And even if you're a well experienced programmer, you can use Codecademy to get your feet wet in a new language. I don't see the harm in this.
And yes, I am afraid of CodeCademy, bootcamps, H-1Bs visas, and any other scheme blessed by industry, the media, and government that seems tailor-made for reducing my wages and my prestige. Remember that it wasn't long ago that a massive wage suppression cartel in SV was exposed, and its architects were punished with mere wrist-slaps. Quite frankly, you're foolish if you're not afraid.
Further, who are these "new people" you speak of anyway? Most of the "old people" I've met in this industry are there because they love programming, with the high salary being something of a perk. That's why so many of them contribute to open source projects on the side. This new breed of bootcamp and CodeCademy graduates are thoroughly mercenary in character. One of CodeCademy's own success stories is from a lawyer who got into "coding" because the job market for lawyers was so poor - why should I contribute to my own marginalization by supporting people like him?
Having spent a lot of time around industry vets and people who started doing this stuff in the 80s, these "nice new services" aren't all they're cracked up to be. The freelance coder market is becoming an annoying thing for the reputation of programmers, consultants and companies who know their shit, and do a great job for their paying customers.
The glut of free programming books and tutorials on the internet along with open source operating systems and development tools and the Stack Overflow and other Stack Exchange websites have collectively done much more programming and CS education than CC has done and likely ever will do.
If it outputs bad candidates, as you claim, then you should have no problem beating them in job interviews.
O'Reilly and a bunch of VC firms? That's all I could find on their website.
"Coding education has taken off in recent years, driven by reports that the demand for quality programmers in America is drastically outpacing the supply. So everyone from the White House to Google has jumped on the coding bandwagon"
Funny, when demand outpaces supply, aren't prices supposed to rise?
Too much hand-holding. A good book, a comprehensive tutorial, or even just reading the documentation still probably works best.
In fact, this training wheels-tutorial system, regardless of its effectiveness, fits perfectly with their goal of devaluing software engineers (whom they deign only to describe as coders); after all, if "Coding is sooo Easy!!!" it shouldn't require one to read dozens of thick books, right? Just playing a sort of game and "leveling up" every now and then should suffice. Then you too will be a coder - and Zuck will be richer.