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"In 2014, Apple introduced a programming language called Swift that made waves in the developer community -- not just for its power and flexibility, but for how easy it is to learn. So easy, in fact, that Apple believes it could be anyone's first programming language. That's why it went ahead and created Swift Playgrounds, a free iPad app designed to teach kids how to code. Now, a year after its release, Apple is ready to expand its educational repertoire. With the June 5th release of Swift Playgrounds 1.5, Apple's app will also teach kids to program robots and drones.
Gallery: Program robots and drones with Apple's Swift Playgrounds
What this means is that kids will be able to program and control a variety of Bluetooth-enabled robots and toys right within the Swift Playgrounds app. So instead of just tapping around on a touchscreen to move virtual characters, kids can write snippets of Swift code and translate them to physical robot actions. At launch, Swift Playgrounds 1.5 will be compatible with the following third-party toys: Lego Mindstorms Education EV3, Sphero SPRK+ robotic ball, Parrot's Mambo, Rolling Spider and Airborne mini-drones, UBTECH's Jimu Robot MeeBot Kit, Wonder Workshop's Dash robot and Skoog, a tactile cube speaker. It bears mentioning that there are already several toys out there that aims to teach code to kids, but Apple's solution is one of a few -- if not the only one -- that uses a genuine programming language instead of just block-based code."
