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Code Your Own Holiday Card with Codecademy Code Cards

48 points by binarydreams 14y ago

sunsu 14y ago
Honest question: Isn't it bad that they put this under a subdomain? Google won't credit your root domain for incoming links to a subdomain, will it? Similar to why it's better for your blog to be at example.com/blog instead of blog.example.com.
- digitalboss 14y ago
  In a recent Webmaster Help video, Google’s Matt Cutts reported that adjustments to Google’s search algorithms have removed many of the advantages given to sites organizing content using subdomains rather than a subdirectory. More - http://www.brafton.com/news/subdomains-vs-subdirectories-for-seo-no-serp-benefits-for-subdomains-anymore http://www.brafton.com/news/subdomains-vs-subdirectories-for... Opinons on both sides for this question. SEOMOZ recommends folders - "Since search engines keep different metrics for domains than they do subdomains, it is recommended that webmasters place link worthy content like blogs in subfolders rather than subdomains. (i.e. www.example.com/blog/ rather than blog.example.com) The notable exception to this is language specific websites. (i.e. en.example.com for english)"
mblake 14y ago
Like the idea, good marketing strategy too, but have a deep hatred for Lobster font :(
aviswanathan 14y ago
Does anyone have any stories about learning with Codecademy? I have a few friends that are very interested in learning to program (mainly web dev stuff - HTML/CSS/JS) and are looking to use Codecademy. I personally learned in high school by ripping apart existing websites, inspecting tons of lines of code, and trying to make things happen in the browser, so I don't know if Codecademy is the right route. Thoughts? Does it help with fundamentals?
- zds 14y ago
  We have a lot of examples of people learning with Codecademy - check a few out at Codecademy.com/stories.
- xiaoma 14y ago
  I follow this market pretty closely. My experience is that Codecademy is focused more on the marketing than on the product itself. When I last looked, it was only really basic stuff. But they've gotten a TON of media coverage, somehow! My hope is that they use their size to improve the educational offerings. In my personal experience as a learner, Code School (codeschool.com) is strictly superior -- clearer instruction, great videos and slides, and interactive repl-like coding experience and much more advanced material. Only some of it is free though. Khan Academy also has a top-notch format, has a lot of content and it's strictly non-commercial... but the programming stuff kind of spread out all over the place. For the most rigorous teaching I know of that you can get for free, go to Coursera or edX. They have videos as good as Khan Academy or Code School, and they actually have homework assignments that get evaluated. You have to wait for the courses to open, but that leads to some good things too, like having lots of peers going through it with you.
  - tomasien 14y ago
    Disagree that Codecademy doesn't focus on product, agree with all your suggestions though. When attempting to master a skill, nothing should be viewed in a vacuum.
- tomasien 14y ago
  I learned everything I knew before I got a job as a programmer from Codecademy. I've learned vastly more by actually doing things, but the basis I needed to get started I learned fantastically with CA. I think it's also gotten way better from when I first started using it. The jQuery lessons are fantasticly useful, and the Python courses go way deeper and are far more useful than the original Javascript courses I first did.
  - xiaoma 14y ago
kellishaver 14y ago
My 10yr old had a lot of fun with this: http://cards.codecademy.com/codecards/tzBPG/full http://cards.codecademy.com/codecards/tzBPG/full
teddyknox 14y ago
Weird because I couldn't figure out how to change the Javascript of a card. Not to be that guy, but I don't really consider fiddling with HTML+CSS "coding" as they call it. Other than that pretty cool.
- tomasien 14y ago
  I think if you write a code that the computer interprets and does something with that code, that is by any definition "coding". I know there's often a "code" vs. "design" distinction, but HTML/CSS are by their very definition codes.
  - nightpool 14y ago
    HTML/CSS are markup languages, not programming languages. One is a way of defining what something is, the other is a way of defining what something does. Think Markdown vs. Python, for a more dramatic example.
    - tomasien 14y ago
      I understand that, but they're written with code. Maybe I'm wrong but that pretty clearly makes the writing of them "coding".
      - codewright 14y ago
        You're taking a word too literally and conflating it with something it doesn't mean. HTML/CSS is not coding/programming.
        tomasien 14y ago
        I'm amenable to that argument, I can't find an alternate definition that disputes my use of the word and there are dozens of uses of the word "coding" to mean writing html/css, so I don't know what alternate definition I'm supposed to be using.
atomical 14y ago
I clicked on this hoping for a ruby api.

