Why Codecademy is Amazing for First Time Developers and Old Timers alike

We here at Bloc absolutely love Codecademy. Two years ago, Codecademy ignited a movement and inspired people try to learn to code. If you’re like Mayor Bloomberg and millions of other folks who want to understand what all this coding fuss is about, Codecademy was a free and easy way to get you feet wet — and by all accounts Codecademy is bringing hundreds of thousands of new students into the fold.

For a lot of first time coders, the idea of using the command line is downright intimidating. Let’s take Git as an example — our marketing guy downloaded it and had no idea what to do next. A lot of the tools developers take for granted can be daunting and incomprehensible at first. Codecademy abstracts away a great deal of it, and gets you learning HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Ruby instantly. And all you need is a browser.

Codecademy is also great for old timers who want to update their skills. Let’s say you’re familiar with web hosting and are currently an IT professional, but you learned to program in C++ 10 years ago. Codecademy is a great way to start familiarizing yourself with the Ruby syntax — you’ll breeze through object oriented programming and string manipulation in hours and be hungry for more!. Once you’re up and running, there are hundreds of resources including Bloc that can help you learn more about the Rails framework, Gems, APIs, iOS, and User Experience.

So why do people join Bloc? A lot of students we talk to say they eventually hit a wall with free and low cost options, and to get further they needed a human guide. Furthermore, for those that are hoping to make a real life change, they value the opportunity to work directly with an experienced professional developer. Others use Codecademy to learn syntax, and then come to Bloc for help in building their own project. Finally, the idea of apprenticeship appeals so much to us here at Bloc because software development is a craft. Budding developers come here to learn the tools of the trade.

Codecademy — keep doing what you’re doing.

Sincerely,

Your friends at Bloc