Introduction to SQLite Opens Monday March 25

By jeffrey | Published: March 22, 2013

We’re excited to announce the newest addition to our database series: Programming SQLite.

The SQLite embedded database was already the data store of choice for all manner of embedded systems developers. But with the advent of the iOS and Android operating systems, SQLite has achieved new prominence.

Our instructor-led SQLite course introduces the SQLite system (including the sqlite3 command-line tool), relational database concepts, and a wealth of SQLite-specific topics. The course is ideal for experienced database developers as well as coders who are new to relational database programming.

Programming SQLite officially starts Monday, March 25, but you can sign up today and gain early access to the course. Even better, we’ve discounted the course for the next ten days so you can enjoy a great new CodeLesson course at a spectacular price.

Posted in Courses, Database, SQLite | 1 Comment

Revision History for Introduction to Python

By jeffrey | Published: February 7, 2013

We just updated the revision history for the new version of our Introduction to Python course. This gives you an insight into the amount of additional content we’ve added to the course.

Revision histories for our courses is a new feature; not every course has a revision history yet. But we’ll be adding more as we develop and revise our courses.

Posted in Python | Leave a comment

We Revised Our Python Curriculum!

By jeffrey | Published: February 5, 2013

Today we completed a top-to-bottom revision of our Introduction to Programming in Python course. The new version of the course is full of in-depth explanations, coding examples, videos and coding exercises that you can’t get anywhere else.

The net effect: We’ve doubled the contents of our introductory Python course. We also cut the price in half. You’re welcome. :)

Introduction to Python is a terrific course for beginning programmers as well as experienced coders who want to make the jump to Python. And like all CodeLesson courses, this course is instructor-led, so you’re never stuck trying to figure something out on your own.

Even better: On top of the permanent price drop, during the month of February we’ve temporarily reduced the price even more. You can take our instructor-led Introduction to Python today for just $99. At the end of the month, the price will go up, so sign up now to take advantage of the discount.

Here’s what’s going on with the rest of our Python curriculum following the relaunch of Intro to Programming in Python. We used to have a course called Introduction to Programming in Python Part B. We’ve halted enrollments in that course while it’s being renovated; expect a new introductory Python language course to debut on CodeLesson in the Spring. (If you’re a Python expert and you’re interested in teaching that course, sign up here.)

Meanwhile, we have two intermediate applied Python courses that are appropriate if you’ve mastered the basics of the Python language. In Introduction to Django (available today) you’ll learn how to use your Python coding skills to create professional data-driven web sites. Crunching Public Data will show you how to put your Python skills to practical use by accessing and visualizing real-world data sources. Crunching Public Data is now available for pre-enrollment; the course will debut in the Spring.

Posted in Python | 4 Comments

A New CodeLesson Web Site for 2013

By jeffrey | Published: January 9, 2013

Happy New Year! We’re pleased to announce a major upgrade to the CodeLesson web site today.

We actually soft-launched the new version of the site back  in December, but we waited until today to start banging the drum about it since we wanted to make sure it was running splendidly, which it appears to be.

Here’s a partial list of changes in the new site:

  • Completely redesigned our home page, removing most graphical elements and animation, increasing white space significantly, and made links to courses more consistent (rounded boxes) throughout the site.
  • Switched payment processors (from PayPal to Stripe).
  • Added a shopping cart/checkout flow that enables students to pay for multiple courses in a single transaction, to pay for more than one student in a single transaction, and to enroll and pay for a course on behalf of someone else, regardless of whether that student is currently registered with us.
  • Changed the course registration flow so students do not have to start all the courses they pay for immediately after paying. This enables a student to pay for more than one course at a time without having to start more than one course at a time.
  • Revisions to the user profile including an activity timeline and other cosmetic improvements.
  • Added the concept of pre-enrollment, in which a student can sign up to receive information about a course that isn’t ready to be taught yet.
  • Added the ability to register and log in without a password. With this feature, users can request an email link which logs them into the site.
  • An in-site customer relationship management system to make it easier for us to handle your questions and feedback promptly.
  • An in-site content management system that will make it easier for us to post new pages on the site quickly.
  • Numerous administrative and back-end upgrades to increase scalability of our business processes.

Please let us know what you think about the new site!

Posted in About Us | 6 Comments

The Triumphant Return of CodeLesson Introduction to Java

By jeffrey | Published: June 18, 2012

We’ve added Introduction to Java back to our course catalog after a few months hiatus. Even better, we’ve added the course to our roster of instant enrollment courses, so you can sign up and begin learning how to program in Java right away.

This course’s instructor is Alex Alves, who works for Oracle in San Francisco. He’s as sharp-witted as he is handsome. If that isn’t enough, he’s also the author of OSGi In Depth. You can check out more information and enroll in our online, instructor-led Introduction to JavaScript course here.

