If it works for you then it works for you! With that said, I personally found other resources to be useful: (Course) theodinproject.com (Course) mooc.fi Java Programming 1 & 2 (YouTube Channels) Bro Code, Caleb Curry, Programming with Mosh, Traversy Media (Book) Starting out with Programming Logic & Design (Courses - PAID) codewithmosh.com (Website) roadmap.sh Answer from Deleted User on reddit.com
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › what is so bad about codecademy?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: What is so bad about Codecademy?
October 11, 2024 -

I’ve been trying to learn programming for a while. I was finding that most free resources were extremely difficult in getting the bigger pictures across and how things tied together. I finally broke down and bought the pro version of Codecademy. I started the backend engineering track and I feel like I’m actually learning a lot and making progress, understanding concepts. I feel like it gives me direction and ties concepts together on how things function together. The supplemental resources that they point you to help a lot.

I see Codecademy get a lot of hate on here and the majority of the reason is it’s too expensive, but I don’t really hear a lot about the content quality here.

Am I wasting my time with Codecademy, or is the pro version a start?

Top answer
1 of 26
146
If it works for you then it works for you! With that said, I personally found other resources to be useful: (Course) theodinproject.com (Course) mooc.fi Java Programming 1 & 2 (YouTube Channels) Bro Code, Caleb Curry, Programming with Mosh, Traversy Media (Book) Starting out with Programming Logic & Design (Courses - PAID) codewithmosh.com (Website) roadmap.sh
2 of 26
22
Every person is different. Most of the advice in here (on the FAQ to the right) is geared to brand-new people who can get much of what Codecademy offers for free elsewhere on the net. For example, you learned JS at Codecademy but you might have learned it better, faster and in more depth if you have learned it directly from Mozilla. And if you learn it at Mozilla while using a Firefox browser, they practically pay you, almost. But anyway, based on your post history you're already an industrial programmer programming logic boards for androids or whatever, and so you already have a technical mindset and just need to know the actual syntax of C#, Python, Java, JS, and so forth. So for you, you happened upon Codecademy and now it's all coming together for you. This isn't going to help some 16 or 17 year old kid who wants to make games coming to r/learnprogramming for the first time, as he or she might be better of going directly to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/get-started-c-sharp-part-1/ than paying for Codecademy. TL:DR: it's great that it's helping you, but you have 3 degrees and a tech mindset; you need to accept that your experience is anomalous to the brand-new 15 year olds coming here hating on Codecademy. And obviously having a salary with disposable income, you can't compare yourself to teenagers with no money.
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codeacademy pro worth it?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Is Codeacademy Pro worth it?
October 17, 2023 -

They've got a 50% october sale at the moment. The pro package provides access to (and I quote):

Real-world projects

All courses

Skill paths

Career paths

Technical interview prep

Code challenges

Professional certifications

Career services

Assessments

I am a not a beginner but not quite at an intermediate level. I have a decent mathematical background with some previous, limited experience in Python and C++. I'm looking to learn some Python (and C++ eventually) for applications in data analysis, ML and financial tools.

Has anyone genuinely found Codeacadmey to be a strong resource in terms of the courses and projects offered? Have you completed courses and left with a more robust understanding of concepts? Also, do employers rate their proffesional certs?

thanks for reading :)

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codecademy worth the money and time?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Is Codecademy worth the money and time?
May 30, 2023 -

I recently discovered CodeCademy and they have everything from free basic fundamental skills to full fundamentals of a skill like HTML, SQ, Python etc. they also have career paths that teach you everything to do with Front end, computer science/data science, full stack. My question is, is it worth the time to do the course to getting a job as a self taught programmer? Will I be taken seriously as someone without a college degree?

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/codecademy › is codecademy worth it? i'm worried i'll be wasting my time.
r/Codecademy on Reddit: Is Codecademy worth it? I'm worried I'll be wasting my time.
April 28, 2025 -

I'm going to community college in the fall for Computer Science, I graduated high school in 2023 so I just work now, and I'm finally going back. Doing the 2 years in community college then 2 years state school path.

