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4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Learn Python the Hard way?
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Think Python
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Free versions available
The book is available for free in PDF and HTML formats. A hardcover version can be bought from Amazon.
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Con
Some missing instructions for absolute beginners
Some exercises sometimes require taking steps that aren't explained. Some functions and commands are used without explaining their purpose.
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Pro
Beginner-friendly
Think Python is a free book designed for those with no background in programming. It starts with basic concepts of programming, and is carefully designed to define all terms when they are first used and to develop each new concept in a logical progression. Larger pieces, like recursion and object-oriented programming are divided into a sequence of smaller steps and introduced over the course of several chapters.
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8
0
Google's Python Class
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Great for people with little programming experience
This is a free class for people with a little bit of programming experience who want to learn Python.
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Con
Some programming experience is required
While the courses cover the very basics of Python, basic understanding of programming is needed to start learning from Google's Python class.
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Pro
Good mix of theoretical and practical material
The class includes written materials, lecture videos, and lots of code exercises to practice Python coding. These materials are used within Google to introduce Python to people who have just a little programming experience.
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29
1
A Byte of Python
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Beginner-friendly
It serves as a tutorial or guide to the Python language for a beginner audience. If all you know about computers is how to save text files, then this is the book for you.
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Top
Con
Some mixing of versions
A Byte of Python is a book about Python 2, but includes some Python 3 code.
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Pro
Free
'A Byte of Python' is available for free online. It's a book on programming using the Python language.
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6
1
Hackr.io
All
3
Experiences
Pros
3
Top
Pro
Community trust
Instead of getting a recommendation from a single dev, you get recommendation from the entire programming community.
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Pro
Recommendation for every programming language/framework/library
You can find Python as well as Jenkins.
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Top
Pro
Nice filters
Free, Video, Book, Beginner, Advanced, etc.
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45
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The New Boston video series
All
5
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Everything is free
The tutorials are completely free.
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Top
Con
Somewhat outdated
These videos are a few years old (2011), so there is some content that is a bit outdated.
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Pro
Video tutorials
Tutorials are presented as videos, making them easy to follow / see what's going on at each step. Many people find this format less daunting and easier to take in than traditional text based tutorials.
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Pro
Suitable for beginners
No assumptions are made about prior knowledge, meaning anyone can start watching and pick up the basics fairly quickly.
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Pro
More than 200 video lessons
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11
0
CheckiO
All
5
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Community backed solution reviews
Users can publish their solutions for different problems and other users can review the code and give their opinions on how they would have solved the problem. Sometimes, some of the most active users get their code reviewed by Guido Van Rossum (the creator of the Python language) himself.
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Con
Not for absolute beginners
CheckiO does not teach syntax, instead it teaches how to solve problems using a particular programming language therefore some basic programming knowledge is required to start.
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Pro
Available in multiple languages
CheckiO crowdsources translations for problems. Currently problems have been translated in 10 languages. So it's highly possible that eventually more languages will be supported.
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Pro
Ability to create new challenges
New missions can be created and uploaded using GitHub. After that is done, it's suggested to CheckiO and if it fills all the requirements after being reviewed by a CheckiO team member, it's pulled into the game.
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Top
Pro
Challenges from GitHub, O'Reilly, Dropbox and Hubspot.
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6
0
Code Avengers
All
6
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Reinforces concepts through fun interactions
Code Avengers makes their material engaging and interactive, which aids with understanding and retention of the material.
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Top
Con
A little slow
It may be slow, but that's only because it's thorough.
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Pro
Full of context
Explains what everything is before you must use it, unlike Codecademy, which just kind of tells you to do stuff. To figure out what everything is exactly, you must either look at the glossary or google it.
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Top
Con
Limited selection of courses
Compared to many other paid learning resources, Code avengers currently has a limited number of courses to choose from.
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Pro
Wide selection of courses
Not only do they offer Python, CSS and HTML, and all the works, they offer them in context packages, where you can work on a project that utilizes one or the other. Also, there are different recommended tracks for different purposes - web designer, etc.
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Specs
Languages:
HTML / CSS / JavaScript / Python
Features:
Editor / written tutorials / progress saver
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13
1
Python Module of the Week
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Covers the standard library in an easy to understand way
Detailed, and readable, descriptions and examples of many Python modules.
