Codecademy adds API training with YouTube, NPR, Bit.ly, and 6 other services to help new devs build actual products

One of the difficult things when learning to code is to have actual content and data to work with.

Codeacademy, the free online platform with programming lessons, is solving part of that problem by partnering with others to bring data sets to the table via API’s.

Via VentureBeat:

The new lessons on Codecademy will help users build web apps that, for instance mash up news from NPR with YouTube videos on the same topic. Or, build a product highlighting hot social content being shared with Bit.ly, and charging for it with Stripe. New developers could even start interacting with mobile phones and sending text messages via Twilio’s API, [Codeacademy cofounder Zach] Sims said.

“This is part of our continual belief that the best way to learn is by creating,” Sims said in an email.

And that’s precisely the core goal: helping new programmers get started with building online apps, even if they have almost no programming knowledge. Other launch partners who will also being including lessons on their APIs include Parse, Soundcloud, Sunlight Labs, Placekitten, and Sendgrid.

This is a big part of what the Codecademy turn-users-into-makers movement is focusing on in 2013: helping people create stuff.

And via the Codeacademy announcement:

What can you do with these APIs? Build awesome websites with video with YouTube’s. Shorten links on the fly and grab stats with Bitly’s. Mash up the news with NPR’s. That’s just the beginning - we’ll be adding more APIs soon!

API partners include Youtube, NPR, Bitly, SoundCloud and Parse among others.

If you want to get started with free lessons to learn how to use API’s, jump in here.