48 points by binarydreams 14y ago

sunsu 14y ago

Honest question: Isn't it bad that they put this under a subdomain? Google won't credit your root domain for incoming links to a subdomain, will it? Similar to why it's better for your blog to be at example.com/blog instead of blog.example.com.

digitalboss 14y ago
In a recent Webmaster Help video, Google’s Matt Cutts reported that adjustments to Google’s search algorithms have removed many of the advantages given to sites organizing content using subdomains rather than a subdirectory. More - http://www.brafton.com/news/subdomains-vs-subdirectories-for-seo-no-serp-benefits-for-subdomains-anymore http://www.brafton.com/news/subdomains-vs-subdirectories-for... Opinons on both sides for this question. SEOMOZ recommends folders - "Since search engines keep different metrics for domains than they do subdomains, it is recommended that webmasters place link worthy content like blogs in subfolders rather than subdomains. (i.e. www.example.com/blog/ rather than blog.example.com) The notable exception to this is language specific websites. (i.e. en.example.com for english)"

mblake 14y ago

Like the idea, good marketing strategy too, but have a deep hatred for Lobster font :(

aviswanathan 14y ago

Does anyone have any stories about learning with Codecademy? I have a few friends that are very interested in learning to program (mainly web dev stuff - HTML/CSS/JS) and are looking to use Codecademy. I personally learned in high school by ripping apart existing websites, inspecting tons of lines of code, and trying to make things happen in the browser, so I don't know if Codecademy is the right route. Thoughts? Does it help with fundamentals?

zds 14y ago
We have a lot of examples of people learning with Codecademy - check a few out at Codecademy.com/stories.
xiaoma 14y ago
I follow this market pretty closely. My experience is that Codecademy is focused more on the marketing than on the product itself. When I last looked, it was only really basic stuff. But they've gotten a TON of media coverage, somehow! My hope is that they use their size to improve the educational offerings. In my personal experience as a learner, Code School (codeschool.com) is strictly superior -- clearer instruction, great videos and slides, and interactive repl-like coding experience and much more advanced material. Only some of it is free though. Khan Academy also has a top-notch format, has a lot of content and it's strictly non-commercial... but the programming stuff kind of spread out all over the place. For the most rigorous teaching I know of that you can get for free, go to Coursera or edX. They have videos as good as Khan Academy or Code School, and they actually have homework assignments that get evaluated. You have to wait for the courses to open, but that leads to some good things too, like having lots of peers going through it with you.
- tomasien 14y ago
  Disagree that Codecademy doesn't focus on product, agree with all your suggestions though. When attempting to master a skill, nothing should be viewed in a vacuum.
tomasien 14y ago
I learned everything I knew before I got a job as a programmer from Codecademy. I've learned vastly more by actually doing things, but the basis I needed to get started I learned fantastically with CA. I think it's also gotten way better from when I first started using it. The jQuery lessons are fantasticly useful, and the Python courses go way deeper and are far more useful than the original Javascript courses I first did.
- xiaoma 14y ago

kellishaver 14y ago

My 10yr old had a lot of fun with this: http://cards.codecademy.com/codecards/tzBPG/full http://cards.codecademy.com/codecards/tzBPG/full

teddyknox 14y ago

Weird because I couldn't figure out how to change the Javascript of a card. Not to be that guy, but I don't really consider fiddling with HTML+CSS "coding" as they call it. Other than that pretty cool.

tomasien 14y ago
I think if you write a code that the computer interprets and does something with that code, that is by any definition "coding". I know there's often a "code" vs. "design" distinction, but HTML/CSS are by their very definition codes.
- nightpool 14y ago
  HTML/CSS are markup languages, not programming languages. One is a way of defining what something is, the other is a way of defining what something does. Think Markdown vs. Python, for a more dramatic example.
  - tomasien 14y ago
    I understand that, but they're written with code. Maybe I'm wrong but that pretty clearly makes the writing of them "coding".
    - codewright 14y ago
      You're taking a word too literally and conflating it with something it doesn't mean. HTML/CSS is not coding/programming.
      - tomasien 14y ago
        I'm amenable to that argument, I can't find an alternate definition that disputes my use of the word and there are dozens of uses of the word "coding" to mean writing html/css, so I don't know what alternate definition I'm supposed to be using.

atomical 14y ago

I clicked on this hoping for a ruby api.