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Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

skillsoft.com

81–90 of 124 posts

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#81
Off topic, but what is the point of having a cookie consent dialog come up on the site, when on a mobile device, you can't press 'accept' when choosing required cookies only?

Seems very hostile, and a way to have users agree to all the cookies regardless.

On a Samsung S9.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#82

With each new opportunity to learn to code without the expense of a four-year degree in Computer Science, don't we reach a point at which either: 1) The four-year degree in CS is actually seen as something of a negative indicator 2) We acknowledge the silent part out loud, e.g. "the college degree is a signal, not a delivery mechanism for professional skills." ?

I'm saddened that we're comparing a degree in CS to a subscription to Codecademy. I am curious if you've gotten a degree yourself, and whether that degree was from a reputable school. My CS degree is one of my proudest and most difficult accomplishments in my life. The difference in someone with a 4 year CS degree and a bootcamp graduate is jarringly apparent and one that I have uncomfortable experience with. My foll…

A badge of honor and respect is also known as a “signal.” Not that signaling is inherently bad, quite the opposite, signaling is essential. But it would be great if we could discover cheaper and more accessible ways to signal.

PS: I don’t think a CS degree is just signaling, but it could be improved an order of magnitude if the incentives of the professors and the institutions were aligned with teaching people marketable skills.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#83
post #13

Co-Founder and CEO here. We started Codecademy and launched on HN 10 years ago. I'm so thankful to this community for helping us to get started and to see up the momentum! We're committed to making sure that the product stays as great as the one you've used for years (and gets even better!).

Thank you and congrats! I took a Python course on codecademy and it led to a career change and basically a complete life transformation. You convinced me, and I’m sure a lot of others “Yes, I can do this.”

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#84

With each new opportunity to learn to code without the expense of a four-year degree in Computer Science, don't we reach a point at which either: 1) The four-year degree in CS is actually seen as something of a negative indicator 2) We acknowledge the silent part out loud, e.g. "the college degree is a signal, not a delivery mechanism for professional skills." ?

Probably 1. There indeed is very little need for a CS degree for most web front-end/backend because very smart people (nearly all of who have CS degrees) pre-packaged very complex stuff together well enough that even people with modest skills can create salable code by gluing it all together, much like a plumber or electrician using off-the-shelf parts. So the software industry will bifurcate into a saturated, lower-paid market of these front-line coders and a handful of jobs requiring CS knowledge that build the tools, libraries, and services the front-line coders are putting together. That reduction in demand will lead to less CS majors and very few CS majors will be found doing that type of coding.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#85
post #13

Co-Founder and CEO here. We started Codecademy and launched on HN 10 years ago. I'm so thankful to this community for helping us to get started and to see up the momentum! We're committed to making sure that the product stays as great as the one you've used for years (and gets even better!).

Like everyone else in this thread. You changed the trajectory of my life for the better. Came across your website as a business major fall of 2013 and never looked back!

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#86
post #13

Co-Founder and CEO here. We started Codecademy and launched on HN 10 years ago. I'm so thankful to this community for helping us to get started and to see up the momentum! We're committed to making sure that the product stays as great as the one you've used for years (and gets even better!).

I'm thinking back to the first time I cracked open a Java 101 book, which was a truly impenetrable and frustrating experience. I didn't even get the tooling stable enough to print hello world. It took me a few years later to engage with Code Academy to realize that programming is accessible and enjoyable.

So many of us owe you all a huge debt of gratitude. I have a stable career and lifestyle in part to your work which made programming accessible to people like me.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#87
post #29
post #14

I'm glad for all the people in this thread, for whom Codecademy worked, but I strongly suspect it worked for them because of their drive, and not because of the quality of Codecademy. ~1 year ago I pointed some friends that wanted to learn Python towards Codecademy (because it's just the most prominent example of it's kind of platform). Just out of curiosity, I looked over their shoulders, and I'm glad I did. From wh…

I was baffle the first time I realised differentiating a variable from string was a thing for beginners, but it's true, a lot struggle with it at start...

In my experience code highlighting that differentiates strings helps a lot to create intuition for this.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#88
post #13

Co-Founder and CEO here. We started Codecademy and launched on HN 10 years ago. I'm so thankful to this community for helping us to get started and to see up the momentum! We're committed to making sure that the product stays as great as the one you've used for years (and gets even better!).

Your courses in Java and python were some of my first introductions to programming in middle school and I now work as a full time software engineer. Thank you sincerely for all your contributions. I hope codecademy continues to flourish.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#89

With each new opportunity to learn to code without the expense of a four-year degree in Computer Science, don't we reach a point at which either: 1) The four-year degree in CS is actually seen as something of a negative indicator 2) We acknowledge the silent part out loud, e.g. "the college degree is a signal, not a delivery mechanism for professional skills." ?

The longer my career has gone on - the more I realize the value of my CS degree.

Early on in my career I used to think my CS degree was a waste. But the more people I worked with that DIDN'T have a CS degree - it became clear to me how much value the degree had.

All the seemingly theoretical / non-practical things we learned - I would see others get stuck and unable to progress. And for me, these were just things I understood inherently.

Sure, I think if you only ever plan to work in startups and be a mid-level engineer - maybe a degree isn't worth it. But I think it's definitely worth it if you have bigger ambitions for your career.

Re: Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525M

#90
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saddened that we're comparing a degree in CS to a subscription to Codecademy. I am curious if you've gotten a degree yourself, and whether that degree was from a reputable school. My CS degree is one of my proudest and most difficult accomplishments in my life. The difference in someone with a 4 year CS degree and a bootcamp graduate is jarringly apparent and one that I have uncomfortable experience with. My foll…

A badge of honor and respect is also known as a “signal.” Not that signaling is inherently bad, quite the opposite, signaling is essential. But it would be great if we could discover cheaper and more accessible ways to signal. PS: I don’t think a CS degree is just signaling, but it could be improved an order of magnitude if the incentives of the professors and the institutions were aligned with teaching people market…

Yes I totally understand your point of view. I spent almost a decade paying off a six figure debt for my CS degree. The funniest part? I learned almost nothing about web development in school. No marketable skills that would have really helped me when I first started my actual job! How can I argue this is a good thing?

Well, the best analogy I can think of is a black belt in karate. It takes 10 years or whatever to get that. It has no marketable purpose. Why do it? The answer is more than "to get a job". It's about Discipline. Focus. Intense research into fundamentals. Stretching your limit if what you can learn in a weekend. Writing half a page of assembly code on a piece of paper. Debugging a C program. Red black trees. These have no purpose, but when reflecting on these experiences, I would not trade them for a second for "Intro to Javascript and HTML".

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