January 19th, 2006
Students Using Rent-A-Coder.com to Outsource Programming Homework
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
This shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. For years people have been using the Internet to buy up pre-written essays and term papers on various topics. Before that, many term papers services advertised in print publications like Rolling Stone. But outsourcing your actual homework to India? Turns out the popular coding-for-hire website, Rent A Coder has a bunch of homework bidding going on if you search on the term “homework.”
Attached was a take-home final exam for a computer class that Mr. Nightlife Lover wanted to pay someone else — presumably, someone from a place where people can’t afford a lot of night life to begin with — to take for him. This bit of commerce took place on Rentacoder.com, a Web site that has been mentioned before in this column as an example of globalization in all its blood-curdling efficiency. Rent A Coder enables people — usually Americans — who need computer programs to put them out to bid — usually for cut-throat prices by Indians and Eastern Europeans.
But if U.S. companies can go online to outsource their programming, why can’t U.S. computer students outsource their homework – which, after all, often involves writing sample programs? Scruples aside, no reason at all. Search for “homework” in the data base of Rent A Coder projects, and you get 1,000 hits. (An impressive number, but still a tiny fraction of all computer students, the vast majority of whom are no doubt an honest and hardworking lot.) Source: Wall Street Journal via Tech Dirt
We Say: Poor teachers. First they had to find way to tell if a paper was plagarized out of a libabry book, then purchased outright from a vendor, and now completely outsourced by some poor guy halfway around the world. As a nation, we are officially doomed when our own students won’t bother to learn.
Alice Adds: Ok, let’s take this out another notch: what if workers themselves with decent paying jobs started outsourcing their own projects and deliverables? So instead of killing yourself on that big project, you just bid it out and enjoy those quiet evenings playing video games while someone works overnight on your assignment. Has anyone done that?
Inglix the Mad says:
If they are looking to be programmers what are they doing this for? It makes zero sense to me, but then again, most things we do in this country don’t.
January 19th, 2006 at 6:19 am
rick says:
I was taking an assembler language class (a long time ago) and one of my classmates just didn’t get it and wanted to copy my program–just until he had time to do it on his own, of course. What the heck? This wasn’t some BS philosophy paper, the only reason to take the class was to get a job. One would have thought he would have realized that if he couldn’t figure out a homework assignment he wouldn’t ever accomplish a real world assignment.
I guess he became a manager.
January 19th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Michael Santo says:
Alice, your idea about programmers outsourcing their own work was, quite hilariously, covered in Dilbert.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Michael Santo says:
BTW, this isn’t the only place this happens. You should see how many homework questions are over at answers.yahoo.com.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Rod Spode says:
Alice, you’re sick!:p
Actually, that is not a bad idea; since all your manager want to hear is that the project is completed.
I think MY next vacation will be to India; they’re English-speaking, and already big in outsourcing.
I can actually ride this wave to the very top of the company, making my peers and superiours look like plebs to the board, while I bring in all projects on time, and under budget.
Thanks for the tip!
January 19th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Geek News Central says:
Geek News Central 2006-01-20 #138
Nice relaxed show tonight with a little Hawaiian music at the end. Completely back to the normal routine, still fighting a little bit of a cough but hopefully I will get rid of that by the next show. Enjoy the…
January 20th, 2006 at 1:57 am
Code fiend says:
I actual code on rent aa coder and find it to be an easy way to make spending money. I’m in America and do a few homework assignments here and there. They tend to be fairly easy and I find it forces me to adhere to better programming pratices. If some one wants to pay my so I get better and they take the easy way out so be it. I’ll be the boss in the long run.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Russian coder says:
Why to not earn on another’s ignorance and laziness?
March 16th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
greek news says:
Salaries in Greece
Average salary in Greece is EUR 800 At the same time the average salary in Germany is between EUR 1,600 and EUR 1,900 and in France – between EUR 2,500 and EUR 3,000. Belgians receive about EUR 2,000 a…
March 18th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Rachuru Rajesh says:
I would like to do coding for dollors.I work as software engineer in a software company.
January 1st, 2007 at 4:44 am
Sypad says:
Also check out sypad.com, which has an easier to use interface than rent a coder.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
joe smith says:
I have to say I have been doing this for years. I hardly even work anymore. I go into a company pitch an idea, and promote its value, then outsource it almost always to india or russia for pennies on the dollar. I made over 100K last year doing this and worked maybe 10 hours a week on this. I biggest pain is explaining yourself to the coders over and over again, but once you find a good one, its all gravy.
