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§ Private Profile · Mountain View, CA, USA
Free mobile app teaching JavaScript fundamentals with interactive games and puzzles for iOS and Android.
Key people at Grasshopper - The Coding App for Beginners.
Grasshopper - The Coding App for Beginners is a free mobile application designed to teach fundamental coding concepts, primarily JavaScript, and was developed as an experimental project within Google's Area 120 incubator. The app provides interactive games, puzzles, and short lessons covering basics like variables, loops, arrays, functions, and drawing with the D3 library, specifically tailored for quick learning sessions on iOS and Android devices. It targets a broad audience of beginners, including adults and students interested in acquiring foundational programming skills. By 2019, the application had been downloaded 1.6 million times across both platforms, with approximately 5,000 users completing its JavaScript Fundamentals course during initial testing phases. Operating without a specified revenue model, Grasshopper aims to make coding accessible. The project was founded by Laura Holmes, a senior product manager at Google, and publicly launched in April 2018.
Key people at Grasshopper - The Coding App for Beginners.
Grasshopper was a free mobile app developed by Google that taught beginners to code using interactive JavaScript lessons on iOS and Android devices.[1][2][4] It targeted busy individuals new to programming, solving the problem of inaccessible coding education by delivering bite-sized puzzles, quizzes, and courses that built core concepts like fundamentals, drawing shapes with the D3 library, and creating functions—culminating in a certificate of completion without formal assessments.[1][2][3] Launched in 2018 from Google's Area 120 incubator, it amassed over 1.6 million downloads and served one-third of users who had never coded before, acting as a launchpad to further education like bootcamps or online playgrounds.[1][4][6] However, Google shut it down on June 15, 2023, redirecting users to alternatives like freeCodeCamp and Khan Academy.[2][6]
Grasshopper emerged from Google's Area 120 incubator, an internal workshop for experimental projects by small teams of Googlers, launching publicly in April 2018 after a 2017 mobile release.[1][2][4][6] Laura Holmes founded it, driven by a mission to make coding accessible amid busy lives, with puzzles designed to progressively increase difficulty and change perceptions that coding isn't for everyone.[1] The idea stemmed from recognizing coding as an essential skill, built alongside other Area 120 innovations like Advr (VR ads), Tailor (stylist), and UpTime (YouTube co-watching).[1][3] Early traction was strong, with 1.6 million downloads by 2023, but Google's funding cuts to Area 120 led to its shutdown, relocating team members elsewhere.[4][6]
Grasshopper rode the democratized coding education trend, fueled by rising demand for programming skills amid tech job growth and remote learning shifts post-2010s.[1][4] Its 2018 timing capitalized on smartphone ubiquity, making coding viable for non-traditional learners when bootcamps and platforms like Codecademy were desktop-heavy—market forces like mobile app stores and Google's ecosystem amplified reach.[1][4][6] It influenced the ecosystem by normalizing mobile edtech, inspiring alternatives and proving incubators like Area 120 could scale accessible tools, though its shutdown highlights Big Tech's project volatility amid cost-cutting.[2][6]
Grasshopper's legacy endures in free coding alternatives it popularized, but its 2023 end underscores experimental apps' short lifespans at Google. Ahead, expect its mobile-gamified model to evolve in successors like Duolingo-style coders or AI tutors from Khan Academy and freeCodeCamp, shaped by trends in personalized, bite-sized learning and VR/AR integration. Its influence may grow indirectly, lowering barriers for diverse coders and boosting the startup ecosystem through skilled talent pipelines—proving even sunset projects seed lasting momentum.
