[Adak]

This is a free programming series of lessons and exercises, being offered by Codecademy.

The only language I see right now, is Javascript, but there are other languages planned.

They offer lessons and exercises for both raw beginners, and for those with programming experience, who want to learn another language or refresh their knowledge.

They have achievements and badges, and ways to work with the social media sites, as well. Seems very beginner/user friendly:

http://www.codecademy.com/#!/exercises/0

[goin postal]

Has anyone tried this yet?? Been interested in trying to learn some more and this could be a place to start i guess. But was wondering if it was any good??

[Adak]

The multi-millionaire Mayor of New York City is taking it, so I think it has real value. No, I'm not joking. I'll be taking the Javascript class, later this month.

[Mehovoric]

I went through it last November I think. I had a burst of interest in coding and java thanks to my best friend. It was definitely interesting. Very simple and easy to follow. But I have forgotten everything because I haven't used it since. If they added a lot more stuff I'd be interested in it again, but for the beginner it was a nice dabble into a much larger world.

[OpaqueShadow]

Tried the first few lessons, may register later, seems interesting and unusually fun. Go coding!

[Lukee]

I tried it and registered. It's pretty good for someone starting out and you can't beat free.

[madhatter256]

gonna give this place a shot... always wanted to learn java to get into android development and possibly make a game or something

[Krazy931]

nice find ill check them out soon used to deal alot with java and python kinda fell out of the loop tho so this might be a good jumpstart for me to get back in it

[Bobnova]

Back from the Deeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaad!

I've been going through the Java, it's a pretty cool setup. It doesn't check your code quite as well as perhaps it ought to, but that's OK.

[txus.palacios]

I think this should be stickied. Or, at least, added to this.

[dropadrop]

Originally Posted by Bobnova

Back from the Deeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaad!

I've been going through the Java, it's a pretty cool setup. It doesn't check your code quite as well as perhaps it ought to, but that's OK.

Javascript != java

I went through most of the Javascript portion a few months ago. It was nice, but don't expect it to be more then an introduction (but do a few small personal projects after it and I imagine you'll start to really get a hang of it). Javascript IMO is a pretty good language to start with as it's simple, and these days quite widely used even outside the web (node js for example).

I second the "doesn't check your code well as it ought to" part. You can have correct syntax and it still won't work as it's expected you to do it in some certain way without telling you so. However this does not happen on most exercises, so when you get stuck on something you are sure is right, have a look at their support forums before banging your head against the wall.

Can't be bothered to finish the javascript, but I was thinking of going through the python next.

[Bobnova]

I'm operating on the assumption that it's vaguely close, is that incorrect?
Node.js is one of the things I was looking at.

I have some experience with the Arduino IDE flavor of C, so a lot of the JS stuff is just translation of what means what. == vs === for instance (why!?). There's some new stuff that is pretty fun though, shuffling through strings is significantly easier for instance. Not having to declare variable types is weird.

Python's on my list too, largely because of XKCD.

[dropadrop]

Java and Javascript have a very similar name, but the similarities end. There are other languages that are closer to Java by both technical design and syntax.

Somebody on stackoverflow defined this quite well:

Java and Javascript are similar like Car and Carpet are similar

[thideras]

But cars have carpet in them!

[txus.palacios]

Originally Posted by Bobnova

I'm operating on the assumption that it's vaguely close, is that incorrect?
Node.js is one of the things I was looking at.

I have some experience with the Arduino IDE flavor of C, so a lot of the JS stuff is just translation of what means what. == vs === for instance (why!?). There's some new stuff that is pretty fun though, shuffling through strings is significantly easier for instance. Not having to declare variable types is weird.

Python's on my list too, largely because of XKCD.

Code:

#/usr/bin/env python

import antigravity

def main():
    antigravity.fly()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

[dropadrop]

But that said, I think there is good reason for Javascript to be on code academy, and it's as good as any (maybe even better) for learning to program. As a language I don't like it very much, but that's probably because I'm used to other things and always feel dirty when doing something with it.

[thideras]

Originally Posted by dropadrop

But that said, I think there is good reason for Javascript to be on code academy, and it's as good as any (maybe even better) for learning to program. As a language I don't like it very much, but that's probably because I'm used to other things and always feel dirty when doing something with it.

You should try Access' VBA sometime, it is an absolute blast.

[bmwbaxter]

Started on code academy this week. Had zero coding knowledge before now, finding it easy to get into. Probably not the best out there but is a good start I think; especially for free.

[dropadrop]

Originally Posted by bmwbaxter

Started on code academy this week. Had zero coding knowledge before now, finding it easy to get into. Probably not the best out there but is a good start I think; especially for free.

Yeah, and the thing is; anything you use for learning will only get you started. Before you start doing something on your own it's just getting you familiar with the tools at hand and what can be done with them. When you pick your first few personal projects (start small) you will really start to understand what you are doing and picking up fast.