By Jenna Wortham

The market for night classes and online instruction in programming and Web construction, as well as for iPhone apps that teach, is booming, reports Jenna Wortham in Wednesday’s New York Times. People taking those classes say they are preparing for a future in which the Internet is the foundation for entertainment, education and nearly everything else. Some hope that they might become the next Mark Zuckerberg. But most say they are just trying to keep up with their regular jobs, which require a better knowledge of Internet tools.

The sites and services catering to the would-be coders number in the dozens but an important player is Codecademy, a start-up based in New York, whose site walks visitors through interactive lessons in various computing and Web languages, like JavaScript, and shows them how to write simple commands. Since the service was introduced last summer, more than a million people have signed up, and it has raised nearly $3 million in venture financing. Even Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York has vowed to use the site to learn how to code.

Still, seasoned programmers say it is hard to pick up the skills required to develop a sophisticated online service or mobile application. It is the kind of technical education, they say, that cannot be acquired by casual use for a few hours at night and on the weekends.