Learning to program or write code can be extremely difficult. It is especially hard for people who have no experience with programming language or who’ve worked very little with computers. Becoming proficient in a programming language takes a lot of time and diligence. Until recently, acquiring these skills also required lots of money to purchase books or pay for classes. But because you can find almost anything you want on the Internet these days, I decided to look online and found several helpful, free resources that anyone can use to help them learn to code.
You may not be able to learn everything you need from these websites, but they will give you at least a beginner level knowledge of programming language. What makes these sites great is the way they teach you the language. They use text, examples, and practice opportunities to ensure you understand and remember the topics they are covering.
Here they are:
Codecademy
Codeacademy has become very popular because of their code year marketing campaign to get people to learn a new programming language each year. Codeacademy currently has courses on 6 different programming frameworks. The courses they offer are:
- HTML/CSS – Learn the building blocks of the web and how to create your own website
- JavaScript – Learn how to make interactive elements on websites
- Python – Learn a programming language that is widely used in creating apps
- Ruby – Learn a language used to power many different websites
- PHP – Learn a language used in web development and used on most websites
- APIs – Learn how to use APIs to create apps that connect with online services
Codeacademy suggests you start with HTML/CSS and work your way through all the courses, but you can choose to take any you’re interested in, in any order. Codeacademy adds a gamification to the learning experience by giving you badges for learning different topics. You can compete with friends and other Codeacademy students to see who has more badges. The courses are made up of lessons and exercises, which cover a certain aspect of the language and then require you to finish the code to pass the exercise. There is also a glossary of terms and a Q & A forum on the site, which helps users tackle any problems they might have completing assignments. Codeacademy is a good website to check out if you want to start learning a programming language.
Code Avengers
Code Avengers is a newer site, started around the time the movie The Avengers came out, hence the name. Code Avengers has free, interactive online courses that teach the basics of web development and computer programming in a fun and effective way. Code Avengers makes the learning experience dynamic by offering many different tools to help you understand the programming language. These include flash cards with syntax and terms you need to know, as well as references to show you the proper way to enter code and a notepad that allows you to take notes while learning.
Code Avengers currently offers courses on HTML/CSS and JavaScript. Each course has 3 levels and is estimated to take between 10 and 15 hours to complete. This is how Code Avengers describes their course: “The Code Avengers lessons include short coding challenges, games and quizzes that introduce, practice and review new concepts. The lessons contain minimal text, so students learn the ‘what’ and ‘why’ by completing carefully sequenced tasks, rather than reading lengthy explanations.” The gamification on Code Avengers allows you to collect badges, earn points to level up, and then compare your ranks and badges against other coders on the site. This setup keeps you interested while helping you understand the information.
LearnStreet
LearnStreet is a new startup website that offers beginner courses in JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. Each course includes lessons and exercises to teach you the programming language. The workspace has a helpful setup – half of the screen is a terminal style window where you enter the code, and the other half has the information for the lesson, as well as a glossary. LearnStreet also offers support for the exercises through hints, Live Chat, Email, and Twitter, so if you are struggling, it’s easy to find help.
The course format is very similar to the other websites, but what’s different about LearnStreet are its Projects. Projects are separate from the courses, and there are about 90 different projects you can choose from. These allow you to create games and tools using the programming language you learned in the courses, so you can practice and improve your coding skills without having to come up with your own app ideas. This is a great tool to continue to improve your programming skills after you’ve completed the course, and it really shows you what the programming language can do.
Becoming a programmer is hard, but hopefully these resources will help you get started. These sites make learning a programming language a little easier. Each site has its own advantages. If you are not sure which one to use, just try them all and see which one helps you the most!