Well, what is "learning to code"? I'd say you start to learn how to code once you actually start to apply some of the theoretical classroom knowledge obtained.
I think "learning to code" is marketed as going to some intro course website, learning the basics of some language and boom, now you can code.
If you don't apply this to a real world application or hobby project, you never really get to wrap your head around the problem solving and debugging that start to occur when you are on your own, which I find crucial once you are thrown to the lions.
If I didn't have the classroom theory, I would have been thrown out of every interview I can recall. And sure, from time to time I've had to pretend to know some terminology whilst secretly studying up on it right after, but having the foundation taught by professors have surely been a building block in "learning to code".
I think "learning to code" is marketed as going to some intro course website, learning the basics of some language and boom, now you can code. If you don't apply this to a real world application or hobby project, you never really get to wrap your head around the problem solving and debugging that start to occur when you are on your own, which I find crucial once you are thrown to the lions.
If I didn't have the classroom theory, I would have been thrown out of every interview I can recall. And sure, from time to time I've had to pretend to know some terminology whilst secretly studying up on it right after, but having the foundation taught by professors have surely been a building block in "learning to code".