New visual language for teaching kids to code2023 · pickcode.io · ▲420

  Pickcode is a new language and editor for getting kids started with coding. The code editing experience is totally structured, where you select choices from menus rather than typing. I made Pickcode after experiences teaching kids both block coding (Scratch, App Inventor) and Python. To me, block coding is too far removed from regular coding for kids to make the connection. Pickcode provides a much clearer transition path for students to Python/JS/Java. Our target market is middle/early high school kids, and that’s who we’ve tested the product with during development. On the…

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  Hello HN, I've linked a tutorial from Pickcode, where students are guided through making a chatbot that plays mad libs. Pickcode is designed for introducing programming without block coding, in a way that's closer to Javascript or Python. I made Pickcode based on my frustrations teaching beginners in both block coding and in Python. The link here is to just one lesson, and I have a few more that you can find on the site. I'd love feedback from HNers with kids age 10-13 or so, or HNers who can put on an intro to programming hat. On the roadmap is adding more complex use cases for your…

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