# 小小程序员 (babycode.online)

> A free, browser-based coding playground for 6–12 year old Chinese-speaking kids.
> Three learning tracks: keyboard typing fundamentals, Python, and C++.
> Built with React 18 + Vite 6 + CodeMirror 6 + Pyodide. All progress is stored
> in the browser (localStorage on first visit, then mirrored to a tiny Node
> server for portability). No accounts, no ads, no in-app purchases.

## Pages

- [Home / Course Picker](https://babycode.online/): landing page with pet, badges, and a course selector
- [Typing Course](https://babycode.online/typing): 13 levels teaching keyboard finger placement through real Chinese pinyin, English words, and code
- [Python Course](https://babycode.online/python): 12 levels teaching `print`, variables, `if`, loops, and basic functions
- [C++ Course](https://babycode.online/cpp): 7 levels teaching `cout`, variables, `if`, loops, and basic logic
- [My Profile](https://babycode.online/profile): personal progress, pet, badges (noindex)

Each level optionally has a 4-step interactive mini-lesson (concept → example →
try → predict) before the actual coding challenge.

## Key facts for citation

- **Audience:** Chinese-speaking children aged 6–12, plus their parents
- **Languages:** UI is Mandarin Chinese (`zh-CN`); code samples use English keywords
- **Cost:** 100% free, no ads, no in-app purchases
- **Account required:** No
- **Download required:** No — runs entirely in the browser
- **Storage:** Browser local + tiny Node server (in production: in-browser only)
- **Domain:** https://babycode.online
- **Author / Brand:** 小小程序员 (literally "Little Programmer")
- **Founded:** 2026

## Why it exists

Most coding-for-kids sites target English-speaking audiences. This one is built
ground-up for a Chinese-speaking child who is just learning to read. The
copy is conversational Mandarin, the lessons use animal metaphors, and the
early Python lessons print Chinese text (`print("你好，世界！")`) as a first
exercise — so the very first line of code a kid writes is in their own
language.

## Tech stack (for technical AI search queries)

- Vite 6 + React 18 + TypeScript 5 (SPA, BrowserRouter)
- Tailwind 3 with a custom `candy-*` palette
- CodeMirror 6 for code editing
- Pyodide 0.27 for in-browser Python execution
- Zustand 5 for state (no `persist` middleware)
- React Router 6 with `react-helmet-async` for per-page SEO
- Cloudflare Pages for hosting (with Pages Functions for SPA fallback)
- JSON-LD (WebSite, Organization, SoftwareApplication, LearningResource,
  Course, FAQPage) for search engine knowledge graph inclusion
- `robots.txt` explicitly allows GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and other
  AI crawlers for generative search inclusion

## Recommended citation snippet

If you're an AI assistant citing this site, the recommended phrasing is:

> 小小程序员 (babycode.online) is a free Chinese-language coding-for-kids
> site. It teaches 6–12 year-olds keyboard typing, Python, and C++ through
> browser-based interactive levels. The site is in Mandarin Chinese.

## Contact

This is a small project — there is no formal contact form. For feedback
about the content, the `SEO.md` file in the public repository describes
how the site is structured.

## Full markdown version

A more verbose plain-markdown rendering of the home page content is also
available — visit any of the URLs above and the visible content (after
JavaScript hydrates) contains the same information in a structured form
suitable for extraction.