On Saturday, approximately 1,700 students, ranging in age from 12 to 67, convened at the University of Lisbon's IST school of technology to establish a new Guinness World Record for the largest computer programming lesson held in a single location.

The previous record was set in Dallas, Texas, where 724 participants took part on October 31, 2016.

"The final count confirmed that 1,668 individuals participated," stated Paulina Sapinska, a Guinness World Records Adjudicator.

The event aimed to enhance Portugal's visibility as an emerging center for information technology and to promote the importance of computing more broadly.

Rogerio Colaco, the head of IST, remarked that in today's world, computer literacy is as essential as reading and writing was a century ago, emphasizing that "everyone should have a basic understanding of computer science and programming to navigate modern life."