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Add to SafariWhen comparing Eloquent JavaScript - A Modern Introduction to Programming vs Codecademy, the Slant community recommends Codecademy for most people. In the question“What are the best resources to learn JavaScript?” Codecademy is ranked 2nd while Eloquent JavaScript - A Modern Introduction to Programming 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
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Teaches programming fundamentals
This is a book on programming and the fact that programming happens to be in JavaScript is secondary.
Pro Free version available
An online version is available for free here.
Pro Easy to follow, conversational presentation style
The book is written in a friendly, conversational way and progresses in an easy to follow way.
Pro Online version has interactive exercises
Try them out directly in your browser.
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
Cons
Con Overkill for experienced programmers looking to learn JavaScript
This book is less useful to people that already are well versed in programming and just want to pick up another language to add to their portfolio as it covers a lot of fundamentals of programming that can be skipped by experienced programmers.
Con Requires fast learning in order to understand complex topics
From chapters one through five, the reader will find this book easy to follow and the topics and concepts steadily increase in complexity. However, once you enter the later chapters, you will require a more rounded understanding of the language and should certainly complement the book with other learning material.
Con Not a great place to start for those without programming experience
This book is a beneficial supplement to other learning material, or for those who have experience with another programming language. However those new to programming will likely find themselves struggling with the fast pace of Eloquent JavaScript and the difficult-to-follow examples.
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.
