App Lab

App Lab is a tool for creating “app-like” projects using Javascript (by typing or droplet blocks.) They can use Design Mode to design user interface screens, and Data Mode to manage persistent data in a key-value store. Examples of projects students might make in App Lab: “Which Hogwarts House Are You In?” quiz, “Vote for a new school mascot”, “Cookie Clicker”. App Lab was created for the CS Principles course, but is also used in CS Discoveries. App Lab primarily uses an event-driven programming model - students can hook up buttons and other UI elements to respond to events. Read more about App Lab and find sample projects at https://code.org/educate/applab.

Sprite Lab

Sprite Lab was created as a new project-oriented tool for CS Fundamentals (Courses A-F, Express course). In Sprite Lab, students write event-based programs in which multiple sprites can interact. At the core of Sprite Lab are “behaviors.” Behaviors are functions that can be attached to sprites using the “Sprite Begins” block, and which run continuously on every frame of the game loop. Sprite Lab was built on top of p5.play like Game Lab; but unlike Game Lab, in Sprite Lab students do not write the draw loop directly. Read more about Sprite Lab and find sample projects at https://code.org/educate/spritelab.

Game Lab

Game Lab is a tool where you can make simple animations and games with objects and characters that interact with each other, using Javascript (by typing or using drag-and-drop blocks. In addition to code, Game Lab features an Animation Tab (built using Piskel), which students can use to customize or create sprites and animations. Game Lab is built with a “draw loop” model, meaning student’s program primarily consists of a big loop, updated on every frame of animation, in which they can check and update game state and re-draw based on the changes. Game Lab was created for our CS Discoveries course. It is built on the p5.play Javascript library. Read more about GameLab Lab and find sample projects at https://code.org/educate/gamelab.

Web Lab

Web Lab is a browser-based coding environment where students create multi-page websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Students can upload images, organize their projects across multiple files, and use the built-in AI Tutor to get help with learning, debugging, and writing code. Students use Web Lab in our CS Discoveries, AI Discoveries and AI Foundations course. Read more at code.org/tools/web-lab.

Java Lab

Java Lab is Code.org’s web-based Java programming environment for developing programs. Students can create Java projects with one or more Java and text files. Java Lab also includes The Neighborhood and The Theater to allow students to create artwork, animations, sound effects, and image filters. Students must be in a section of a verified teacher to run code in Java Lab. Learn more about becoming a verified teacher here. 

All projects types can be found and started from https://studio.code.org/projects. If you have any questions on how these Lab environments work, please contact us at support@code.org!