Course Webpage: https://tantemalkah.at/2021/artful-coding/

Artful coding can be many things. Besides the creative mastery of the tools of the trade, it often also means a playful approach to developing computer programmes. More specifically it can also mean to create playful digital content by applying a (playful) approach to computer programming. In this course we will approach this kind of coding and you will learn the basic skills to develop simple games that can be run in (almost) any web browser and be integrated into (almost) any web page.

The course will get you up to speed with the basics of web development, based on HTML5, CSS and modern Javascript (ES6>). While the first three sessions aim at getting everyone to a point where you have the basic skills to create simple web based games, the later sessions focus on implementing three different kinds of simple games: a typing game, a memory game and a physics-based jumping block game. At the end of the course you will be tasked with a final project, the contents of which will be chosen throughout the course. The minimal version of a final project is an individual adaptation of one of the three games implemented in the course (e.g. build you own experimental extension, quirky and whacky mechanics, reflective/engaging/provocative content, ...).

As a teaser, this course also readies you to attend the Artful Coding II course in summer semester, which will introduce you to a professional and mobile ready HTML5 game engine and facilitate a more open approach to create your very own kind of web based game.

Requirements:

There is no formal requirement to attend. But you should be familiar to some extent with basic web design and/or programming. If you have already completed one or more of the following courses at the Angewandte you are all set:

* Web Design 1 or 2
* Creative Coding 1 or 2
* Physical Computing
* Grundlagen des Programmierens

If you have not visited any of these or similar courses and are not sure, and if you did not learn those skills in some other settings on your own, you still can attend and get up to speed with additional materials pointed out in the first session. It just means, that you will have an increased workload until the third session. In case of doubt please send an e-mail to andrea.klaura@uni-ak.ac.at , then we can discuss if it makes sense for you to participate.

ECTS breakdown:

2 ECTS = 50 hours

* 20 hours: scheduled teaching sessions
* 15 hours: exercises alongside the teaching sessions
* 5 hours: peer code review & feedback
* 10 hours: final project

Grading will be based on:

* 25%: Attendance & active participation
* 25%: 5 coding exercises after sessions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6
* 25%: Peer code review & feedback
* 25%: Final mini project

Blocked, roughly every other week, on Wednesdays from 14:00 to 17:00. Online consultation for your exercises is available at the same time in the weeks where no sessions are scheduled. For detailed schedule see dates below.

BYOD policy:

Please bring your own device (ideally a laptop computer), to get most out of the course, as part of the course sessions will facilitate hands-on exercises in coding. In case you do not have a laptop or cannot bring one, it is possible to team up with another person with laptop. You can also send a mail to andrea.klaura@uni-ak.ac.at and we might find some spare device that you can use for the course.