"Sololearn: the Duolingo of computer programming

Learning to code seems an increasingly practical skill in a digitizing world. Languages that were once known only to a few masters in their field are beginning to be democratized. However, not everyone has the enthusiasm to learn programming. It could be considered a boring subject.

That's when a solution comes along to make the whole thing more pleasant and easily accessible. "Sololearn" aims to bring the art of computer programming to as many people as possible. To achieve this, the application, available on mobile and web browsers, uses the same formula as Duolingo, a popular language-learning app.

Method

Users choose their path from beginner to intermediate. They follow lessons demonstrating the concepts in question, and then complete exercises based on their understanding and mistakes, using artificial intelligence.

What's more, like the famous language app, Sololearn uses a system of lives, series of consecutive days with rewards, an internal currency to buy, among other things, an object to save a series if the user skips a day, and login gifts.

Each lesson provides experience, enabling the user to increase his or her level of mastery of a subject and climb the global learner rankings. Sololearn even offers a place to show off your code work to others, or to chat with them. Finally, there's a paid premium mode that lets you play with infinite, ad-free lives and a few other perks.

A large proportion of the courses are translated into French, but at the time of writing, many of the lessons on artificial intelligence were in English only. They will most likely be translated in the near future.

Will Sololearn succeed in creating what Duolingo has done for language learning? In any case, it has everything it takes to attract programming beginners, and already seems to have attracted a sizeable community.

Sololearn