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Con
No index is available in the book
Book version of PyMotW lacks an index.
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Pro
Multilingual
The resource has been translated in Chinese, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
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Pro
Has been peer reviewed
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0
1
Coursera
All
8
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Some courses offer a verified certificate for a fee
There is an option to earn a verified certificate as proof you completed the course (for use on LinkedIn, resumes etc.). The cost varies between courses, but is generally around $49-$60.
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Top
Con
Courses are not always available
Courses are run on set dates, though some courses provide access to the material whether or not the course is running (however, there will be far less student activity in the forums when the course is not running). Some courses only make their material available when the course is running, so you may have to wait a long period (sometimes months) for your course to be offered.
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Pro
High quality courses from well known universities
Many courses offered at Coursera are from well known universities (such as Stanford and Princeton) and instructed by their professors. Often the material taught in the Coursera courses is material from the actual university course.
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Con
You cannot take the full courses for free
While you used to be able to take courses for free and earn a statement of accomplishment, this is no longer the case. You can only audit the courses if you are not paying. Coursera makes it seem like you should also do the quizzes, but the submit button says "Upgrade to submit".
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Pro
Wide selection of courses
Coursera offers over 1000 courses on a variety of different topics. Courses are offered on learning to code and specific languages, but there is also a large selection of courses that would be beneficial to someone wanting to learn more about computer science as well (algorithms, data science, computer security) and plenty others.
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Pro
You can audit courses for free
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Pro
Courses offered in a variety of languages (with transcriptions available)
Coursera offers courses from all around the world, resulting in courses taught in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Turkish and a long list of others. Transcriptions for a large number of languages are offered for each course.
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Specs
Languages:
English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
Features:
Video tutorials, tests, forum
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Experiences
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57
7
Udacity - CS101
All
5
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Active forums
Udacity has among the most active communities out of all MOOCs.
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Con
Just one kind of certification
Udacity only gives out one kind of certification. It doesn't differentiate between skill.
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Pro
Motivates by giving you real-world project
In this Udacity class you will learn how to build a working web crawler without any programming background required.
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Pro
Good teaching staff
Everything is explained in an easy to comprehend manner and the teaching assistants are dedicated and friendly.
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Pro
Beginner-friendly
There is no prior programming knowledge needed for this course.
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16
3
SoloLearn
All
10
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Completely free
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Con
Only the most commonly used languages are covered.
C++, Java, JavaScript, C#, Python, SQL, PHP, Swift, Ruby, JQuery, HTML, CSS. You won't find anything less common like Haskell, Erlang, Elixir, Common Lisp, Scheme, Clojure, Rust, etc.
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Pro
Offline learning mode for mobile apps
Allows learning while disconnected from the net.
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Con
Limited usefulness for intermediate or experienced programmers
No advanced coding challenges. Look for those on other sites like hackerrank.
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Pro
Easy for beginners
Anyone can get started with this.
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Top
Pro
Share and modify others' projects
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Pro
Browser-based code playgrounds
No software installation needed, just a modern web browser. On mobile devices though the mobile apps are highly recommended.
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Top
Pro
Excellent mobile apps available
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Pro
Gamification
XP, levels, badges, certificates, etc.
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Specs
Languages:
C/C++, Java, JavaScript, C#, Python, SQL, PHP, Swift, Ruby, JQuery, HTML, CSS.
Offline operation:
Yes
Questions throughout the course:
Yes
Mobile apps:
Yes
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Experiences
Free
57
9
exercism.org
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Human review and feedback
Rather than merely test for code correctness, Exercism uses peer review to improve general programming techniques. Users are encouraged to comment on others' solutions, and refine their own based on feedback.
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Top
Con
Custom commandline client
Exercism requires using a CLI utility to fetch and submit exercises. This is inconvenient compared to web-only alternatives, and poses an additional barrier to entry for some users.
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Top
Pro
Practice with production tools
Unlike many code practice websites, Exercism requires the user to develop and test entirely offline, submitting only the finished code. This promotes familiarity with essential tools and workflow, not just the bare language.
