How is Code Academy for learning code before college?

<p>I'm a high school Senior, and in anticipation of majoring in Computer Science my Physics teacher recommended me to start looking at some lessons on Code Academy. However, I've also been told by majors that learning code early can form bad habits in coding or can just be a waste of time compared to what you can cover in college classes. Is this true? Is Code Academy a large waste of time or really worth a time investment to learn about code? </p>

<p>Also, what is the best language to learn first? I heard C++, Python or Java are the ones colleges experience in the most but I rarely see C+ as an option to learn. Thanks for answers in advance:)</p>

<p>You will learn bits and pieces from codecademy. You’ll learn MUCH more from starting one of the intro CS courses from coursera, edx, or udacity, even if you don’t finish it. Computer Science is about a lot more than just programming.</p>

<p>I recommend doing what Laura’sDad said. While code academy is nice, it does get a little confusing at times and doesn’t teach as well as real teachers do.</p>

<p>CS50x by Harvard on edx</p>

<p>I thought the website was quite good at teaching the basics of programming. I completed the Codecademy Python track about a week before my first CS class (an introductory programming course), which put me ahead of many of the other students even though the course was in C++. I know about one-half to two-thirds of the material that’s covered in the course. So, while it’s not much, it will probably give you a noticeable experience bump over a fair amount of students in an introductory programming course. Don’t expect much more than that though.</p>

<p>Also, I really think the implementation of Codecademy works really well. I personally found it very easy to learn.</p>