Re:Codecademy Becomes A Platform: Now Anyone Can Write Progr...
by rsobers on Monday January 30, 2012 @10:04PM
(#3531622)
Good point about MySpace -- I think you're spot on.
Teaching the general population how to code is a pipe dream. There is a hard limit on the number of people who can (and want to) become programmers, even at the hobbyist level.
These sites are great as accelerators for those who would eventually learn to code no matter how hard or inconvenient the process was. The sites are also a great way to introduce programming to people who otherwise wouldn't have known they'd enjoy it. But I think we're kidding ourselves if we believe that even 25% of the people signed up for Code Year actually start coding. Programming (not programming quizzes) is hard. People, in general, don't like to do hard things.
Teaching the general population how to code is a pipe dream. There is a hard limit on the number of people who can (and want to) become programmers, even at the hobbyist level.
These sites are great as accelerators for those who would eventually learn to code no matter how hard or inconvenient the process was. The sites are also a great way to introduce programming to people who otherwise wouldn't have known they'd enjoy it. But I think we're kidding ourselves if we believe that even 25% of the people signed up for Code Year actually start coding. Programming (not programming quizzes) is hard. People, in general, don't like to do hard things.
I wrote a lot more about this here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3509620