Did you do Ruby Foundations or Javascript Foundations? I want your feedback for the Python courses!

I have one question that I would like to clear before getting into ruby. is ruby a scripting language like PHP? Is it used as a language to talk to a server and database? Can you replace php with ruby on some projects, and how is it better/different than php?

Thanks, so much for your time.

I have mostly finished the Ruby foundations course as well as taken Ruby courses elsewhere, I also have finished JavaScript here and a couple full college-length courses in Python. I think one of the reasons the Ruby foundations course here gets tedious is that it is basically just a collection of videos one after another. When I have challenges, it keeps me more engaged in the material.

One thing I would like to see more of is actually challenging challenges. Some course offerings on here like the Database foundations course do this well and also I enjoy the way Code School really makes you think about a problem instead of being dictated what to write. I could understand more handholding in the beginning when someone is just learning variable declarations, general operations, etc, but it would be nice to learn a concept here and then have something that challenges the learner to apply that to a real life situation even if it is breaking down that situation/program into smaller parts.

I look forward to your course Kenneth. Python is a beautiful and clean syntax and it will be a nice addition to Treehouse. Do you happen to know if Django will be taught as well in the near future?

Kenneth

I enjoy code challenges and believe they are very important checks for learning. In my opinion code challenges should progress from easy to difficult. In other words they should start with "repeated facts from the stage" and end with "used concepts...but required some exploration/research". Code challenges should also require the students to demonstrate knowledge of several concepts not only from the current stage but from prerequisite stages. This shows that students are retaining information which is the ultimate objective.

Hi Kenneth,

I'm looking forward to the Python course even though I have already bitten off more then I can chew.

I took the JavaScript Foundations course. I think code challenges are a must. Of course the verbatim challenges are easier. I think the concept idea will help students learn more. But I have seen a number of people complain when the code challenges do not match the video verbatim. Typically these are people who are quite new to it all. I guess it just depends on the target market.

Jeff

Hello, Kenneth,

I did both the Ruby Foundations and JavaScript foundations courses. The thing is, I went into those with some prior knowledge of both programming languages (basic Ruby and advanced JavaScript).

I like the challenges in general and I feel having to write your own code is important. Sometimes I think half of the programming I do is just muscle memory. :)

The challenges that I liked the most were those that have more steps. In the first step you do something that was in the video. In the next one you do something based on the code that's in the challenge. And in the last one you do something new, but analogous to the material in video (a certain JavaScript foundations challenge comes to mind where the video shows the length property on a string and the challenge requires you to apply that on an array). I think exploration is good, but research (having to look up things on your via documentation/Google/Whatever) might be a bit too much. From my own experience, the research part is usually left for Extra Credit in the lessons. Students with some programming experience will probably be used to looking things up on their own. Student new to programming, not so much.

I've also noticed from my time on the forums, that a lot of students find the JavaScript basics a bit dry. The same is not true for Ruby Foundations, even though they follow the same pattern/style, if I remember correctly. I think the reason for this is that they stumble upon the JavaScript lessons in the Front-end Web Development track. Up to that point, they've been writing markup and styling, where results are seen immediately, as opposed to JavaScript foundations where you're learning about different types and functions and so on, but you're not really building anything. Python basics probably won't have the same problem JavaScript foundations do because I'm assuming people will know what they're getting themselves into. :)

People seem to respond better to lessons where they're creating something. I know it's hard to jump into building something before learning the basics of a programming language, but it might be something to consider.

I hope this helps you. I'm looking forward to the Python lessons. While I've written some Python code, I've really neglected that programming language in general.

When will the python courses be done?