One of the best ways to learn how to code is to work from a solid foundation and see what you can do from there. 

This is why children will often start their coding journey with Logo or Scratch, two programming languages that allow for a safe, simple base for learning core coding principles.

However, the first practical applications of coding knowledge will often take the form of modifications to other games, and Minecraft’s simplicity, ease of design and welcome approach to game mods make it an ideal candidate to learn from, to the point that education editions exist.

Whilst modding Minecraft has been the start for many young coders in the 15 years since the game was first released in May 2009, the inverse is also true. The healthy modification scene has helped to revitalise and maintain interest in the game for over a decade.

Ironically, Minecraft’s original creator was not entirely fond of modification at first, particularly when the first major modification tools for the game such as the Minecraft Coder Pack (MCP) released that gave players significant control over how the game looked, functioned and played.

The original creator was concerned that such modifications would affect his vision of the game, particularly since MCP launched mere months after the first Alpha release of Minecraft, whilst new and significant features were still being added. The MCP predates The Nether, for example.

Ultimately he had to make a choice; should he try to stop the modification of the game or make it more difficult to allow players to make changes and alter his vision, or should he let modders work and embrace the spirit of freedom that entails?

This decision arguably made Minecraft endure for so many years, as even after people figured out most of the fascinating inner workings of vanilla Minecraft, there are thousands of significant modifications out there, and some people play with hundreds of them installed at once.