When comparing Codecademy vs CodingBat Java, the Slant community recommends Codecademy for most people. In the question“What are the best online resources for learning Java?” Codecademy is ranked 2nd while CodingBat Java is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Codecademy is:
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.
Specs
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Pros
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.
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.
Pro Good editor
Codeacademy has a powerful, beginner-friendly integrated development environment (IDE) that can also be used outside of curriculum.
Pro Bite-sized lessons
Each lesson in code-academy focuses on a single concept, and repetition is provided to drill the concept.
Pro Mostly free content & best progression series for beginners
Pro Community forums
It has forums which can be used to discuss with other learners
Pro Singular focused excersises
Each exercise chapter focuses on a characteristics such as, arrays, strings, logic, recursion etc. This is useful as it does not overload the beginner nor the expert, as they get the chance to sharpen their skills.
Pro Can be used to practice TDD (Test Driver Development)
By providing an array of tests that either pass or don't, the learner can focus on making each test pass in turn, until all become green.
Pro Contains all necessary documentation to get started
There is a page with a basic explanation for each chapter.
Pro Each submitted solution is checked against an array of tests
Pro The text editor is basic and provides no context-assistance
By providing feedback only after compilation, the user has to pay attention to the language syntax from the beginning. This, in contrast to most modern IDEs, helps to build awareness and good habits.
Pro Contains many basic problems, organized in various categories
The user can track their progress in solving a problem via Progress Graphs that show green tests and errors over time.
Cons
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.
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.
Con Sticks to pretty basic
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.
Con Buggy
Codecademy is known to have many bugs which interfere with the editor, resulting in error messages despite having the correct answer.
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.
Con It does not provide a Getting Started guide
Thus the learning curve could be steep for the complete beginner. Even though there is plenty documentation, it takes some initiative (and time) to study it and get started.
Con Compared to other websites, it looks old fashioned
