Coding with Minecraft: Build Taller, Farm Faster, Mine Deeper, and Automate the Boring Stuff
About the Author Al Sweigart is a professional software developer who teaches pro gramming to kids and adults Sweigart has written several bestselling programming books for beginners including Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python and Cracking Codes with Python all from No Starch Press His books are freely available under a Creative Commons license at https inventwithpython com About the Technical reviewer Daniel Ratcliffe is a game developer from Cambridge England He created the ComputerCraft mod for Minecraft in 2011 and has been making games since 2002 You can read about his latest projects on Twitter DanTwoHundred His other interests include Star Trek cycling and cats
ACknowleDgMenTS It’s misleading to have just my name on the cover This book wouldn’t exist without the efforts of many people I’d like to thank my publisher Bill Pollock my developmental editors Jan Cash and Annie Choi my production editor Laurel Chun my technical reviewer Daniel Ratcliffe my copyeditor Anne Marie Walker and all of the staff at No Starch Press I’d also like to thank Josh Ellingson for a great cover illustration Thanks to Michelle and Doug Rapp for introducing me to Minecraft and punching trees
inTroDuCTion Just three more diamonds and then I’ll stop I remember telling myself while play ing Minecraft I needed the diamonds for a new pickaxe I needed the pickaxe to mine more obsidian I needed the obsidian to make a Nether portal I needed to go to the Nether to pick up lava And I needed the lava for what did I need the lava for again Oh right I was sculpting a giant phoenix statue in the side of a mountain and I wanted to make lava pour out from its eyes and beak Two hours later I was still playing unable to pry myself away from the task at hand Minecraft is an addictive game It has sold over 107 million copies mak ing it the second most popular video game of all time beaten only by Tetris It’s an open-ended creative platform for gathering resources and building whatever you can imagine You can build castles to protect against zombie hordes plant crops and tend to animals or team up with friends to build massive works of art Minecraft appeals to a diverse set of people children teenagers and even adults love playing it
