Apple’s Swift Playgrounds is an app that teaches kids how to code

Apple just introduced a iPad app that teaches kids how to code in its Swift programming language. It’s called Swift Playgrounds, and in it, you’re tasked to guide a character called Byte to collect gems. To do so, you essentially give the character directions using Swift code. The demo on stage at WWDC shows an app with bright colors and and big photos designed to make coding kid-friendly.

Instructions are on the left while the interactive world is on the right. Coding is as simple as dragging a command from the bottom — think of it as a QuickType keyboard but for Swift code — and dropping it in the coding area on the left. You can also select which lessons you want a Learn to Code drop-down. Some of the lessons have pre-prepped code to help you get started. This is interesting because it teaches kids actual real code, so when they become more comfortable with it, they can try experimenting with entering code manually.

Swift Playgrounds is available in the developer preview starting today, and it’ll be in the App Store when iOS 10 ships in the fall.

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2016 here!