The hope and enthusiasm surrounding the “learn to code” movement exists for a very good reason: the world desperately needs more talented developers, and it needs them pretty much everywhere.
This is especially true in places like NY, where there’s a massive developer drought, and the NYC government is working overtime to try and make up for it (read: NYC Generation Tech and Cornell Tech Campus). In fact, everywhere from Estonia to Chicago, people are enticed by the idea of bringing new programmers into the world.
The greater problem now lies in the accessibility of technology education, and that’s a problem Treehouse is trying to solve with its design, business and coding courses. Formerly of Carsonified and Think Vitamin fame, Treehouse is a project-based, video intensive startup that already boasts 12,000+ paying students & has brought in over $3M in revenue. Today, the company is officially launching Android and iOS courses with a bold goal: to help newbies become job-ready for a junior-level programming gig.
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Right now, anyone with $25 to spare can get started on beginner courses, but the plan is that by December Treehouse will have beginner through advanced projects available for both iOS and Android. So long as more complex courses are developed, it’s not impossible to imagine the startup’s staff of 15 full-time teachers pulling this off.
That last bit about full-time teachers is a noteworthy detail, too, as it differs dramatically from other initiatives like Codecademy, which bet on a crowdsourced curriculum. Both methods can easily coexist, and it’s up to you to decide which program works best for your needs.
Founder Ryan Carson spoke quite honestly about what he believes his company can do, stating that he’s “not going to pretend [Treehouse] can create an advanced developer in a short amount of time,” but a junior developer is another story.
If you’re interested in trying out Treehouse’s new courses, visit the links below. Memberships start at $25/month, and you can check to make sure Treehouse has everything you want by peeking at these introductory courses on HTML, Rails and Business.
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