Has anyone used Codeacademy to learn the basics of coding?

Hi Tyler,

I have just recently updated my knowledge about programming and have been learning for about a year now (i stopped after I took Java in college in 2008).

I would suggest you use the below (either separately or it might be better to do the common things from them together, such as, HTML first from all the below resources before going onto a new topic):

• The Odin Project (free)

  • for this one it's good to make it your first one as it will teach you some of the basics that usually are not taught elsewhere, such as, getting your environment ready. But its self-verification where it links to other sites to get more knowledge but it doesn't tell you when you're wrong or not. I don't think you should read everything they link to as it might get things complicated for you, I would suggest only do the bare minimum and when you feel like you want to advance yourself go back and check the resources that they recommend you should read

• Free Code Camp (free)

  • this one is a great resource and it's different from The Odin Project in the sense that you need to get the code right before moving onto the next lesson.

• General Assembly's Dash (free) is great too.

• Mozilla (free)

  • For documentation you should check this one (all resources will usually link to this website to expand your knowledge in the topics)

• Codecademy

  • If you are looking for paid course, I used Codecademy which I really enjoyed and also think its one of the best resources online. They have both free and paid, I have took a full year access to their courses.

If you have more questions, please ask.

Wish you all the best!

Hi Tyler, I’ve never tried Codeacademy, but I just started an iOS app development course, by the App Brewery https://www.appbrewery.co/, on Udemy, for a reasonable price, and I think Angela Yu’s teaching method is very good as you learn by devoloping apps from the beginning. I saw they also have a web development course that seems very good.

Hey Tyler,

I've personally used Codecademy a few years back, for the same reason - to learn the basics of coding and try and build stuff on my own.

For me, that didn't work.

Online sandbox-based coding lessons are good for you to get familiar with the syntax of a language and basic concepts (if statements, for loops, etc.) of programming. However, building an entire application requires more knowledge, which is missing from those platforms.

Basically, they teach you the theoretics, and then you're left wondering how you should apply them. At least, that's how it went for me.

Personally, I found the most effective way to learn was through Udemy courses and YouTube tutorials. It's much clearer to see an example of a real-life application being built right in front of you and then repeating the steps.

Good luck!

Codecademy is a great tool for the very basics and they offer a wider range of "paths". If you want to learn HTML, CSS, and JS then check out free code camp