I can get the student discount for codecademy $150 for a year of pro, but I'm worried it might be a waste? I completed the beginner python course for my senior project and I liked it a lot. And I have severe ADHD and hate learning how to code, it's not hard to understand just to learn and pay attention, and codecademy wasn't that bad to work with in that regard.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › how does r/learnprogramming feel about codeacademy?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: How does r/learnprogramming feel about Codeacademy?
November 1, 2013 -

My coworkers are on the fence; some say I should use Learn Python the Hard Way, and others say learning python any way is good.

Edit: wow, I expected one or two replies tops.

I think after getting some experience in CA, I'll move on to something else like Learn Python the Hard Way.

I almost feel like I'm cheating in CA because I'm taking the second Java course my university offers, so I have programming experience.

Now that we've discussed Python, what about django? The tutorial is super dry and it's hard without anything to keep me going like CA has.

Find elsewhere
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › many are against codecademy because it’s too basic, but isn’t that a good thing for those starting out?
Many are against Codecademy because it’s too basic, but isn’t that a good thing for those starting out? : r/learnprogramming
March 30, 2021 - Codecademy is good but for me it just slowed down my learning. Learning with codecademy the concepts didn’t stick and took me longer to understand because of how much handholding there is. I’ve learnt very quickly the best and fastest way to learn code is by practise and application and ...
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codecademy a good place to start learning programming?
Is Codecademy a good place to start learning programming? : r/learnprogramming
March 31, 2024 - Since you already bought it I think this can be a good opportunity to try a bunch of different things, develop some base knowledge and figure out what you enjoy doing or are most interested in. If you are serious about learning then there are much better ways, but as a gentle introduction codecademy is fine.
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › codeacademy, worth it?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: CodeAcademy, worth it?
June 26, 2020 -

Hey everybody. Facing recently the world of programming and really want to go in deep into it.

First things first, I'm a biologist, so I would apply those knowledge in the bioinformatic field, so no deep scripting, machine learning and so on.

I'm wondering if the pro account of CodeAcademy is really worth its money to acquire a basic knowledge of the most important languages (i.e. python, R, bash, etc.) That would allow me to start a possible career in bioinfo.

I know that the website release also some certificates of completion that, for what I know, are accepted as CV in the field. Any experience with that?

Thanks to all that will answer :)

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codecademy good for advancing my skills?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Is codecademy good for advancing my skills?
March 25, 2024 -

I did the CS50 python course and I have been working on personal projects over the past year or so, but i still feel like im a beginner at python. I saw some intermediate and advanced courses for python on codecademy and I just wanted to know if anyone has experience with codecademy especially with theur intermediate and harder courses and if they are any good

Edit: thanks for the feedback guys! I will focus on projects more and check out what udemy can teach me in terms of more advanced python

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codecademy good for learning java and building projects?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Is Codecademy good for learning Java and building projects?
December 8, 2023 -

I am 25 and I am ready to leave my dead-end job. I wasted a lot of time when I was younger with YOLO as my excuse and now I am regretting it, I want to start a career. I owe thousands to colleges that I enrolled in but never finished and I do not want to accrue more debt. I also unfortunately do not have the time to do college and I’m looking for something self-paced.

I am liking what I have learned so far from Codecademy and I am considering buying the pro membership in order to fully learn it, and build projects to put on my resume. But would other developers say it's worth it? I'm very serious and focused on learning these skills, but I want to know the best place to learn.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnpython › is codecademy worthless for learning python?
r/learnpython on Reddit: Is Codecademy worthless for learning Python?
December 2, 2023 -

I started the Python course a few days ago and so far I've reached up to like functions, this is where I'm at: https://imgur.com/a/Or9qsa5

But so far it's been really easy and I feel like it's not trying hard enough to test your skills in what you just learned. Unless that's just me, I have some background in C#, C++, and even Python before, but I consider myself a Novice.

My free trial ends in the upcoming days, should I renew it to finish the course or are there other free alternative ways, or even paid platforms, that will make me think more critically about tasks.

