Gone are the days when programming languages could only be mastered
programmers like Bill Gates, who later got to dominate the world by
storm. Now everyone holds the same potential, and the chance to learn and even master programming language easily. Today, we will show you 10 interactive websites that will help you do that.
That’s right, forget about complicated setups and black, cold command
prompts that make you want to quit before you start, and say hi to 10
educational websites with instant and interactive lessons that teach you
programming languages like HTML, CSS, PHP, Ruby and even iOS. Pick up tips, screencasts and even best practices from industry professionals.
Inside each lesson is a panel that explains necessary code and instruction.
Another panel allows you to get your hands dirty by writing acceptable
code, then checking if you are doing the right thing. Don’t worry about
making mistakes, as both instruction and code panels will warn you of errors, and provide hints. It is as if there’s a kind teacher right beside you.
Code Avengers has a gradual approach to interactive learning. It does not explain too much knowledge that isn’t essential
for beginners, just a bit of code and playful instruction, making
things very easy to digest. You also get to play with the code, then see
the impact of the changes immediately. It is carefully crafted with the beginner’s comfort in mind.
Overall, the courses are categorized into 4 main paths, and they are
Almost all courses are aggressively polished with impressive design and informative screencasts, though the challenges after the screencast might bit a bit hard for amateurs. Luckily, there are hints and answers to refer to. While most of the offered courses are free, certain ones will require you to spend $25/month to access the entire course including all screencasts and challenges, and also all other courses in Code School.
For Treehouse, every course is divided into different stages or modules, and beyond every first stage the learner will be invited to pay a monthly subscription fee of $25 to access all courses with 650+ videos, and an exclusive Treehouse Members Forum as a bonus. If you are serious about your programming future, you could subscribe the $49 monthly plan to obtain in-depth interviews with leading industry pros and cutting-edge workshops.
LearnStreet adopts command prompt-styled code interpreters with human
language to explain function and encourage you whenever possible, the
kind of command prompt you want for your own local machine. However, the
code interpreter could be as rude as standard command prompt, as most
of the times it requires you to type in the absolute same code and
content it asks for.
Other than that, it’s truly friendly and enjoyable, and most importantly, free.
You will be given a screencast from pros discussing the topics and
instructions, then you will take either logic or programming quizzes to
strengthen your understanding or forge it into a skill. The good thing
about Udacity is it provides more videos than any other site, and the
instructors are either real-life professors or industry veterans.
The only pitfall here is most courses are not much related to each other, so Udacity is probably not your starting point, but a virtual university to further your study.
The advantage of CodeHS is it teaches you to think, and solve a
problem like a programmer with its first course, Programming with Karel.
The lessons are fun as you will learn how to use the code to move the
dog, Karel to complete given tasks and puzzles like picking up ball and
building a towel. It plants a solid concept of programming and the way
it solves the problem systematically in your mind.
Other than the course mentioned above, you must sign up first with $25 per month to continue your learning journey, but it’s a perfect site to learn basic game programming effectively.
You can first join the Programming Basics course to watch and learn basic concepts,
then explore the given code after the video tutorial to validate your
doubts. With Khan Academy, you can save your modification as a Spin-Off
for everyone to enjoy and customize. There have been hundreds of
spin-offs just from one lesson in one course, so imagine the community
size, and the lesson’s effectiveness.
It’s not about programming though, but a combination of visual blocks of commands that tell assigned objects how to behave,
such as telling the cat to move 10 steps, or yell ‘meow’ when it
touches the owner’s leg. By using this visual programming method, the
young programmers will form a habit of breaking a problem into smaller
blocks, and solve them one by one logically.
Since there is really nothing too deep to explain for a
straightforward language like SQL, the site will only ask you to replace
the variables like city names or population number, and raise the
difficulty from that level. One huge let-down will be the shortage of
hints, answers and forum, so you are probably doomed if you fail to
solve any one of the quizzes, just like old times.
Recommended Reading: Getting A College Degree Or Self-Learning?
