Developers are constantly working on new products because the software world keeps changing. Online learning is more efficient and learning by doing is the best way. What is the modern and best resource for learning Microsoft .NET, ASP.NET, Business Intelligence, Debugging, Java, JavaScript / jQuery, Mobile Development, NoSQL, PowerShell, Ruby, Salesforce, Security, SharePoint, Social Media, Software Practices, SQL Server, TFS, UX Design, Visual Studio, Windows Azure, Windows 8? In my opinion, the answer is - Pluralsight. Pluralsight provides flexible subscription plans for individuals and businesses. This is a company founded in 2004 and they already a leader in high-quality online training for hardcore developers with over 50 employees and it is recommended for programming training even inside Microsoft.
The revolutionary Pluralsight training library provides developers everywhere with instant access to a rich collection of online training courses delivered by world-renowned industry authorities. Pluralsight is a bit different than many of its code-training competitors. Instead of providing DIY courses for newbies, its focus is on the serious developer. The site even warns those unprepared for that level of training to “click the back button.” Skonnard tells us that he thinks the company’s real competitors are not the startups trying to bring university courses online, but rather those with similar catalogs who are targeting developers looking to expand their skills.
As Pluralsight continues to evolve, we’re watching this vision become a reality.
Salt Lake City-based Pluralsight was founded back in 2004 by Aaron Skonnard (CEO), Fritz Onion (Editor in Chief), Keith Brown (CTO), and Bill Williams (who’s no longer there). The company got its start as a classroom training outfit that once involved sending out an instructor to a business or having employees attend a training event. Three years in, it shifted the business model from in-person training to online learning.
Today technology is continuing to change the way students and teachers think about learning. For students, it provides flexibility and efficiency that lead to cost-effective access to the world’s best teachers, regardless of location. For teachers, it provides a worldwide audience and financial benefits that scale-up with the number of potential students.
According to Skonnard, the new funding will be used to expand the catalog of course materials, with a specific focus on building up its Salesforce offerings, where it expects to offer 50 courses by year-end 2013, up from the few it has now. “Salesforce is a great example of a developer community that’s under-developed in our library today,” says Skonnard. He notes that Pluralsight is currently strong in Microsoft technologies, Java, Android and iOS, but Salesforce’s developer community will probably reach a million developers sometime in the next few months. “We started to take notice of them earlier [in 2012] as an emerging, high-revenue part of the market that we could invest in heavily,” he explains. Pluralsight will also invest in developing courses for social platform technologies like Twitter and Facebook, as well as in Java, Android, Ruby, PHP, and Python, as well as cloud platforms like Amazon’s AWS, Google App Engine, Windows Azure and others.
Using Automation to Conquer Unit Testing Fears
I personally prefer to look training in 1.5 or 2-speed mode and can get everything that I want for high-level overview of the new technology and I can always slow down a bit to check something important or interesting. Here is one of the training examples just to give hands up on what online training looks like, Troubleshooting Performance Problems with Virtual Machines:
The advantage of online training is that you can learn at your own pace and when you have time. You are not limited for time or device, you can take courses even in the Windows Phone. Conference speakers, developers are right in front of you and it is not so expensive or overwhelming.
Another good news for Pluralsight is that they acquired PeepCode. The original Open Source video tutorials for professional web developers and designers. Since 2006, we’ve been your source for technical entertainment, education, and the best explanations around. Learn Ruby, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Node, Git, Design, or connect with developers you admire in a Play by Play. This is a real game-changer for us. It’s evidence of our commitment to open source developers and our passion to serve the entire software development community. If you haven't figured it out already, we mean business when it comes to providing the world's best professional training for software developers everywhere. Now's your chance to get a 30% discount! For a very limited time, you have a chance to save 30% on a Pluralsight Annual or Annual Plus subscription. This is a time sensitive offer ending July 31st at 11:59 PM MDT. Take advantage of the lowest price we've ever offered. We currently have ~600 professional developer training courses and we've released nearly 40 new courses this month alone! Over the next few months, we'll add PeepCode's nearly 100 open source titles to the Pluralsight library: http://pluralsight.com/training/Products/Individual?code=celebratepeepcode
1. Coursera:
- Offers courses from universities and colleges around the world.
- Provides a wide range of programming languages and software development topics.
- Includes both free and paid courses, with options for financial aid.
2. Udemy:
- Features a vast library of courses on almost every software development topic imaginable.
- Courses are taught by industry professionals and community experts.
- Regular sales make courses very affordable.
3. edX:
- Similar to Coursera, offers university-level courses online.
- Provides courses from prestigious institutions like MIT, Harvard, and more.
- Offers both individual courses and more comprehensive professional certificates and microdegrees.
4. Pluralsight:
- Specifically focused on tech and software development.
- Offers a path feature that guides learners through all the courses and skills needed to master a specific career path.
- Known for its high-quality production and in-depth technical content.
5. Codecademy:
- Offers interactive coding exercises and a hands-on approach to learning.
- Great for beginners and intermediate learners.
- Covers a wide range of programming languages and web development technologies.
6. Treehouse:
- Provides a project-based learning approach to help students gain real-world development experience.
- Offers tracks in web development, mobile development, and more.
- Known for its engaging, high-quality video content and interactive quizzes.
7. Khan Academy:
- A non-profit educational organization that offers free courses on a variety of subjects, including computer programming.
- Great for beginners or younger learners.
- Offers practice exercises and instructional videos.
8. LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com):
- Offers video courses taught by industry experts.
- Covers a wide range of topics including software development, business, and creative skills.
- Available for free through many university and library memberships.
9. GitHub Learning Lab:
- Offers hands-on learning experiences directly within GitHub, which is invaluable for learning version control and contributing to open-source projects.
- Great for learning Git, GitHub, and other development tools.
10. freeCodeCamp:
- Provides an interactive learning experience with a focus on web development.
- Free and open-source, offering certifications upon completion of extensive project-based learning.
- Offers a supportive community and forum for learners.
Each of these platforms has its own approach to teaching software development, from video lectures and readings to hands-on coding exercises. Depending on your learning style and objectives, you might find one more suitable than others. Many developers benefit from using a combination of these resources to gain a broad and deep understanding of software development practices.
References
https://plus.google.com/+pluralsight/posts
http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/offers/PluralsightOffer.aspx?Step=AuthenticationFailure
https://twitter.com/PluralSights
https://www.facebook.com/pluralsight
http://blog.pluralsight.com/
Summary
Pluralsight’s top five instructors average more than $400,000/year and the company-wide average is over $40,000/year. The full-time commitment to pluralsight training is an addition and nice medium for true professionals from the industry. Brand Pluralsight is attached to people who are presenting, it is an opportunity to scale and brand recognition for them to raise profile etc. they can reach people that they cannot reach on the conferences, people that teach on pluralsight are doing real work and they are mostly from consulting, but also good teachers. If teaching online appeals to you, read more about the Pluralsight teaching opportunity and watch the video below for a little inspiration. What are you waiting for?
