Learn to write code with Code Academy!
The inspiring tale of how I became a coder with the help of a free educational website.
Before this experience, the idea of coding was very unknown and daunting to me. I imagined nerds hunched over computer screens with bloodshot eyes, in a dark rooms, with only a mug of coffee as a companion. I imagined rows upon rows of digital numbers and letters that didn’t mean anything to anyone other than superhuman coders— which I certainly wasn’t.
….Until now (*hacker voice* I’m in)
That’s right. Now I, too, can relate to such memes as these:
Okay to be real, I’m not going to insult real code writers and programmers by saying that I am anywhere near being one. But, CodeAcademy.com, a free online education service, helped me learn the basics of coding through several steps and activities.
Lessons With Code Academy
When you begin lessons of Code Academy, you will become very familiar with this setup:
On the left is where you do your readings, see examples, and are given instructions. In the centre is where the code is located, where you experiment and follow the instructions given to in the left box. At the bottom of the centre box is a button that says “Run.” This will implement whatever code you have typed in onto the third box on the right, showing you the results of your coding. You cannot move on to the next step without clicking “Run,” and successfully completing the assigned task, which will be indicated by a green check mark located beside the instruction in the left box.
The lessons started out as simple as the one above, which is the very first lesson in HTML code writing. The left box provided basic lessons about terminology, examples, and simple instructions.
When I completed the instruction, I received my first achievement badge! I would go on to gain more badges throughout my learning.
The lessons broke down coding step by step, and I found myself breezing through each, hitting “Run,” being greatly impressed with myself when the check mark lit up green, and moving on to the next step. Below is a series of the step-by-step lessons on Code Academy (note the number at the bottom indicating the step).
Another format you will become familiar with, however less so than the usual setup, is the vocabulary/terminology lessons, as pictured below:
At the end of each set of steps, the left box will provide you with a review! There will be a much longer set of instructions than usual which will ask you to implement all of the aspects of coding you have just learned.
This was my favourite part, as I got to see all the little check marks light up green in the left box, and the results on the right box. Maybe it was just because I had previously thought coding was an unbelievably hard and unachievable skill for mere mortals such as I, but I felt a great sense of achievement and happiness when I saw the direct result of my learning and creation of code.
At the end of all of this, you will be quizzed with a simple multiple choice test, which will help you to keep track of your learning.
The lessons continue in these formats, moving on to different subjects, including CSS and JS.
My Results
I finished with seven badges overall…
…and a website that looks like it could have been made in the 90s.
which was far different from what I thought my results would be…
My Experience As A Code Writer
I had a blast learning how to code. I enjoyed imaging myself as one of those superhuman nerds who could create amazing digital worlds as I completed each step of coding.
The site itself was very encouraging, with those check marks I’ve mentioned so fondly, and the badges. The only thing that was discouraging was seeing how far I still had left to go to finish the course. Because the lessons were broken down to such minute steps, it felt like it was taking forever to move from lesson to lesson, from step to step. Every time I came away from an hour of work, there would be a disheartening statistic such as “you have completed 7% of the coding course!”
Another result of this was that it was getting boring reading through the text- and information-heavy left boxes. I began just skimming through them, and started experimenting a lot by myself in the centre box. I found that the lessons got more interesting as the instructions asked you to create your own content.
I had a lot of fun with some aspects, and let myself really get into it in order to enjoy it and learn more. When I got to CSS, I got really excited and ended up researching lists of CSS-friendly fonts, and code for CSS colours. There was about 15 minutes where I was trying to get one of my images to be centered and I had tried so many times that I was getting frustrated. I was seriously thinking of just admitting defeat when I finally figured out the correct code, and the result instantly appeared in the website window. I genuinely did a little happy dance in the study hall I had been working in (See: Minion gif above).
I definitely feel as though I have learned some valuable information, and have had my eyes opened up to a whole new digital language. I can never look at a website the same way again.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed following my on my journey to becoming a Professional Code Writer. I highly recommend that you check out CodeAcademy.com for yourself, I can guarantee that you will learn a lot! Maybe you can even beat my 7 badge record!