Just last week I outsourced a 19,000 job for 300.00… and its taken me about 10 hours total.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Mike says:
I am currently a college student and all that I can say is; Thank God for Rent-A-Coder! If my instructors were any good at their job, I would not have to regularily outsource my homework assignments.
March 21st, 2007 at 10:39 am
dave says:
Mike, blaming your instructors for your “lack of energy” is no way to start out your life man.
Alice, I outsource my work projects all the time. I am not a coder though.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Gaurav Marmat says:
Hi all,
Well of Course i like R.A.C not because it helps me earn some pocket money but also because it helps me get linked with the grown up world with all the professional experience one needs to handle them. I am not yet 18 but working there.
For the students who outsource their work, well they know it would do them no good. But, on the contrary if we see the better side, those students are developing good managing skills. And Thats what we all study for!! To earn money!!
Another good aspect is providing seasonal employment to the citizens of the developing world, even though its hardly a fraction that reaches them. But, Hey its a beginning. Currently the process is more like biased coin which flips on the employers will but soon as the people around the globe get this exposure they will realize their true value which in turn would result in increment to the fraction of share they get for the work done.
Spoke too much i guess!!
March 26th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Gaurav Marmat says:
i forgot to say thnks for the oppurtunity
March 26th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Gaurav Marmat says:
thanks
March 26th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Shup says:
Well, from my perspective RAC is great. I’m a project manager, damn well paid, and I’ve been doing that for ages now, so much so that I miss my good old coding days, endless hours spend in front of a computer, being the biggest geek in town, coffee after coffee and junk food! RAC helps me do some old fashioned coding to vent some steam, it also gives me some extra cash to keep up with all the rather expensive hobbies I have. Homework project are too small and cheap for me to even look at them, not worth my time. I usually just go for the big fish!
April 11th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Jeremy says:
I’m a student using RAC and to be completely honest, I am a little lazy when it comes to homework.
My excuse: I’m in the Army and well don’t have very much time on my hands to code all the time. That and getting the F’ing degree is just another check in the box.
The degree plan that I chose 3 years ago and have slowly been completing is a BSCS and I work as a help desk tech, so it’s a little off the path of my so called ‘chosen’ career path.
Not to mention the courses I am taking are all Distance Learning and the instructors are clueless, so I figure why not get it done the easy way??!!
Thanks for all your help guys ;P
April 17th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
sachin says:
I would like to do coding for dollors.I work as software engineer in a software company.
April 18th, 2007 at 1:33 am
hagos haftu says:
this the time iam going to use
your Website. And this is more
easy and for all programmers.
thank u.
April 21st, 2007 at 1:11 pm
victim of rentacoder says:
rentacoder is a fraud. it is involved in stealing programmer’s source codes ,unfair biased arbitrations , donation scams , money laundering via pakistani programmers that may be ultimately reaching terrorists outfits such as al-quaeda , jaish-e-mohammed or jaish-e-mohammed, lashkar etc.
Search google with keyword rentacoder fraud or click this link -http://www.google.co.in/search?q=rentacoder+fraud&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
May 4th, 2007 at 12:23 am
poizdtnqbx says:
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! syyxlebvigocz
June 19th, 2007 at 7:16 am
Sergey I.Grachyov says:
victim of rentacoder,
Please, don’t pollute Internet.
“al-quaeda” - ha ha!
Coders from too expensive areas(like USA) just can’t compete at RentACoder.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:10 am
UNCLE SAM says:
I rented a coder at Rentacoder.com to post this comment for $1 because my time is too presious to type it up myself….
Aint life a b**ch
July 30th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Bubbles says:
I use RAC all the time. Usually I get good work from not so experienced but motivated coders, many of them students. I am not a student but a business buyer. Why should I sit for hours coding the work, getting behind when I can outsource most of my work? If the big companies can outsource, why can’t I?
September 4th, 2007 at 4:22 am
tapansingh solanki says:
its amazing site,thanks,im an animator having own aimation studio.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Sushmita says:
Its true. You have online site from which you can hire a tutor and get your homeworks done. I myself was a member of http://www.myhwsolution.com They provide homework help and will also give full solution to your homework. Its a good thing as long as you are learning from it.