Kickstart the beginning of your new path into programming today!Codecademy
Codecademy is indisputably the most famous website to teach you to code interactively, thanks to its helpful interface and well-structured courses. Upon visiting the main page, you can already start tasting the programming right away, with its motivating on-screen console. Pick a course that Codecademy offers from Web Fundamentals, PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, Python, Ruby and APIs.Code Avengers
Code Avengers is designed to make you love programming. Though it only offers HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript course for now, each of the courses is carefully designed to truly entertain you while leveling your programming skills painlessly. At the end of each lesson you also get to play a mini game to release your cumulated stress, and keep you going for longer.Code School
After you finished courses in Codecademy or Code Avengers, and you are ready to further expand your capabilities, Code School is the next quality website you should land on. Unlike most interactive learning sites, Code School offers more in-depth courses to train and turn you into an expert with the industry’s best practices.Overall, the courses are categorized into 4 main paths, and they are
- Ruby
- JavaScript
- HTML/CSS
- iOS
Treehouse
Treehouse courses are more project-oriented than language-oriented, so they are perfect for novice programmer with a planned purpose, such as building a website, or an application. For example, the Websites course is all about building a responsive website, interactive website or even WordPress theme – a very practical and efficient way to master related languages. Nonetheless, they have released a plethora of foundation courses with a video-then-quiz approach.LearnStreet
If you are that kind of personnel who do not fancy playful design and prefer to deal with cold hard codes, LearnStreet is probably your thing. It currently offers JavaScript, Python and Ruby courses at beginner level. With a click on the ‘Start Course’ button you will start the lesson with an exercise, a code interpreter and a glossary panel (for new programming terms).Other than that, it’s truly friendly and enjoyable, and most importantly, free.
Udacity
Udacity is the unification of insightful video lectures and improved quizzes to achieve the interactive feel for students, so it’s ideal for those who don’t like to read but rather get explanations from industry professionals such as Google employees.The only pitfall here is most courses are not much related to each other, so Udacity is probably not your starting point, but a virtual university to further your study.
CodeHS
At this point all websites you read here are mainly dedicated to web development and computer science, but CodeHS is one with simple and fun game programming lessons that involve problem solving, JavaScript, animation, data structures, game design and puzzle challenges.Other than the course mentioned above, you must sign up first with $25 per month to continue your learning journey, but it’s a perfect site to learn basic game programming effectively.
Khan Academy
Although Khan Academy’s courses are not as structured as CodeHS, it serves as an open playground for both novice and amateurs particularly interested in learning drawing, animation and user interaction with code. It does not preach any specific programming language, but the code pattern it adopts can be applied anywhere, as a majority of languages share the similar programming pattern.Scratch 2.0
Think CodeHS and Khan Academy are still too hardcore for your child, who has no comprehension beyond basic English? No worries, there is something even easier for your aspiring next-gen programmer, and it’s called Scratch. Previously an offline software that allow kids to create, upload and share their projects proudly, Scratch is now fully online with its 2.0 successor.SQLZOO
Structured Query Language (SQL) is just a language purely designed to store and retrieve data from a database, so imagine the boredom you will experience when programming a warehouse. Yet SQLZOO wants you to learn SQL happily with its interactive interface and smileys.Comparison Chart
Here’s a comparison chart for you to get a bird’s eye view of all these awesome places to learn how to code.| Website | Course | Feature | Pricing | Difficulty |
| Codecademy | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Ruby, Python, API | Code Interpreter, Progress Saver, Project, Forum | Free | Easy – Intermediate |
| Code Avengers | HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript | Code Interpreter, Progress Saver, Project, Note | Free | Easy |
| Code School | HTML5, CSS, CSS3, jQuery, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, iOS | Code Interpreter, Screencast, Progress Saver, Forum | Free, $25/month | Intermediate – Hard |
| Treehouse | HTML, CSS, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, iOS, Android, UX, Database | Code Interpreter, Screencast, Progress Saver, Project, Forum | Free, $25/month, $49/month | Easy – Hard |
| LearnStreet | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Ruby | Code Interpreter, Progress Saver, Project, Forum | Free | Easy |
| Udacity | Web Development, HTML5, Python, Java, Computer Science, Algorithm, AI | Code Interpreter, Screencast, Progress Saver, Forum | Free | Intermediate – Nightmare |
| CodeHS | Problem Solving, JavaScript, Animation, Game Programming | Code Interpreter, Screencast, Progress Saver | Free, $25/month, $75/month | Easy – Intermediate |
| Khan Academy | Programming Basics, Canvas Drawing, Animation, User Interaction | Code Interpreter, Screencast, Progress Saver, Project, Discussion | Free | Easy – Intermediate |
| Scratch 2.0 | Visual Programming | Visual Editor, Project, Forum | Free | Easy |
| SQLZOO | SQL | Code Interpreter | Free | Easy – Hard |
No comments:
Post a Comment