Class 7, FINAL PREPARATION: Choosing a JavaScript programming track

Codecademy:

          I have some prior experience with Codecademy from the Collaborative Computing class I took last year at BC.  I revisited the site for JavaScript practice and found it to have some upgrades.  They improved the interface and made everything clean and easy to navigate.  I find Codecademy to be extremely user friendly for beginners, but it is possible that I am biased from my previous experience.    The website is smart and dynamic, allowing a user to pick up where they left off with ease.  It even had my old results and code still present from when I covered other programming basics last year, which I thought was pretty cool!  Codecademy also appeared to offer more of a variety of programming languages to learn compared to LearnStreet or Khan Academy.

LearnStreet:

          LearnStreet possesses a similar interface to Codecademy, which for me, made it easy to dive right into.  I particularly liked how robust each lesson is, yet also how they are not forcing you to read through information you feel you can overlook.  The overviews, tutorial videos, and glossaries present within each lesson are really helpful for beginners.  The addition of a bit of nerd humor in some of the JS Console's remarks is also a nice touch.  Programming can be frustrating so it's nice to smile at a bad joke once in a while.  It was also a bit too simple at times.  Not having a separate programming display window made me sort of just blow through the exercises while not retaining as much as I should have.  Step. Done.  Step. Done.  etc.  The color coding was well done, however, which aided with sifting through all of the onscreen clutter towards the end of an exercise.

Khan Academy:

          Khan Academy immediately struck me as being marketed for a slightly more advanced audience.  Not so much so that it is insurmountable to a complete beginner, but it could be off-putting.  I had to search around to confirm that the only programming done through Khan Academy was indeed, JavaScript.  There did not seem to be options for anything else.  I did not like how Khan Academy's training interface was set up. Having to watch and pause videos in order to work in a shared space with a virtual author was really obnoxious.  Also taking directions from a child's voice was a bit demeaning.  I did not feel like I was able to be hands on enough with this throughout the lesson. I honestly struggled a bit having to switch back and forth to the video and the exercise.  Over time I was able to adapt to the interface, but I really wouldn't recommend this to someone who's completely new to programming.  

Conclusion:

          To briefly conclude, I would say that all three sites are accessible to fledgling programmers.  In order of accessibility from easiest to most complicated I would say that LearnStreet is the simplest to use and get started, followed by Codecademy, and then Khan Academy.   All three make it easy to sign up and get started, however.  I signed up using my Gmail account and was beginning lessons in less than 30 seconds. I think patient folks will get the more out of Khan Academy than the others, but for someone to looking to learn programming basics in a shorter amount of time, I would recommend Codecademy.  I think it offers a beginner friendly experience with a better training interface and a lot less frustration.  If I could only choose one resource going forward, I would stick with Codecademy.