Learn to Code through Competition with CodeRacer

Learning is hard. Like, really hard. Making abstract things go from concepts on paper (or on a computer screen) to concepts in our head is an arduous process wrought with many, many repititions and plenty of boredom. Treehouse, a company dedicated to teaching its subscribers how to code, is hoping to change that. Through competition.

CodeRacer is a game by Treehouse that plays a bit like 2-player Tetris. You are given a task to complete that is worth a certain amount of points, say adding in a header. You rush to get the header up before your competition, who you can see writing code and who is also aiming for points, gets theirs up. Whoever gets the most points, or completes the site first, wins. There are even special weapons you can use against your opponent called bombs that slow them down and give you an advantage.

Its a clever idea, and an interesting take on learning. Gamification of learning to code could make the entire experience significantly more enjoyable. In addition, the site you end up with at the end of your game session is a professional-looking, properly coded site, so you know what it feels like to work on an actual product that you could give to a customer.

Treehouse is one of the better services for learning to code. They have an extensive library of well designed tutorials to take you through various web topics, from web page design to PHP and other backbone work, even coding for iOS devices. While you do have to pay for the service, they are a quality provider of learning material. Unlike the rest of their services, however, CodeRacer is completely free.

So if you know a bit about coding and want to give your skills a try, go check out CodeRacer, It’s a fun way to put your coding skills to the test and to keep them honed.

TechCrunch Photo by : Code/Racer