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Specs
Languages:
Bash, C, C++, C#, Clojure, Dart, Elixir, Erlang, Go, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, Python, Ruby, Rust,TypeScript
Features:
Exercises
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178
22
Codewars
All
7
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Challenges cover all areas of programming
Algorithms, OOP, functional programming, you name it - there's a challenge class for it and in just about every language.
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Top
Con
Require some coding knowledge
You require some coding knowledge to get an account with code wars. The topics are limited
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Top
Pro
Submit your own challenges
If you think you have a good idea for a challenge that could be added to the dojo then go add it and get feedback.
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Top
Pro
Multi-language support
Users can complete code challenges in over 12 different languages.
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Top
Pro
Learning gamification
Get points and increase your level by completing coding challenges.
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Top
Pro
Free
Codewars is completely free to use.
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Specs
Languages:
BF / C / C++ / C# / Clojure / CoffeeScript / Crystal / Dart / Elixir / Erlang / F# / Go / Haskel / Java / JavaScript / Lua / Nim / Objective-C / OCaml / PHP / Python / R / Ruby / Rust / Shell / SQL / Swift / TypeScrypt
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Experiences
Free
27
5
Code School
All
11
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
Practice the code after each video
After each video, there are a series of challenges that give you a chance to apply what you just learned. The great thing about these challenges are that they force you to think through a problem, and use the new skills to solve it. It's not just regurgitating facts; it requires some effort.
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Top
Con
Acquired by Pluralsight
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Top
Pro
Paths for learning different skills
While you can jump into any video you like, there is also the option to follow a path for what you are wanting to learn. These give a nice direction if you are wanting to improve on a particular area and guide you into what to do next. They currently offer Ruby, Javascript, HTML/CSS, and iOS.
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Top
Con
Videos are of a tone that some people cannot stand
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Top
Pro
Videos show how to build an app in real time
Soup to Bits is a series of videos that shows a developer creating an app from scratch in real time. It's easy to pause a video and follow along with the developer.
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Top
Con
Requires paying to complete courses
Although the beginning of each course is free and you can see if you are interested in pursuing it, to complete the course you must pay.
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Top
Pro
Video tutorials
Videos give an overview of the course/lesson plan before a single line of code is written. This gives context and a general understanding of what is possible and how teaching will be approached.
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Top
Con
A bit too basic
There is not a lot of advanced content.
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Top
Pro
Fun and engaging teaching style
The instructors often use humour throughout the videos while letting their passion for the topic show.
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Top
Pro
In-depth courses
Code School is not just for beginners to programming, but provides plenty of intermediate and advanced courses for students as their skills grow.
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Specs
Languages:
C#, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, Objective-C
Features:
Editor, video tutorials, progress saver, forum
Hide
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Experiences
Paid
75
12
Python Programming Fundamentals
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Practical
Fun project to build as you learn.
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Top
Con
Uses commercial software to teach the language
One of the first things the guide asks you to do is create an account with Nitrous.io to use their cloud IDE. While Nitrous has a free plan, the practice of doing that is questionable.
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Pro
Beginner-friendly
Excellent for complete beginners with no previous experience.
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4
1
Corey Schafer Youtube
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Not only basics of Python
He covers advanced topics, not like most tutorials which only cover the basics.
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Top
Con
Not for beginners in Python
You should have some understanding of Python before watching his videos. He covers basic topics but they cover more than basics.
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Top
Pro
Great selection of topics
He has very good collection of videos of different beginner/intermediate/advanced Python topics.
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FREE
1
0
Python Weekly
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Has a jobs section
Both the newsletter and a section of the site covers jobs that are available for Python developers.
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Top
Con
Not for beginners
While this is a great resource for Python devs to keep up to date with the scene, it's no a great resource for learning Python as a beginner. The resource provides no structure or courses.
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Top
Pro
Keeps you updated on all things Python
The newsletter is a includes curated news and articles as well as keeps readers up to date on various tools, libraries and events that might be relevant to Python users.
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1
0
Codecademy
All
13
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Con
Not the best structure for quick refreshers
The content of the lessons is aimed very much at people just starting to learn how to code. This is perfect for beginners but if you want to use Codecademy to refresh your knowledge the lessons are not designed to be quickly done.
