Service Teaches Computer Code Online Free
A start-up called Codecademy is teaching JavaScript online for free, with 300,000 takers so far. Michael Moyer reports
If you were going to move to a foreign country, you’d probably make an effort to learn the language. And yet so many of us live our lives in front of computer screens limiting ourselves to the technological equivalent of pointing and gesturing.
We can get our basic needs across with just a mouse and cursor, but we’ll never truly understand computers—or get them to do exactly what we want them to do—unless we learn the language of code.
Now, in 2012, a New York City–based start-up called Codecademy is aiming to bring programming skills to the masses. During what the company is calling Code Year, students will get an interactive online lesson emailed to them once a week. The service is free, and by the end of the year the company says that students should have a solid working knowledge of JavaScript, a widely-used programming language.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
So far over 300,000 people have signed up, proving that there’s a lot of interest in talking to technology on its own terms.
—Michael Moyer
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