Posted in Courses, Instant Enrollment, Java | Leave a comment

Python Part B, jQuery Mobile and iOS Programming are now Instant Enrollment Courses

By jeffrey | Published: April 24, 2012

The relentless march of instant enrollment continues apace at CodeLesson. We’ve recently added three more instant enrollment courses to our schedule:

Instant enrollment means the course no longer has a scheduled start date; the course starts as soon as you enroll. They’re otherwise the same as our other courses (in particular, instant enrollment courses provide the same level of online help and Q&A from expert human instructors — like you get from every CodeLesson course).

Click to see all of our other announcements for our other instant enrollment courses.

Posted in Instant Enrollment, iOS, iPhone, JavaScript, jQuery, Python | Leave a comment

Instant Enrollment Python; Featured Deal on Python A/B

By jeffrey | Published: March 19, 2012

We just relaunched Introduction to Python Part A as an instant enrollment course, hooray! This means you can sign up for the course and start learning right away — no more waiting for a new session of this course to start.

Python Part A joins our growing list of instant enrollment courses.

We also added a new Featured Deal for our two basic Python courses. Sign up and pay for Python A and Python B together and save 10% on the cost of both courses. Check out the featured deal here.

Posted in Featured Deals, Instant Enrollment, Python | Leave a comment

Intro to JavaScript, Intro to MySQL and HTML5/CSS Are Now Instant Enrollment Courses

By jeffrey | Published: February 20, 2012

We’re continuing to convert our courses to our new instant enrollment format so you can get in and start learning whenever you’re ready — without having to wait for courses to start. (You can get more info on the transition here.) If you live in Madagascar and want to start learning at 4 in the morning your time, we have you covered.

We’ve added a few new courses to the format in the last week:

These instructor-led courses are now open and available to you as soon as you enroll. And don’t forget our free instant-enrollment course, Create Your First Web Page. This course is an excellent way to get acquainted with the CodeLesson format and see first-hand what our courses are like.

Posted in Courses, HTML, Instant Enrollment, JavaScript, MySQL | Leave a comment

New: Instant Enrollment Courses on CodeLesson

By jeffrey | Published: February 13, 2012

Strummin' DroidOne of the most common bits of feedback we’ve received since starting CodeLesson is that students don’t want to wait for weeks or months for a course to begin. While some students say they like having the structure of definite start and end dates for courses, the majority tell us that they want to start learning as soon as possible.

We think this is awesome and we want to accommodate it, so we’ve worked hard over the past few months to streamline our student signup flow. As part of this, we’ve added a new kind of course that we’re calling an Instant Enrollment course. These courses have no set start dates (they start as soon as you sign up). Beyond that, Instant Enrollment courses provide the same advantages as our other courses. In particular, since all of our courses are instructor-led, you can ask questions and get feedback on your coursework from a real human expert instructor. And our courses are available 24 hours a day, so you can schedule coursework alongside your busy daytime schedule.

As of today, we have two instant enrollment courses, one free, one paid:

Both of these courses are now available immediately, so you can get in and start learning as soon as you sign up. You can click on the links above to sign up and get started learning immediately.

Our intention is to add more instant enrollment courses in the future. Is there a course from our catalog you’d like to see in the new Instant Enrollment format? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted in About Us, Courses, Instant Enrollment | Leave a comment

Create Your First Web Page: A New Free CodeLesson Course

By jeffrey | Published: February 7, 2012

HTML5This week we officially released our newest free course, Create Your First Web Page.

This course is intended for anyone who’s never coded before. In the course you’ll learn the basics of creating an HTML web page: editing markup, structuring text, creating links and adding images. That’s it. It’s a very short course intended to provide the bare-bones basics. If you do well in Create Your First Web Page, you’re prepared to go on to our deeper, more structured courses such as Introduction to HTML5 and CSS, Introduction to JavaScript, or Web Programming with PHP Part A.

Create Your First Web Page is intended for anyone to complete in about two to four hours. You can go at your own pace in this course. You can do the course at one sitting or break it up over successive days, and you’re free to take as much time as you need to complete the course activities. The pace is more relaxed and less structured than our regular courses, but there are still online readings and hands-on coding activities, and there’s still an instructor available to answer questions if you get stuck.

But perhaps best of all, this course uses a new continuous enrollment format. That means the course is available to you as soon as you sign up for it; you don’t have to wait for the course to start because the course is always in session. (We’re hoping to bring continuous enrollment to some of our other courses soon.)

Last but not least, Create Your First Web Page serves as an entrée into the CodeLesson format. If you’ve been thinking about taking a CodeLesson course but you weren’t sure whether our instructor-led online format would work for you, wonder no more. You can enroll in the course here and kick the tires to your heart’s content.

Posted in About Us, Courses, Web | Leave a comment