Codecademy is a web based learning tool that helps users learn how to code. The application also promotes group learning by encouraging users to become competitive by monitoring their friend’s scores as well as their own. Codecademy keeps track of the user’s progress through its numerous courses. The courses include an introduction course as well as courses on confirm and deny, variables, letters and strings, editor and arrays, what if statements, incrementing and decrementing and loops. Users who already know how to code can offer to create lessons for Codecademy. The application is intended to help users get a start on their coding education so they can begin constructing their own games, websites and applications.

Visit www.codecademy.com

Codecademy was created by Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski. The pair was attending classes at Columbia. During his time at school, Sims found himself becoming frustrated with the process of learning how to code. Bubinski had taught Sims the basic functions of HTML and CSS, however he found that videos and books were not helpful. The pair decided to create an interactive way to learn how to code that would provide hands on activities that allows the user to grow their abilities. Codecademy is still growing, which is evident on their social networking profiles, however the application shows a great deal of promise as the system is ironed out and improved. To sustain its growth rate, Codecademy has raised $2,5 million in its first round of funding from Union Square Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech, Thrive Capital, SV Angel, CrunchFund and more.

Codecademy provides users with another way to learn how to program. The application focuses on activities that teach the user how to code in a way that is fun as well as interactive. Users can also see how their friends are doing to turn the learning process into a competition which adds motivation and encouragement to keep working through the Codecademy courses.

Codecademy has a very basic design, with hints of elegant style. The attractive but simple logo seems to add depth to the plain white background and lack of graphics or colors. Overall the site is easy to navigate so the user should spend minimal time exploring and more time working through the coding courses. The completion pages are easy to read and use green bars and percentages to help the user monitor their progress.

New users can begin by clicking the white “Create Account” link in the upper, right hand corner of the homepage (inside the black header bar). Codecademy gives users two registration options. The first is to fill out the form at the top of the page, which asks for an email address and password. The second is to click the blue and white “Connect with Facebook” button below the form to register with an existing Facebook profile.

Codecademy is available to all users for free. The application does not require a subscription or other fee for access. This is a good thing because Codecademy looks like it is still a little rough around the edges. There is certainly something to be learned for new coders, and the price makes the experience even more attractive.

Codecademy.com is a helpful tool for anyone who is just starting out in the world of programming. The application includes a number of informative courses. Of course the site could use some work. There are occasional errors and bugs, such as broken code where a data entry field should appear when passwords do not match. Overall, the site is ideal for beginners who are looking to explore coding and increase their capabilities with it.

• Start working through Codecademy courses
• Track your progress as well as the progress of others
• Submit a course to Codecademy
• Learn the basics of coding
• Begin building websites, games and applications

Visit www.codecademy.com