Google is extending its Classroom API to help developers integrate their applications with classroom solutions. The company introduced new coursework endpoints that will give developers access to assignments, grades and workflows.
“Learning tools can focus on creating great content and, in turn, use Classroom to manage the workflow for assignments created with this content,” wrote Ed Kupershlak, Classroom software engineer at Google, in a blog post. “Gradebooks and reporting systems can now also sync grades with Classroom, eliminating the need for teachers to manually transfer grades.”
The company also announced new functionality for its course and roster API endpoints. With this new functionality, developers gain access to course Drive folders, groups and materials, according to the company.
CSS tips and tricks
Mozilla is giving developers tips and recommendations in order to help them write and maintain better CSS code.
“Lately, we have seen a lot of people struggling with CSS, from beginners to seasoned developers,” wrote Belén Albeza, a tech evangelists at Mozilla, in a blog post. “Some of them don’t like the way it works, and wonder if replacing CSS with a different language would be better—CSS processors emerged from this thinking.”
Tips include: Don’t throw new rules at bugs; don’t use “!important” in your code; learn how to work with pixels and percentages, then go beyond them; use flexbox; and learn how to use a CSS processor.
Jason app in App Store
There is an app available in the App Store called Jason, which is a scriptable iOS client that lets developers view and interact with any data and any server, in any way desired, according to its website.
Jason works similar to browsers, but instead of using HTML, it takes JSON as input. Developers can write a JSON script to describe their client’s behavior, and then open it in Jason. They can tell Jason to do whatever, from network requests to native device features.
There is a Jason community on Slack, so users can join and talk about their experiences using Jason. It was last updated on May 16.
Google Play awards announced
Last night, Google Play announced the winners of the Google Play Awards during a special ceremony at Google I/O. The awards honor apps and games the developers who made them.
Winners were selected based on criteria emphasizing app quality, innovation, and if they had a launch or major update in the last 12 months. Google Play now has more than 1 billion users every month.
Here is the list of apps that received awards:
Best App: Houzz
Best Early Adopter: World Around Me
Best Families App: Thinkrolls 2
Best Go Global: Pokemon Shuffle Mobile
Best Game: Clash Royale
Most Innovative: NYT VR
Best Use of Material Design: Robinhood
Best Standout Indie: Alphabear
Best Use of Google Play Game Services: Table Tennis Touch
Best Standout Startup: Hopper
