If you’re like me and thinking about learning Python at 44 years young, then let me provide some expedients to maximize your money (and brainpower) if you are looking to sign up for Codecademy.
This is my honest review having spent a little less than the last 60 days starting from scratch and completing two courses in my pursuit of initial Python 3 knowledge:
Looking back on the experience, with more than 22 years of my life as a working professional after college, I’m going to share the bumps, bruises and battles won from buying this ticket and taking these rides.
Is Learning Python at 44 Possible?
short_answer = yes
Longer_answer = depends on what your definition of ‘learn‘ is.
When I started out with the self-perceived daunting task of learning my first coding language, I’d decided to invest in taking a course because I couldn’t follow along very well with certain YouTube videos using Python.
And after a colleague recommended Codecademy (oh yeah, here’s a link to my referral code and we both get free training if you use it), I bought the ticket to take the ride.
I will say, I feel I’ve learned how to read Python much better than when I started. But as an English major, I do distinguish between reading and writing. And writing Python is something I am not as per se proficient doing after taking the course as identifying which Python code to copy and then paste / adjust to suit. Which, as I understand it, very well could be good enough for my particular use case. At least for now.
To clarify, I’m not trying to reinvent myself as a coder. I am interested to have better vocabulary describing and scoping coding requests with developers in order to determine plausibility, time and budget for any custom development requests.
So yeah, I learned to read Python better after taking the course. Hmmm. allow me to digress…
Download PyCharm to Save Your Work
No one told me to do it, I just kind of figured it out along the way. Download PyCharm because it’s a great way to copy the code you create in each lesson and save it as a local file you can refer back to after you complete the class (and pause or cancel your subscription.
You can see in the pic above I figured this out starting with chapter 3… go ahead and start from the beginning and learn from my mistake.
Codecademy Syllabus | Learn the Command Line
So somewhere in the first few chapters I figured out there was a prerequisite course I needed to complete to really learn, err copy, Python well. Which was annoying because I liked my progress but when you are paying for your education you might as well learn it good, right?
I will say I’m much more comfortable now with console commands. I’m not trying to be the point person on Linux installs from scratch with pure command line navigation… but if I was stranded in the middle of a desert and it was my only way out, I could figure out how to pop the clutch and get the car moving in the right direction.
Codecademy Syllabus | Learn Python 3
If you’ve made it this far, you should take a look at the significant syllabus you are going to be working through:
And it was a beast to get through. I actually read every lesson. I watched every YouTube video. I even completed all the optional challenges.
It easily took me 60 hours of self-lead learning. Sure, you could hack your way through it much faster if that’s your thing and you just want to post the certificate on LinkedIn or what have you. No judgement here.
But if you’re actually looking to learn the concepts, I found the YouTube tutorials for each project specifically helpful. Because the trainers really show you how to think in Python which for me was by far the biggest challenge.
Final Recommendation = Do It
I saw a lot of comments from Codecademy users about different aspects of the training they did not find helpful – like not having a personal trainer explaining to them the exact answer to their exact question.
Which, to be fair, is not what you are signing up for.
I found plenty of confusing moments throughout the course. But it’s supposed to be confusing, you’re learning a new language. You’re learning a new way to communicate your thoughts, to express a request, to achieve a result.
And overall the course more than provided that for me in a comprehensive, well thought out, and at times even with a solid sense of humor. I definitely laughed to myself more than a handful of times reading through the course material which is a great thing when you are grinding after a work day.
Buy the ticket, enjoy the ride. Go at your own pace and you may surprise yourself with what you learn how to do. I certainly did!