Udacity's courses have all eliminated the schedule and are now always-open, self-paced.

I didn't know that. Thanks. I'll mention it to them.

If you want your friends to actually become programmers I'd recommend that you push both an Intro course as well as codeacademy for language practice.

That's great advice. I can't teach my friends because I'm not really a programmer -- I was a business major turned cloud engineer who's still teaching himself.

Codeacademy by itself isn't going to get you anywhere.

I gained a great amount from finishing about 1/4 of code year. I feel like I grasp the fundamentals of programming and could soon become an intern at a startup. I wish my friends could learn as easily as I do...