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Top
Pro
Interactivity
Right from the start, users write code. They start small in an environment that has constant feedback and gradually progress to more complex concepts. Users can see code results instantly, giving great feedback.
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Top
Con
Lack of context
Codecademy is great for providing a hands-on approach, but there is a lack of context regarding how to start a project in real life. While users may learn how to code using Codecademy's interface, they may not have any idea how to code independently.
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Top
Pro
Excellent progression
Codeacademy doesn't overwhelm beginners with information. It gives bite-sized information, the bare minimum needed to finish a task and get to the next one. As the course progresses, it slowly fills in background information.
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Top
Con
Sticks to pretty basic
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Pro
Good editor
Codeacademy has a powerful, beginner-friendly integrated development environment (IDE) that can also be used outside of curriculum.
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Top
Con
Deleted a lot of content
A lot of free content has been taken away, for example the PHP course was removed from the site.
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Top
Pro
Bite-sized lessons
Each lesson in code-academy focuses on a single concept, and repetition is provided to drill the concept.
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Top
Con
Buggy
Codecademy is known to have many bugs which interfere with the editor, resulting in error messages despite having the correct answer.
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Top
Pro
Mostly free content & best progression series for beginners
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Con
Allows infinite loops to run
If you run an infinite loop, the browser freezes. Many other similar websites will give you an error, preventing the loop from running. Though not a bug, the lack of feature to stop infinite loops from running can be quite frustrating to beginners.
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Top
Pro
Community forums
It has forums which can be used to discuss with other learners
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Specs
Languages:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Ruby, Python
Features:
Code editor, forum, progress saver, written tutorials
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Experiences
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239
44
Treehouse
All
23
Experiences
Pros
14
Cons
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Great instructors
The course formats are flexible enough that instructors are able to employ their own styles so long as exercises are offered in consistent intervals and student progress is measurable. The instructors communicate very clearly and are very approachable.
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Top
Con
Regular participation is essential
This is not a good place to skip ahead and work backwards from a specific need. In fact, even skipping sections you have mastery in can be risky since the condensed material relies heavily on past examples.
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Top
Pro
Great material presentation, instruction, and visualization
Their animations and screenshares supplement the instruction, giving a really good all-around learning experience.
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Top
Con
Credit card required to sign up for the free trial
Treehouse offers a free 14-day trial, but requires a credit card to sign up.
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Top
Pro
Best beginner's option
Materials are very well made and it'll get you started with the technology as fast as possible. Haven't found tutorials that well made and understandable. Nothing is skipped or assumed without reference to courses within that were recommended to you earlier. This makes the site an efficient review resource if you ever forget a basic concept.
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Top
Con
The quality is inconsistent among courses
Treehouse has multiple teachers in order to provide such a variety of content. However there is a lack of consistency with teaching styles - Some courses provide content that is well explained and goes at a reasonable pace. Other courses can be quite hard to follow. The challenges are also inconsistent - Some are too easy and don't reinforce much of the material learned.
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Top
Pro
Project-based learning
Soup to Bits videos show you how to build an app step by step in real time. Each is short and digestible yet illustrates many relevant new concepts.
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Top
Con
Way too expensive compared with other options
Most advanced materials are locked away as "Pro/Bonus."
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Top
Pro
Learning tracks
Trying to figure out what language or tool to learn can be frustrating. TreeHouse groups their courses into learning tracks so you have more guidance, based on what type of development you want to do. Some of the tracks they offer: Web Design, Front-end Development, Full-Stack Javascript, and PHP Development (see the list here).
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Top
Con
Charges your credit card before the free trial expires
The Treehouse offers a free trial period, which is nice on the one hand. On the other hand you still need to register a payment method to be able to use it. And what's even worse, if you cancel the paid subscription before the FREE trial ends, you loose any access to free trial! So you will then have to pay a subscription fee to renew the access to the free course even though you SHOULD have some trial period left. That is absolutely unacceptable these days and smells as quite a shady business practice.
