Getting to know the Codecademy Forums

The Codecademy Forums are the heart of our community. While many people think the forums are just a place to go when you’re stuck, they’re so much more.

Our forums offer an opportunity to solidify what you’ve learned—ask for feedback, share your expertise and experience, and respond to others’ code questions. In the Codecademy Forums, you can connect and get inspired by your fellow learners.

Here at Codecademy, our community motto is “When one teaches, two learn,” a quote attributed to Robert Heinlein. With over hundreds of daily active members, we’re continuously striving to create a friendly and inclusive culture of peer support. We want you to get the most out of what our community has to offer.

If you’re already learning with us, we’ll show you all the ways the Codecademy Forums can help you stay motivated (and feel less isolated) during your learning journey. And if you’re not yet learning with us, we’re here to show you what Codecademy has to offer beyond just courses.

What you can expect from the Codecademy Forums

Get an introduction into the world of code

We want to make it as easy as possible to get started in the world of code. That’s why we have a lot of beginner-friendly resources to help you get started.

In the forums, you’ll be able to catch up on coding lingo, find introductory tips and resources, and read other learners’ stories — people who have already overcome that initial phase of learning to code, or who are just getting started too!

A great place to begin is our Welcome page, which will help you get better oriented with the Forums and how they work.

Receive advice on learning to code

If you’re feeling stuck on a course or project, you can visit the forums to problem-solve your code questions.

You’ll find tons of resources on the languages and technologies that you’re working on. The FAQ page helps you tackle specific course exercises. And the Projects page is where you can share completed projects (Codecademy projects or personal ones), and view others’ completed projects too!

This is a great section to give feedback (i.e. provide a ‘code review’) and see how other learners went about coding a project. There’s usually never one way to code something, so this is a great area to peek into and to see how your peers coded the same or similar project you are also working on.

You’ll also find tons of peer-to-peer support to help you grasp new coding concepts (like in the example below), or to see how others approach their learning.

The forums are also great for finding motivation during your learning journey. We’re regularly inspired by the stories of our community members, like Ella, who shares her experience learning to code with a 35-Day Coding Challenge.

Learn how to think like a developer

In the Forums, you’ll learn to think like a developer. This means we won’t give you the answers, rather we empower you to find your own answers and provide guidance on the process. That’s because you often won’t find a direct answer to your programming problems or for why your program isn’t running as expected.

That’s why we want to encourage learning the right process for finding the answer.

The Forums provide resources for experimentation and trying out different solutions to a single problem. You’ll also get to see how others solve problems, which might be different from you. This can help expand your programmer’s mindset, and learn ways to approach problems from different angles.

As Pedro, one of our Superusers, says: “This forum is by principle not supposed to be for direct answer giving as much as for forwarding people to relevant information to help them complete a task.”

Give feedback on code help and projects

The Codecademy Forums are a great place to help yourself get unstuck in the beginning. But once you’ve gained some confidence in an area of coding, you can provide feedback or share advice with others looking for help in the Forums.

After all, teaching concepts to others is a great way to learn coding ourselves. And it’s an excellent way to see if you truly understand a subject. That’s why we encourage sharing advice, giving feedback, and sharing your progress to motivate others on their journey.

In fact, our Community Forums are powered by a team of volunteer moderators and superusers. These folks do SO much to help many learners get unstuck daily and to make our Forums a safe space for all to learn.