Forum Discussion
Can the Code Block Be Used for Automated Code-Checking? Plans for More Languages?
Hi everyone,
Our team is exploring ways to create more technical, programming-focused interactions in Articulate 360 courses.
I’m particularly interested in using the Code Block in Rise as a way for learners to submit or paste code, similar to how other coding-education platforms validate whether a learner’s solution is correct.
My questions are:
1. Is it currently possible (either natively or through a workaround) to use the Code Block as an input that can be programmatically checked for correctness? For example, allowing learners to paste their code and then having the system evaluate whether it matches the expected solution.
2. Are there any plans to expand the Code Block to support more programming languages (such as Java, Python, or C) for syntax highlighting or other functionality?
If anyone has experience attempting this (or insights into upcoming enhancements) I’d really appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance!
11 Replies
Thinking of the code block as a generic thing that can support multiple languages seems like it may hinder your understanding more than help. The block is essentially just a web iframe, I think. It's a modular webpage inside of a larger webpage (Rise) in the same way I can add a web object to my Storyline 360 project and put a simple hello world page in the web object.
In that same vein, the code block will likely be limited more by the user than the platform. I asked copilot real quick for its take on simple text validation and it delivered quite easily:
https://share.articulate.com/8blJlXylDI1-WI3B_btyI
That being said, I see a multitude of huge gaps between "can JavaScript compare two strings?" and "can someone paste in 30 lines of Python and have it all be perfectly evaluated or identified." It's all technically the same thing, but it's a little deeper than letting someone know they forgot a closed-parenthesis. I don't get the impression whoever's asking you to look into this knows how difficult it would be, because if they did I feel like code blocks in Rise would be an automatic no.
Hi ValeriiaR,
AndrewBlemings- shared a great breakdown here, and I appreciate how clearly you described what you’d like to do.The Code Block in Rise is currently designed for displaying or formatting code, and with the new beta, it can also be used for custom HTML, CSS, or JavaScript snippets. It isn’t set up to evaluate or check learner-submitted code for correctness.
Your ideas for interactive code checking and broader language support, such as Python or Java, would be valuable for teams creating programming-focused learning. I’ve added your request to our product tracker so our team can review it as we plan future updates.
Thanks to you and Andrew for sparking such a thoughtful conversation.
Thank you for the kind words, Eric, and the project tracker add of Valeriia’s ask. Broader support of programming languages would be very significant.
Thanks, AndrewBlemings-. Appreciate you jumping in and sharing your perspective on this one!
EricSantos Thank you again for taking this into consideration and for adding it to the product tracker, it means a lot to us!
This functionality is very important for us, so we’ll be eagerly waiting for any updates. Being able to evaluate learner-submitted code and support additional languages would make a huge difference for our programming-focused content.
Thanks so much for sharing more about how this would support your courses, ValeriiaR!
It’s great to hear how meaningful this functionality would be for your team.
We’ll look forward to sharing updates once they’re available, and really appreciate your enthusiasm for this feature.
I added a code validator to my course, I demo it using CSS and then Javascript validation, I think it handles most languages (modes) you can throw at it. I like how it even works in admin/edit mode in Rise. Also guess who else is already using it? I explain in the screen recording: https://youtu.be/AJF5SFuwccU
AndrewBlemings- Thanks for sharing your perspective, it’s really helpful. I agree that full code execution for languages like Python or Java is a big lift, and we're not expecting Rise to become a full IDE. We’re just hoping for more built-in support for interactive code practice, even in a limited or structured way. Appreciate you taking the time to explain your view!
I hope you'll share your progress. This is a tough problem to tackle, so you all coming anywhere close would be amazing
