CASTALIA RELEASES “SwiftSwitch”, AN ENVIRONMENT FOR ELEMENTARY/JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO LEARN PROGRAMMING WHERE BLOCKS AND CODES CAN BE LEARNED IN ONE LANGUAGE

On August 2, 2017, Castalia Co., Ltd. (registered main office: Nagano, Japan / headquarters: Tokyo, Japan / CEO: Satoshi Yamawaki) released “SwiftSwitch”, an environment for elementary and junior high school students to start learning programming.  “SwiftSwitch”, a browser-exclusive tool, can be used on any operating systems.  With approachable characters and stories, users can enjoy learning programming as if it were a game.  The greatest advantage is that users can learn both block programming and code programming in one programming language: Swift.  At the beginning of a stage, users can “switch” between block and code modes.  “SwiftSwitch” was developed with the cooperation of QUANTUM Inc. (heardquarters: Tokyo, Japan / President & CEO: Mitsuru Takamatsu).

“SwiftSwitch” allows users to learn writing blocks and codes in one programming language: Swift, with the shift between the two with a Switch button.  Since the open-sourcing of Swift in 2015, it has been expected to be used in various fields such as the Apple open source projects; GitHub says that it “will grow into one of the main programming languages”.  The promising future of the language and the value of the skills to use it has been attracting attention.

Being a browser-exclusive tool, “SwiftSwitch” can be used on any operating system.  And the storytelling structure that follows the adventure of “Switch”, a bird character of universal approachability, allows the users to have fun as they proceed with the learning, as if they were playing a game.

SwiftSwitch URL: http://swiftswitch.org/intro-ss/