Debating On Going Pro 😕

So, I have recently decided that I wanted to teach myself Python for possible future employment. Standard college classes seem to have never fit well with me, but I do have the knowledge and intelligence to be able to learn a programming language.

That being said, I have been debating on going Pro on Code Academy because I would very much like the options of being able to create a lesson plan for myself (and have assistance), quiz myself at regular intervals, and especially, the real world projects.

My dilemma is that I am a bit turned off when I see “Estimated 13 hours” under Python, which makes me think that the teaching isn’t very in-depth or long-lasting, which makes me feel as though my $20 won’t really be worth it. I’m sure that they touch on the basics fairly well, but I just wanted to touch base and possibly clarify the “13 hour” learning time and if it’s more in-depth than I am assuming it is at face value.

My reason behind this is that I am going to be dedicating the next year to trying to become proficient in 2 programming languages (if possible) to try to get some type of employment in that field. Of course, without the piece of paper from a university stating that I know my stuff, it will make things harder, but I’m dedicated to mastering the craft of computer programming. I just want to make sure that I have a years worth of material at Code Academy to be able to put $20/month into this.

I realize my post was very long, and I appreciate you getting to this point. Any and all help is appreciated, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Coding!!

Well with Pro, you’ll get more than just Python - you’ll get the whole package, all of the courses, all of the extras, but it might be worth noting that 13 hours is the longest course that I’ve seen on Codecademy, and I believe it is fairly in-depth (for a beginner anyway) so I think it’d be a good idea for you to invest in Pro.

Of course, you could just use Codecademy for free for a while to see if you’d like to go Pro, and there’s also a 14 day period during which you can use Codecademy Pro to its full potential, and if you don’t like it, as long as you cancel during the 14 day period, you’ll get a full refund, no questions asked.

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Thank you for your input jibblyj!

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Hi Brandyn :slight_smile:

I tend to find the course times to be very under-estimated for just the standard material alone. Moreover, I don’t think they include time spent on the Pro material (quizzes & projects). Once you factor in reading the suggested external resources too, you’ll be looking at 40+ hours for the Python course. (The final project could possibly take you weeks to complete depending on what you choose to build!)

As a new learner you’ll also need to factor in going over some of the material at least twice before it sinks in, and there’ll inevitably be a few times where you hit a road block and are spending quite a bit of time figuring out a solution :slight_smile:

Of course, that’s where the 1-to-1 support that a Pro subscription offers would come in VERY useful :slight_smile:

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Thank you for your input mindful_coder :slight_smile:

Sadly I must tell my own experience, I was pro for about 6 months and let me tell you there is nothing special in it apart if you want to chat with the advisors, I’ve learnt the same by using this forum. I won’t go to pro again otherwise they add certificates it’s not a good idea I basically wasted the money on it.

Codecademy is awesome but pro isn’t the big deal at all and the quizzes are way too basic any way my own experience I’d advice anyone to stick to the free version you learn the same using this forum! perhaps even more cause you can check the algorithms of some great brains and learn more from them! than from one advisor which normally tells you: "think I won’t give you the answer and I won’t explain you that much cause I’d be answering your question :wink: once again this is my own experience.

Summary: I don’t advice you to go pro.

Codecademy will likely never add certificates. See here for an explanation:

Well that thing I know it, that’s why I won’t never ever go pro again!

Certificates are stupid. They don’t mean anything. If you have a certificate, but no evidence of what you can do, then what’s the point? With Codecademy Pro’s final projects, you will have work to show, and you can prove that you know how to do things, and you have the skills, and I think that’s better than any piece of paper saying “He can code”.

I agree with you, but not everybody agree with us specially the human resource specialists. :tired_face: by the way the best place to complete your projects is Udacity for free. And the best place to start learning is Codecademy free version :slight_smile:

Completing a project aided by Codecademy courses, and getting a certificate to say that you’ve done them, are pretty similar. Also, you could show the HR people the account and they’ll see that you’ve done the courses. Same thing IMO.

I don’t have a different opinion, they do. Tho I agree with you!
Got a friend HR he says anyone can pick up codes from others and he told me the company where he works don’t like street former coders. So they demand certificates plus college which is more academic, he says. :expressionless:

Well users who want certificates will have to find one elsewhere because Codecademy’s views are different to that of your HR friend’s company, sorry!

I don’t need a certificate :slight_smile: is just a plus not something necessary. The most important is to learn the skills.

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I believe Google offers a good, free, 2-day intensive Python beginners class, at this link: https://developers.google.com/edu/python/

As I said, it is free. I have never tried it, but I plan to after I learn web developing skills!

Happy Coding!

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