4 ms·

That's great and all, but why pay for an online coding school in the first place? The web has a ton of freely available programming learning materials.

• Alterlife 13y ago
  Why pay to watch movies on Netflix when there are so many free videos on youtube? Why pay to buy games on steam when there are so many free games on sourceforge.net? Why pay for Google Apps or mail chimp or any of those million other tools when there are free alternatives? I would guess codeschool is trying to prove to us that it is worth paying for.
  • rmrfrmrf 13y ago
    There's a difference between same content and same medium.
• jschuur 13y ago
  CodeSchool has a consistent quality, with professionally done videos. By now, the site has enough of a reputation, that you can show around your profile that lists what challenges and courses you've passed.
  • jsftw 13y ago
    I hope there's a kickstarter project to make some badges for challenges passed. People will then be able to sew them on their shirt, to show how good a programmer they are.
  • quinndupont 13y ago
    Doesn't the old-fashioned Lynda.com offer much better videos? At first blush, Codeschool doesn't seem to be teaching so much as introducing. The JavaScript lessons seem way too high-level, and way too focused on frameworks and libraries (these are important, but only once you have the basics down).
• mscarborough 13y ago
  Because people learn differently. I learn a ton from google searches every day at work but new topics are better served by a structured program. When I learned Rails I paid $100 or so to Hartl and another $30 for the Obie book. That's one hour of consultant work to have people who know their stuff tell you about it.
  • mkoble11 13y ago
    Because people learn differently. Agreed. Online schools are fantastic, because anyone anywhere can work through them at anytime. At the end of the day, some people need a little more interaction. There are in-person mobile programs like The Disruption Institute (http://www.disruptioninstitute.com http://www.disruptioninstitute.com) with teachers & mentors. They can really help if you get stuck on a tough problem you're trying to work through, need a concept explained further, etc.
• Felix21 13y ago
  Most people don't know what to learn, or where to find the resources. When you google around, you either find something too advanced or to "beginner" and it gets frustrating. When I started learning how to code, I was learning JavaScript, cause I didn't really get the "concept" of web apps, back end and front end. I didn't even know there was a concept to "get"... "Rails? What's that?" So really, that's what you're paying for with these online code schools, someone to show you the way.
  • cinquemb 13y ago
    >So really, that's what you're paying for with these online code schools, someone to show you the way. No, just a way not the way. The confusion you point out even makes light of it: there are many ways.
• bdcravens 13y ago
  While it's not the only resource of its kind, it does feature in-browser coding and feedback. You have to get through those exercises in order to continue. While I felt it was far from thorough (you can often ape the examples you've been shown without really understanding what you're doing), it's a nice way to get your feet wet by taking baby steps. They also provide freebies/discounts, like free Peepcode screencasts, discounts on Michael Hartl's screencasts, etc (varies by course). I personally feel it gives me its $25 (often $20 - you get $5 vouchers for courses you complete) value.