“Learn code” had been on my to-do list for at least 2 years, more urgently these past few months since switching the new ARK from vBulletin over to Drupal. When I read the pre-New Year headline You Need To Learn How to Program at Slate.com, I pretty much knew the article was written for me.

Although the Slate article makes a good case for why everyone should learn some code, I didn’t need further convincing. What I needed was a learning method more motivating than doing random tutorials once in a while. The solution: Codecademy‘s free, interactive course, with notifications of new lessons emailed weekly.

Normally I’m wary of signing up for stuff, but I’m glad I overcame my hesitation this time. The lessons are fun, the supplemental games and reviews make it possible to actually remember what you’ve covered, and I really like the pretty badges. <– see!