Apple Supports 'Hour of Code' Campaign for Students with Free Workshops in U.S. Retail Stores - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Supports 'Hour of Code' Campaign for Students with Free Workshops in U.S. Retail Stores

hour_of_code_iconApple today announced that it will be participating in the "Hour of Code" initiative this Wednesday by offering free workshops in its U.S. stores introducing students to computer programming. Apple is setting aside the 5:00-6:00 PM hour at all of its retail stores for its workshops, and reservations are required.

The broader initiative is sponsored by the non-profit Code.org with the backing of a wide variety of political, corporate, and personal supporters. The goal of the campaign is to introduce 10 million students to computer programming, with the ultimate goal of every student learning a basic level of programming.

Learn about the campaign to get students involved in a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anyone can learn the basics of programming. Visit code.org or attend a special Hour of Code workshop at any U.S. Apple Retail Store on December 11, 5 p.m.

Steve Jobs makes a brief appearance at the 1:47 mark of the promotional video for the event, by way of a 1995 clip from "Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview".

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...

Top Rated Comments

tigres Avatar
165 months ago
One hour?

That should cover the time it takes to install and configure Xcode.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
165 months ago
Pretty cool initiative. Just please teach them about memory management lol. :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
165 months ago
Care to explain why? We'd love to hear the reasoning.

Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
165 months ago
Objective-C is a **** language to begin with and even moreso for an introductory class on programming.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
165 months ago
Absolutely horrible syntax and all but useless outside Apple's environment.
There's a reason CS programs don't use it to teach students, high school kids would hate it even more.

Java and C++ are far better to teach OO principles. And far more useful in the real world.

That's not even diving into the technical aspects of the language, which is beyond the scope of this thread.

Java is marginally easier to understand than Obj-C but only on a very superficial level. Anyone who has worked with enterprise Java knows just how hideous it can easily become. C++ may at first appear to be easy to understand but beginners will quickly come unstuck.

Obj-C has been improved a lot in recent years not just through the vast libraries and frameworks provided by Apple but also in terms of language features themselves. It is a hugely powerful language and one that opens doors to the world of iOS and Mac OS X programming. There are definitely worse choices these days for someone beginning to program.

I've been programming for 30+ years and have used many many languages. I currently use Ruby for most things but also work regularly with Java, Javascript and Objective-C. They all have their strengths, weaknesses and quirks. I was taught at school and university largely using Pascal but have never used that commercially so maybe that wasn't the "best" choice at the time. Then again, I don't think that matters as any programmer worth their salt can easily take onboard a new syntax as long as they understand the fundamentals and have an open mind.

C.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
165 months ago
-- removed by user --
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors