The future of programming tutorials

We know good books, not-so-good books, step-by-step tutorials, teaching by examples and all that. They are good and absolutely work at various levels (I am an example of what can become of all that tutoring :). But, the future is anything but that simple.

With the advent of audio/video technology, availability of technology tools, and ability to deliver almost anything over the web, it is not hard to imagine a system that works over the web and is quite effective at it. Good examples of that are below.

1. Free Code Camp

Learn Javascript by doing, not listening to boring lectures or reading books that start with the variable naming conventions!

There are other websites offering similar learning experiences and more. But the above examples should well demonstrate what the teaching world has come to!

Retired Sites

The below sites were interesting, but sadly have been taken off the Internet since the original post.

a. Try Ruby

Try Ruby starts simple, and stays simple. All you have to do is go to a website, type help and wait for the magic to unravel. The interesting graphics make the experience fun.

The tutorial does not worry about explaining how strings, numbers are represented in bits or bytes to begin with. But, instead prompts you to do simple calculation, to type your name and see the output. This generates an awful amount of beginner’s interest, which is later sustained by even more tasks.

All of the learning is delivered over the web browser, and without the need to open other programs or books. Yes, me likes it and me looking forward to more such tutorials that can help in more complex tasks.

b.Rails for Zombies

The first thing you will notice when you go to Rails for Zombies website, is of course the gamification.

Learn Ruby through fun lessons, and code away to address the challenges thrown at you. The UI, video and the challenges just rock. Since all this is delivered through websites without a local web/app/other servers, it just works and you come away learning the language of interest.