Codecademy expands into server side languages with Python support for its “millions” of users

Codecademy, one of the shining stars in the “learn to code” movement, has offered front-end technologies like JavaScript, jQuery, HTML and CSS since August of last year. These are, at least by my own standards, the absolute easiest languages to start off with, but don’t offer the same possibilities as a powerful server-side language. Now, to grow its education footprint, Codecademy is today launching Python courses to the public.

According to co-founder Zach Sims, Python was the most requested language from the community, and the tech behind implementing it has undergone testing since the January launch of Codecademy Labs. The startup found that running Python and Ruby client-side led to endless problems, so it developed a way to run the code server-side, which supposedly has made expanding into additional languages, such as Ruby or perhaps PHP, much easier.

More than anything, as the site’s offerings expand, it is moving closer to a viable solution for transforming enthusiasts into educated programmers. This, in conjunction with a playground-like service, such as Programr, adds up to something pretty powerful; the ability to learn to code without even leaving your browser.

From the release:

We’ve been hard at work on one of the most requested languages: Python! It’s an excellent choice for a wide range of applications in many different industries. Furthermore, its clean, readable syntax makes it a favorite for beginning programmers. Say goodbye to all of those braces and semicolons!

Course authors can now use Python in their lessons. The sample code, student code, and submission correctness tests can all be written in Python 2.7.3. While code in JavaScript lessons is evaluated client-side, the Python code is evaluated server-side on our distributed system, which leads to a faster load time.

So far, “over 100m answers” have been submitted by Codecademy’s “millions” of users. The team is obviously doing something right.

To get started, check out Codecademy’s Python launch courses via the link below:

➤ Codecademy Python (note: you may have to wait a half hour or so)