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Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

codecademy.com

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Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#71

Post by fletchowns »

pnathan wrote: post #55
jeffreymcmanus wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to get through the first lesson before it tells you that you're learning JavaScript. This isn't terrible considering the audience this seems to be targeting -- the name of the language is an implementation detail to a beginner.

No, it is absolutely not an implementation detail. When I was setting out to learn programming, I bought every book I could lay my grubby teenaged hands on about the language. Knowing the name of the programming language allows you to ask questions about it of other people and the Internet.

You are an exception, most people that are curious about programming do not buy every book about a subject just because they know the name of a language. If you are just starting out, it doesn't really matter if you learn how to write an if/else in C, PHP, JavaScript, etc.

Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#72

Post by zds »

psychotik wrote: post #37

This is a wonderful start - kudos. If you're targeting beginners/novices, which it looks like you are, your current approach looks ideal. I wonder how this scales to more advanced topics/languages. I think there is a market (a much smaller market though) for advanced learning, and if done right a lot of beginners can be encourages to deepen/broaden their skills. Crowdsourced lessons, simplified to fit in with a succe…

you'll see soon enough ;) thanks for the feedback!

Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#75

Post by zds »

cadr wrote: post #14

I find it kind of odd that it doesn't actually say what language I am learning. (I mean, yes, I can tell, but if I were learning I wouldn't.) Was that on purpose?

we'll be adding other languages, so that's why the homepage doesn't explicitly state which language you're writing. we'll update it now. thanks!

Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#76

Post by zds »

revorad wrote: post #70
zds wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks! we're opening it up to free programming asap and we're going to stop the fake errors thing. this is exactly what we're planning on doing - let me know if you'd be interested in creating a lesson or if you have other feedback - zach (at) codecademy (dot) com.

For now, I'll be selfish and only want to learn and seek help when I get stuck while programming. Are you on twitter?

yep, i'm @zsims and we're @codecademy.

Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#77

Post by zds »

cksk wrote: post #26
reemrevnivek wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Chromium, an alert bar stating "Follow the directions in the console to begin" pops up, and the console is highlighted while everything else is grayed out. It's a CLI-based interface, not a click-based interface, which is a welcome change and a good thing for beginning programmers to learn.

Oh, thanks. It's odd, the CLI doesn't even appear here. Had to go to Firefox to see it. Probably some blocking extension getting on the way. But still there were problems: the CLI did not recognize my keyboard layout. I could not type quotes, so I couldn't even say my name... Too bad, looks cool.

looking into this now - hope you'll check us out again in a day when we have it fixed!

Re: Show HN: Codecademy.com, the easiest way to learn to code

#79

Post by zds »

bomatson wrote: post #46

Feels great, well done on the UX side. Although I do wish you would focus on particular languages and use cases. Suddenly, "I'm learning Javascript". A normal reaction would be- "Why am I learning Javascript? What is it useful for?" for non-technical users

yep, planning on adding some more context as soon as possible. thanks!
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