I completed the Ruby lesson a few minutes ago and while I know a good deal about terminology (method, classes, procs, variables, modules, etc) I really have no idea how I would sit down and write a program. The encouraging and upbeat language of the tutorial seem confident that I have some new found skills, but I don't believe it at this point. I think that they need to come up with some additional levels or practice projects to really push the person into the realm of programming. Code Academy does not do a good job of introducing you to anything beyond their tutorials, does not address how one sets up a coding environment on their own computer, or what the process is for turning your code into a functional program. While I appreciate the lessons and I definitely feel like I am on the cusp of being able to create, Code Academy has, to this point fallen short on prepping me to make much in Ruby, set up my own environment, or really get started outside of their comfortable shell world.
That said, I love it as an intro and as a starting point. I think next I am going to do the Ruby on Rails lessons in tandem with Michael Hartl's Ruby on Rails tutorial book (free online!). While I have only read Hartl's into I can say he does a much better job getting a beginner set up to code in a real environment that Code Academy at this point. More to come!
Code Academy stats:
Skills:2
Points: 327
Badges: 39
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