Remember when you had to buy a $50 book just to learn basic Python?

I was at the library in 2010 trying to figure out loops from a massive textbook, and a guy at the next table showed me a free site called Codecademy. That one tip completely changed how I started learning. What was the first free resource that really clicked for you guys?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kai2mo ago

Man, that Codecademy story brings back memories! My first real free resource was actually YouTube, just watching some random guy build a simple website from scratch. It felt like magic seeing the code change the page in real time. Those early tutorial channels had such a weird, homemade charm that made it less scary to start. I probably learned more from those videos than my first actual computer class.

olivia_morgan82mo ago

That YouTube homemade charm @the_kai mentioned was so real. I remember finding this one channel where the guy recorded with a cheap mic and had these weirdly specific pizza analogies for everything (like a function was a "pizza order form" you fill out). Those rough edges made it feel like anyone could do it, which was the whole point.

zarapalmer2d agoMost Upvoted

Found a channel once where the guy coded entire games but his cat kept walking across his keyboard mid-tutorial. He'd just be like "sorry guys Mittens wants to delete the function" and keep going. Unpolished stuff like that was way more encouraging than those super produced courses where everything works perfectly.