[klinskyc]

This is fantastic. Minecraft is one of the big factors that made me want to learn Java (back when the game first came out), and indirectly spurred a lot of my own personal development. The easier they can make it, the better.

[rococode]

Minecraft, and in particular Bukkit (API for coding server plugins), is by far the single biggest factor in my own development as a programmer. Literally hundreds of hours spent coding plugins for my server, starting from copy-pasting tutorials in the early days and eventually being able to build fairly complex projects on my own. It's formed my personal belief that being able to visually see the effects of code and being able to write code that augments things that are already interesting are great ways to encourage young kids and teens to code.

[654wak654]

Minecraft was (probably still is) one of the biggest factors for a lot of people to learn programming. Specially in the first years where it felt so genuinely indie: It had noticeable (but mostly harmless) bugs, and the famous notch was doing everything alone (don't think the solo phase lasted that long, but that's what the public thought).

[klippoteket]

My son wanted a own MC server to play with. And then he wanted all those plugins. So I had to learn how to code and compile java code. I had almost as much fun coding/compiling as my son had playing and cresting his world. The server I use is Spigot. Easy to get started with.