Code School now open to the public • Hacker News Board

Re: Code School now open to the public

#31

Post by neverdull » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:23 PM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #28

"An interactive online marketplace where you can learn to code directly in the browser" Is it just me or does something seem ... off about this blurb? For whatever reason, "interactive online marketplace" just rubs me the wrong way, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

It's the word "marketplace" that sounds off to my ear - too buzzwordy, and not descriptive of what's on offer. "Environment" might sound better?

The words "interactive" and "online" are fair descriptions of the service, but essentially made redundant by the phrase "directly in the browser".

Re: Code School now open to the public

#32

Post by FreshCode » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:25 PM UTC

Big 404 after trying to "buy" Rails for Zombies. Hopefully just the HN effect setting in. Ah, worked after a few tries.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#33

Post by luckykind » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:32 PM UTC

Jabbles wrote: post #3

Can you claim that something is on sale the moment you release it? (A genuine question, I thought there may have been a requirement to note that something is an "introductory offer", but there are almost certainly different laws that apply to online sales.)

Pricing 101...

Jack up the price then slash it.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#34

Post by gte910h » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:36 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #20

Doesn't it seem to anyone else that there's more than a little astroturfing going on here? Many positive commenters in this thread have 1 karma and no other posts, and this link has shown up in no less than 3 front page links as of this writing. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2354776 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2354830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2355091

I'm completely unrelated to it, however I did go through the excellent rails for zombies tutorial, and was wowed how much it got across in so little time. I bought the next rails module sight unseen as I'm sure it has at least 1/2 the high quality RFZ did.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#35

Post by gte910h » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:38 PM UTC

mquander wrote: post #25

petercooper wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Successful entrepreneurs release and sell first, refine later.

The courses claim to teach programming, not entrepreneurship.

No they teach rails development. Lots of rails development is about getting something out the door. Lots of people throw money at a situation instead of more programming effort these days, as its cheaper and "works" as well in the long run for many cases.

This is especially true of apps based on stuff like Heroku.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#36

Post by gte910h » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:39 PM UTC

jeffreymcmanus wrote: post #16

Are there live human instructors behind this or is it just videos?

Videos with tests that check your answers.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#37

Post by eli » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:44 PM UTC

I see "Featured Courses" on the homepage, and a "My Courses" link that requires a login, but no way to see any other courses. I take it that means the four I see are the only ones available/scheduled right now?

Re: Code School now open to the public

#38

Post by omnivore » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 7:49 PM UTC

I like the concept a great deal. Just the sort of presentation needed for me to get fence sitters off of it.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#39

Post by jeffreymcmanus » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 8:14 PM UTC

gte910h wrote: post #36

jeffreymcmanus wrote: post #16

Are there live human instructors behind this or is it just videos?

Videos with tests that check your answers.

So, no way to ask questions, then. Hm.

Re: Code School now open to the public

#40

Post by jschuur » Tue, Mar 22, 2011, 8:19 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #20

Doesn't it seem to anyone else that there's more than a little astroturfing going on here? Many positive commenters in this thread have 1 karma and no other posts, and this link has shown up in no less than 3 front page links as of this writing. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2354776 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2354830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2355091

The Envy Labs folks behind it have been highly active in the Rails/screencasting community for a while now, producing a wealth of free content. It doesn't seem in their nature to astroturf.

The site is fresh and unique in its teaching approach. I think this will get plenty of good press all by itself without them helping it along through questionable measures.