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:09 am
Bill says:
Another one they could post on is http://www.freelancewar.com . It’s new, but I’m sure it’ll pick up soon.
October 11th, 2007 at 11:13 am
manumohan says:
very good
October 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Not The Guy You Thought I Was says:
i got caught posting a cobol assignment on rentacoder. the teacher accused me of it and i flat out denied it. I mean come on,, its cobol. cobol is just another way to say useless. i now have a job making big bucks coding in a modern language. I still use rentacoder for personal projects and jobs on the side. Thanks Rentacoder!
December 7th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Joe says:
Sergey I.Grachyov had posted
Coders from too expensive areas(like USA) just can’t compete at RentACoder.
He’s wrong. Nothing like a tarriff to level the playing field.
As far as the writers that are no-native English speakers, they may speak English, but if they can’t think in it, you can’t understand it. Next time place a call to a overseas call center and see how long it takes before you have a communication problem. Chances are that it will happen within 150 to 200 words. It’s English but…
As far as the students that like to pay to have their work done, whether in public school or college, first you violated your student code of conduct. second if you get really lucky you might buy something that can get you accused of plagiarism. Yes they can run source code through a plagiarism checker also. Either one of those are acts of dishonesty. Hey sounds good to me, get kicked out and branded as a thief. Lets see how that fits on your resume. Either do the right thing or save everyone some time and drop out.
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Sergey I.Grachyov says:
Joe had posted:
He’s wrong. Nothing like a tarriff to level the playing field.
1. Tariff level is very important field.
2. If you can get the same result (code, programm, article) 2-5 times cheaper - you will adopt my language level.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:30 pm
David Graham says:
People do this type of thing all the time on our website. I have mixed feelings about it, but if they are going into IT management here in the US, then I guess it is a skill that they are going to need. Even if they are a programmer here, they are inevitably going to need the experience of interfacing with people abroad.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
alexander says:
heeeeeeeeeey how can i get on at school? without it being totally blocked!
March 19th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Andor says:
You always can opt for http://www.rent-acoder.com as an outsourcing website for small projects.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Shan says:
@Sergey I.Grachyov
What a piece of Crap u have written..
A developing nation like Pakistan cannot fund alQaeda … either its ur biased opinion or lack of knowledge..
there isnt a single Pakistani among the top leadership of Alqaeda… al Qaeda is funded and Led by Arabs(or Saudis).
AlQaeda Leader in its recent video.. announced to wage war against Pakistan..
Please dont write , if dont know a shit..
March 30th, 2008 at 5:45 am
J.Smith says:
I outsource my programming homework to Rent a coder and it works great. My mission is not to be a programmer. I am already a manager. So it is more practicle for me to learn to outsource my homework and build those relationships and set service level agreements for payment. That is what I focus on. So it’s not that I am not learning. I am learning what I need to know for my own career. If your in school to be a programmer, than this is not wise at all… but if you late going to college like me, there are some things you probably know you won’t be doing in life… like programming in Java. BTW, I maintain an A in class through my wirten work and programming assignments. It costs me about $20 - $40 /assignment…. well worth the outsourcing experience I gain from it.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Sunday says:
how do i get registered
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May 18th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
outsource work & freelance jobs says:
You can also outsource work and find freelance jobs at ICanFreelance.com.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
outsource work & freelance jobs says:
You can also outsource work and find freelance jobs at ICanFreelance.com.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Mleubsrr says:
Stop! Try to read this interested book:,
June 24th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Umair Khan says:
i do this..Because i want money
contact:-00923149009933
July 12th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Dorm Room Biz says:
Alice - in case you did not know, people in the workplace are already outsourcing their individual work assignments (as long as there are no issues with privacy or confidentiality such as working with the government). It is become a more normal practice for people to do. If you read Tim Ferriss’ book “The Four Hour Work Week” you can read a story about someone actually doing this and traveling the world while someone else does the work he is supposed to be doing and getting paid to do. It is becoming a way of life; learn to take advantage of it yourself and you will like the benefits of free time, extra money, and less stress. It opens up a whole new world to people who outsource their tasks and work.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Dilruk says:
I love rent a coder i earn $1000 a week and thats more than enough for me to live.
cheers
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