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Top
Pro
Workspaces
You don't have to install anything to your computer and can learn from anywhere using their Workspaces. The effectiveness of this tool cannot be overstated. Even though instructors often preface courses with installation guides to setup popular environments the Workspaces allow you to jump right in, mimic the examples, work on your project, experiment with tangent thoughts, or even complete parallel courses simultaneously, within separate Workspace instances. Execution is very fast and space is ample.
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Top
Con
Has become very buggy/unreliable
The number of bugs has gradually been increasing to the point where the platform may be more frustrating than beneficial for some users (as of October 2016). The engineers seem to be doing their best to stay on top of things, but bugs appear to be occurring faster than they can fix them. Some bugs require you to refresh the page (often multiple times) before getting the information correctly displayed. UI elements jump around, some features on the site are broken.
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Top
Pro
Build projects as you learn
Most TreeHouse courses allow you to build interesting real-world projects that make for a fun way to learn how to apply what you've learned (such as apps, websites, UI elements and more).
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Top
Con
The forum lacks conversation/engagement
TreeHouse provides a a forum for students to have discussions. However almost all posts are students looking for answers to the quizzes and challenges. Any attempts at general discussions about business, learning, programming, job seeking etc. tend to go without replies.
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Top
Pro
New material added freqently
TreeHouse releases multiple new courses every month on various different topics. They do an excellent job of keeping pace with a changing industry. For example, they released courses on Swift not long after Swift was released.
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Top
Con
Not an in-depth resource
Most Treehouse courses are geared towards beginners, making it necessary to use other resources in order to gain a deeper understanding of the language you're learning.
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Top
Pro
Forum
If you're stuck with an task you can easily get help on their forum. Most topics are visited by hundreds of students per day and responses are often returned within minutes if not seconds. In case your question cannot be answered by the imminent community, they can be pushed to recommended members or staff experts for prompt responses.
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Top
Pro
Very Effective Resource
Criticizing the lack of advanced material seems unjustified considering how consistent the paths are with the costs and transparent intentions. Advanced resources are usually politely introduced then passed over.
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Top
Pro
iOS and Android app
Treeehouse provides an app for both iOS and Android that is easy to use.
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Top
Pro
Portfolio
You can share courses that you successfully completed when you're applying for a job. Probably after completing course you have a solid understanding in given technology.
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Top
Pro
Motivates Students
The community is very supportive and the company convincingly more interested in your positive referral than in your subscription, though both is obviously preferred. Besides recognition and gamification, your timely progress is actively encouraged. There are even employer monitored sections with suggestions of how to meet career goals with related skills.
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Top
Pro
Student discount
You can get a student discount easily using their email support.
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Specs
Languages:
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, PHP, Objective-C, Java, Swift
Features:
Projects, quizes, video tutorials, editor, progress saver, forum
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Experiences
$25
72
19
W3Schools
All
9
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
5
Top
Pro
Easy to learn
All the tutorials are written in a straightforward and easy to understand way.
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Top
Con
Outdated practices / problem solutions
The practices that are shown to solve the problems at hand are rarely, if at all, updated. Usually, their tutorials and learning material is updated only after they see their profits drop.
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Top
Pro
Built in editor
Almost every example has a "try it yourself" button which opens up an editor in a new tab. It allows you to play with the example code and see how it works.
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Top
Con
Doesn't care about teaching right
There are multiple errors in the data they show. Although the solutions they show work, they will lead to unmaintainable code. That happens even when the maintainable code alternatives are as easy or accessible to new programmers as the alternatives.
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Top
Pro
Well organized tutorials
All of the lessons are separated into their own pages, which makes it easy to learn about specific concepts.
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Top
Con
Certifications not recognized
Many professionals in IT agree that w3s certifications are not recognized by them and are deemed useless. Good luck finding any respectable professional that accepts a w3s certification.
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Top
Pro
Great source from Google search's perspective
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Top
Con
It is for profit
What defines what goes is and what gets fixed on w3schools is what gives them profit and what doesn't (through their ads system).
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Top
Con
Written tutorials only
While many learning resources offer a mixture of media in their courses (such as videos, challenges etc.), w3schools offers only written tutorials and code editors. This makes w3schools more beneficial as a quick reference rather than a primary learning resource.
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53
21
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