JavaScript Made Easy With Codecademy

Ever wanted to learn JavaScript, but never got around to it? If you're like me, you've made one excuse after another. The first is likely cost. No one really wants to buy expensive books to learn how to program. The next excuse - it's complicated. Whether you use free tutorials or professionally written books, learning to program is complicated. There's so much to take in, especially as you start learning more advanced commands.

One final excuse is trying to find the right software to use. It's amazing that creating your own programs means you need yet more software. With everything you have available, finding the right one is a difficult task. Not to mention, learning the software itself often requires ages to learn. What if you have another option for learning JavaScript? A free option, nonetheless. Two guys have made such an option available in the form of Codecademy.

The site was created by Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski. The concept came about when Zach became frustrated with traditional methods for learning programming. While Ryan helped Zach with the basics, other sources didn't quite provide the instruction he needed. Instead, they decided to create an interactive way to learn. The result was the birth of Codecademy.

Though the site is relatively new, it already has a loyal following. I admit, I'm already on board myself. I actually took classes in college to learn to program. I've tried online tutorials. I have plenty of books lying around. My computer is cluttered with different software development kits, most of which are far more complicated than the languages they were created for. Codecademy was a breath of fresh air and one I hope continues to grow.

With the site being new, there are very few tutorials. However, there are eight tutorials currently available which provides a good beginner's foundation for JavaScript. This includes the very basics, arrays, If statements, and While loops. To help develop the site, the guys are asking experienced programmers to add their own lessons. Considering the site's fast found popularity, more lessons will be available soon. If you want to know the moment new courses are available, sign up for their email list, which you can do within your second lesson.

The site also adds a game aspect to learning. You earn badges for everything you do. The badges allow you to view your progress and show off to friends. Yes, there is now a social aspect to learning to program. You can use your Facebook account to access the site and then share your progress with friends and family. Compete against each other to see who really is a "coding ninja."

You don't have to create an account to benefit, but it's much easier to track your progress if you do. All you need is a Facebook account or valid email address. You choose what other information you add later. However, nothing else is required to get started.

If you've ever had an interest in programming or consider yourself an expert, give Codecademy a look. You can quickly see whether programming is right for you or start your journey to becoming an expert yourself. If you're already an expert, help everyone out by creating a lesson. We'd all love it if you would.