Look forward to all your opinions.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › would it be worth it to pay for something like codeacademy?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Would it be worth it to pay for something like codeacademy?
January 27, 2025 -

I've mostly been using free resources (won't be able to go back to college for a while because it's pretty expensive), and I've been thinking about trying paid classes for a better learning experience, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. I really like freeCodeCamp—following along with projects is great, and the certification projects are helpful. But I feel like I need something that explains how everything functions together even more clearly.

With most tutorials, I feel like I'm blindly following along, and I'd love to get to the point where I can create things more independently. I've looked through a few other resources but I'm unsure what would be best for me. I'm considering paying for a course, but I'm not sure if I should. I've googled different options but want feedback from people who have tried different things. What works best for any of you? :)

If it helps I'm currently learning Javascript, CSS, and HTML (I would also like to learn Java at some point)

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › is codecademy worth it at 60% off?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Is codecademy worth it at 60% off?
January 15, 2025 -

Currently I'm getting it for $95/year, which I think is a very decent deal. I'm trying to upskill in various areas like cloud, python programming, a few things related to full stack, and maybe get some new data science skills too. Did any one of you here use Codecademy for their career growth/transition? Or did anyone find Codecademy to be helpful/not helpful in any way?

~ thanks

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › opinions on codecademy?
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Opinions on Codecademy?
April 11, 2012 -

I was wondering what you guys think of Codecademy as a tool for learning how to code. I've completed the Ruby track 100% (projects included) and I'm currently 70% through the Web Fundamentals track. I should also mention I'm a university CS student. Currently, I'm taking an Intermediate C++ class as well as a Unix class (focused on bash scripting).

After completing the Ruby track, I felt like I had a solid grasp on the syntax and usage, but had no idea what people actually use it for. Everything I learned was through their little editor and online compiler; I didn't have a clue how to use Rails (still don't).

Now working through the HTML/CSS track, I feel like I have some applicable knowledge (I've got a Linux machine w/ Apache that I use to apply what I learn).

My thoughts on Codecademy? I think it's a great supplementary resource for someone who's learning programming. I don't think it should be the /only/ resource one uses to learn to code, because you won't learn the application, only the syntax. However, there are so many resources for learning coding on the web that I find it hard to believe someone would rely on just one.

As previously stated, I'm a CS student. I believe what Codecademy can offer to a person like me is a solid foundation to build on top of through coursework, or side-projects--some way to apply the knowledge. I use it because it's fun, rewarding (they give you points/badges/awards for f'kin everything), and relaxed--and because I believe it will be an excellent way to prepare for my web development class that's coming in a semester or two.

At the very least, it gets me writing code every day--which I think is the absolute best way to learn programming, regardless of language.

Top answer
1 of 5
40

Honest opinion? I think its highly overrated, particularly on this subreddit. Do a search for the "codecademy" or "code academy" and you'll see tons of posts, and tons of similar questions.

As a brief, very brief, introduction to a language it's not bad. But it barely scratches the surface in many areas, and often leaves people wondering "What exactly did I just learn?" For someone who thinks they are interested in learning more about programming, I'd say a beginners book or an online tutorial will serve them better.

Gamification can make dull things seem fun and interesting. It can provide a sense of accomplishment for what are sometimes the most trivial of things. It serves as a motivating factor. But if it takes something like codecademy to keep you interested in programming, then you just flat out aren't going to be successful. Programming in and of itself should be your motivation.

I cringe every single time someone asks "Is there a website like codecademy for (MySql | Java | C#| PHP | Data Structures| COBOL) ?" Take some initiative, and try learning it yourself! A large part of programming is having the ability to figure out problems on your own, or a the very least find the resources to help you.

tl;dr: Codecademy is often used as an easy out by those not motivated enough to learn material through traditional methods. It's recommended way too often on this subreddit.

2 of 5
33

As a absolute beginner with no prior knowledge about any aspect of programming, I'm enjoying it. People saying you should learn how to code for the sake of loving how to code don't realize it's freaking intimidating when there's so much relating to programming. This is where I can decide whether or not I do love programming, to just throw someone into programming and say "love it or leave" is a moronic way to approach it