Want to teach someone to code? Codecademy’s got an app for that

Codecademy, the white-hot startup that teaches even total novices how to code, has launched a new tool: Creators lets anyone create a course on Codecademy and teach technology to over a million budding developers.

“We’re going from being a content company (creating courses) to becoming a platform for others to create courses,” said Codecademy co-founder Zach Sims in an email to VentureBeat.

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“This is probably the biggest announcement we’ve made yet.”

Codecademy started out offering just JavaScript tutorials. The Creators user-generated courses will also include courses in Ruby and Python. Course creators will also be able to use the Creators site as a reputation-building tool, and Codecademy will screen course creators’ credentials to keep the riffraff out.

Also new Monday, Sims said, is a redesign for the startup’s site, including a new code editor that “really enhances the learning experience [and] shows line-by-line debugging.” The site now also features challenges, part of what Sims called the site’s “new educational philosophy.”

Codecademy launched last August as a Y Combinator company. It quickly drew a fair amount of attention from the developer community, as well as a quick $2.5 million funding round from the early-stage investor community.

The startup is trying to bring a new focus to web development with its Code Year project, a New Year’s resolution-themed initiative to get more people to learn how to code in 2012.