Where is the best place online to learn a programming language?

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Opensource.com

Our last poll, in which our readers picked their favorite programming lanaguage for beginners, had almost 30 comments and 2,300 votes. And, it's still open for voting! Python leads C/C+ and Javascript, and a few others, with over 1,000 votes.

Now we want to know, what online service or organization is the best way to learn a programming language? It's a perfect fit for our Open Source in Education series—a collection of stories from teachers, students, and education administrators on how open source is improving the way we teach, learn, and organize.

Let's hear it! Maybe you took a course, taught a class, or organized a curriculum—we'd love to hear why you voted the way you did. Or, maybe you voted based on a friend or colleague's account of their experience. Either way, tell us what you think about the online learning options listed above.

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718 votes tallied
Code.org
12% (83 votes)
edX
11% (82 votes)
Code Combat
2% (15 votes)
Khan Academy
7% (52 votes)
Coursera
17% (122 votes)
Code Academy
35% (253 votes)
Other (tell us in the comments)
15% (111 votes)

Results

Comments

10 Comments

Considering that I voted Python as best language for learners, I may also suggest the #1 resource for such learning: http://www.greenteapress.com (it also includes more languages).

Not free exactly, but udemy.com has a plethora of great courses. If you watch StackSocial.com, you can usually get a pretty good deal on the courses.

I've seen some great lectures on lynda.com. But like anything, there are some great ones on there and others, not so much. It all depends on who's doing the lecture.

This is all a joke? Code Academy and those sites offer you so much help that it basically wirtes the code for you through the entire course. You think you're learning but in the end you will be unable to start a project on your own without having to consult their material while doing it. Get a real handbook or a PDF somewhere else. Don't waste time on those crap.

If you have the basics I think you can watch other people's code on sites like www.livecoding.tv. Its also another good way to learn.

best way to learn programming is to get a book with hard/large exercises for any modern garbage collect language you want eg. ruby perl javascript and not python it doesn't make you come up with your own way to do things. Then after you have one of those down move on to a typed system language with objects ex. Java C++ C C# Go etc. and before anyone says anything C has Unions and Structs so that you can roll your own objects.

I can tell people are not happy but code.org gets students excited. We are using it with our 7th and 8th grade students hopefully a few of them will want to actually learn programming. I'm pleased with the fact all of them are being exposed to it so they can make the choice in the future if they want to further their knowledge. It is very difficult to motivate the next generation of learners to push themselves to self educate but a driven programmer is one who learned most of it on their own not in a classroom.

I would like to also give honorable mention to showmedo.com . They have lessons for just about anything computer, some free and some pay for.

In my kids room in the eighties with two books and a comodore64, teaching myself 6510 machinecode and what subroutines are... Those where the days.

www.htmlgoodies.com; has been around a long time now and covers java, python, etc. You can not miss this site!