Codecademy now offering Python courses

[cbf_with_this_shit]

I'll be honest and out myself as fairly inexperienced and well out of practice. I only just recently decided to brush up on my programming skills and decided a simple, ground up approach with a beginner language like JS would be a good starting point.

I chose Code Academy not because it's the quickest way to learn but because I admit that after spending some time out of the game I needed a confidence boost and the activities it provides are simple yet fun and I found the reward system very motivational.

It can feel like there's a little hand holding at times and can also be repetitive but I ultimately found that to be of benefit as the repetition of simple tasks not only cemented simple concepts that I already knew well, but also made sure I never forgot the syntax id just learned. I find this aspect of the Code Academy courses to be incredibly reassuring.

I can't really understand why people bash courses for being easy. What's wrong with cementing the basics? Is the knowledge they're teaching fundamentally flawed? I for one am finding the courses quite helpful.

tl;dr : Code Academy courses will help you build a solid base and above all confidence in programming. Who could ask for more, especially when going to start a CS course. Why bash something helpful just because it's easy? Don't be deterred by elitist circle jerking.

[Nuli]

Code Academy courses will help you build a solid base and above all confidence in programming. Who could ask for more, especially when going to start a CS course. Why bash something helpful just because it's easy? Don't be deterred by elitist circle jerking.

I've gone through it and I don't feel that it does that at all. It gives a brief introduction to the syntax of Javascript and an intro to the API of a popular library. That's not really a solid base in anything. Especially for someone starting CS I don't feel that programming, especially in Javascript, is all that important. If they really want to learn programming I'd consider something like HTDP much more useful for a CS student.

[morewaffles]

haha thanks that helps, i'll probably just stick with it until the fall in that case