How CoderDojo is raising the next generation of app developers

Developers quickly learn they're going to have to go through a number of steps before Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) approves their app, but Harry Moran faced an extra, unusual hurdle before his work made it into the Mac App Store: his mother had to sign the contract.

A young boy learns from a mentor at a CoderDojo session. Source: Paul Clarke

Moran, aged 13, surprised industry watchers last year when his app, Pizzabot, topped the Mac App Store's charts, displacing favorites such as Angry Birds and Call of Duty. Even in an industry filled with young entrepreneurs, Moran's success with his first app is rare. And he's the first to admit that besides his parents, he had another strong base of support: CoderDojo, a series of programming clubs aimed primarily at teenagers, which began in Ireland and is expanding globally. Moran and other members of the local CoderDojo group were part of the main stage presentation at the Web Summit that took place in Dublin last month.

"It was a great because you learn so much, and it gave me a lot of encouragement," Moran told the Web Summit crowd, although he added that the one thing CoderDojo's instructors didn't prepare him for was Apple's age restrictions. "They phoned and spoke to my dad because they didn't believe that I was 12." Feature