Creating and running a game is no easy task and can take teams of people and thousands of hours to do.
Designing a game is not rocket science as some will say but still, coding or programming one is no easy feat and despite its simple graphics, a lot goes on behind the blocks and scenes of the game to support its global-massive player base that keeps the list of servers for Minecraft active at all times of the day.
To grasp and unravel the tech or engine of this title that has a hundred and forty million monthly players we need to first take a look at the engine that makes this game and its virtual world possible.
Minecraft launched in 2011 and was built on an open-source, software library known as the Lightweight Java Game Library, which hosts cross-platform libraries and templates that make it easier for expert and amateur programmers to launch a game of their own, which leads us to a not-long-ago update that lets players with even no coding expertise to join the fun and world of designing and launching a new game.
Access and Customize Minecraft Mods and Codes
For a long time, creating a game was a timely, resource-hungry venture taking many hours of planning and coding but now, gamers, creatives, and code enthusiasts alike can thank the Stockholm Minecraft Java team who opened access to the Minecraft engine by sharing tons of game codes and libraries, with which, you can edit and customize mods or utilize the tools and engine to create projects of your own.
Running the blocks and pixels of the game is an open-source, free-to-use engine that gives free access to a large-growing library of game content that lets its players build or create anything that comes to mind.
Minecraft libraries are pieces and extensions of the game engine any player can use in a virtual world of their own, they are open-source and self-contained and let you utilize the engine to full potential with a vast selection of codes, content, and command prompts you can edit or deploy into your virtual realm.
Technical Look on the Minecraft Engine
Minecraft uses the LWJGL (Lightweight Java Game Library), an open-source, public-software library that gives game devs libraries of codes and command prompts that are Java-compatible, and it is this engine that runs and supports this global-success title that is played by people in well over a hundred countries.
The engine this game uses also shares and distributes libraries from other libraries and platforms used to build and launch games; these include but are not limited to Vulkan, OpenAL, OpenCL, and OpenGL, it is this very reason why the game of Minecraft and the community that supports it is rich in new content.
The reason Minecraft founders chose this engine is it gives Java devs access to resources and solutions that are hard to find elsewhere or poorly executed in the current Java platform, which is what enabled them to give a stable and enjoyable gaming environment with minimal amounts of time and resources.
What Language is Minecraft Coded in?
Minecraft has an engine of its own but runs on Java code, a rather easy-to-learn coding language used by some of the popular games and applications around. Java code is not only fairly simple to code but to learn and understand, and it is the perfect stepping stone and coding language for those wanting to get into the world of coding and programming.
All items, blocks, and graphical elements shown by the Minecraft engine are coded in Java but sourced from an LWJGL library, and to exhibit how easy it is to code and launch a game in this language, the first release and version of Minecraft only took a mere six days to finish, an impressive feat to say the least but more importantly, a signal of just how easy and efficient Java is for designing or launching a game.
How the Minecraft Game and Engine Can Help Kids Code
To the surprise of some, Minecraft has long served as an educational tool and platform that helps kids and adults get behind the blocks to see how the game runs and operates, and it is a great way for those of all ages to learn how to code or program.
Even their site description highlights how it is a great platform for people to learn coding as they offer virtual environments where you can engage with real-person instructors that will walk you through the swing of things, and it is here you also get visual results and exhibits of the codes you create and deploy.
All in all, the tech and engine behind the pixels and blocks of Minecraft is one that can be used, learned, and enjoyed by anyone that wants to learn how to code in a place that has no bounds on creative limits.
