When comparing JavaScript & jQuery - Jon Duckett 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 JavaScript & jQuery - Jon Duckett is ranked 13th. 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 Easy to follow with well explained concepts
This book won't confuse you with jargon - Everything is introduced with a clear explanation.
Pro Excellent examples
The examples throughout this book are well explained and easy to follow. In order to complete the examples on your own, you must have a clear understanding of the material covered in that chapter. This is a great way for you to understand what you should go back and review before moving on.
Pro Visually appealing book
The content is laid out in a visually appealing way, while utilizing plenty of images to help the reader grasp the concepts being taught.
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Con jQuery is a bit out of date as of 2018
Most of what jQuery did for the web can now be done with pure ES6.
Con Errors throughout the book
There are plenty of errors through the book including typos and errors in the code. Many of these errors are listed on their errata page.
Con Issues with binding/quality issues
Many people have noted that the physical quality of the book is quite poor, resulting in the binding falling apart.
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.