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Some of the most interesting programming I've done has been in Minecraft. It's an open-world, sandbox game developed by Mojang, (recently acquired by Microsoft). Minecraft began as a canvas for creative expression, and while I do very different things in it these days, it still is that for me.
I'm going to take you on a journey, as we build a Minecraft mansion, and then secure it with a real-world alarm system. There's quite a bit of ground to cover, and though I plan for this to be a two-part series, I'm going to have to leave some of the tangential details for you to discover!
You can find the code for this tutorial at http://ift.tt/29rl0Lr
Crash Course in Minecraft Programming
Minecraft began as the combination of two simple ideas. The first is that players can harvest resources from the map in which they find themselves. Some of these resources, like food and wood, are common above ground. Others, like gold and stone, require a bit of virtual elbow-grease.
This is where the "mine" (in Minecraft) comes from. One of these resources is called Redstone. It's found deep underground, and it's a conductor of sorts. When harvested and placed on the ground, it resembles the silvery lines on the flip side of circuit boards. There are also power emitters, similar to batteries or mains power, which take many forms in the game.
Using these harvested resources, players can build dwellings, cook food and even wire up virtual circuitry. This is where the "craft" comes from.
I talk about all of this, as well as basic circuitry and programming, in my conference talk Zombies and Binary. I presented it most recently at php[tek] 2016, but the recording was lost. Here's a JavaScript-themed version, from FluentConf 2016: https://youtu.be/APJRBZUxADQ.
Continue reading %PHP, Arduino And… Minecraft? Combining Minecraft with PHP!%
by Christopher Pitt via SitePoint