The best places to learn code

My HTML/CSS progress box on Codecademy

Ever since I tried the Hour of Code back in March my mind has kept on trickling back to the idea of coding. Every time I have to do a repetitive task I think ‘man, this would be so much easier if I could just input a repeat command into this’. It was because of this that I decided to try out a slightly less kiddy approach to learning how to code…

What I discovered is two excellent sites: Codecademy and Dash.

These are both excellent for people looking to learn coding from scratch.

Codecademy has lessons on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Python, Ruby and PHP, while Dash teaches HTML, CSS and JavaScript. (It is worth saying that I think Dash is newer to the game and that’s likely why it has less languages included.)

HTML/CSS: The building blocks of web development

jQuery: Build interactive websites

JavaScript: Make interactive websites and browser-based games

PHP: The most popular server-side language

Python: Programming web apps and data manipulation

Ruby: Build professional web apps

Dash screenshot

I tried Dash first and was really impressed by its teaching method, which feeds you new bits of code in small and easy steps that logically build upon one another, so that you always understand what commands you are inputting and why. The lessons let you recap what you’ve already learned at any point and provide prompts if you forget something, making it very easy to stick with the programme.

After expressing how impressed I was with Dash on Twitter, a friend of mine recommended I try Codecademy.

Codecademy works in a very similar way to Dash, although at first I found it slightly less user friendly. However, I must admit that I have stuck with Codecademy since (not for any reason beyond it being the most recent one I’d tried) and have found it consistently clear and logical. (Also I rather like some of the amusing text examples it uses during lessons.)

After you learn a bit of whatever language you want, the site lets you build a project like making your own website, animation or model galaxy! I haven’t tried this yet, but oh boy do I plan to.

Codecademy screenshot

Both sites let you see how far you have progressed into the course and what you will be learning next, and Codecademy gives you points for doing a bit of a lesson on every consecutive day, which appeals to the Achievement-hog in me.

Overall, both sites are great and I strongly recommend that you try one (or both) if you have even the slightest inclination to start learning code.

Come on, what are you waiting for? Start learning now and let me know how you get on!

P.S. You can also download the Codecademy ‘Hour of Code’ app for your iThing here