There are a ton of Resources & Tools out there that promise they can teach you "how to code" - but what does that mean exactly if you're a tech newbie, and what if you're not sure you're ready to invest in a formal course? I was in the same shoe.
Learn Coding via Online Classes (Think of These as "How to Code 101")
Codecademy is where a ton of people who are new to tech first learn to code. If you haven't seen their site yetâ?¦where have you been!? Kidding - mostly. Regardless, the platform revolves around teaching you how to code via interactive learning; that is, you read a little, type your code right into the browser, and see results immediately. This is a perfect entrance to coding for beginners.
Topics taught: Coding basics like HTML & CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Angularjs, The Command Line, and more
Codewars is definitely a fun way to learn to code. With a martial-arts theme, the program is based on challenges called "kata." Complete them to earn honour and progress to higher ranks.
Topics taught: CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java, Clojure, and Haskell
Large online course library, where classes are taught by real university professors. All courses are free of charge, but you have the option to pay for a "Coursera Verified Certificate" to prove course completion. These cost between $30 and $100 depending on the course. Coursera also now has specializations, which you do have to pay for.
Topics taught: Many (far beyond your basic coding/computer science), but there are some great coding for beginners options
An open-source higher education program governed by MIT and Harvard. Offers 107 courses under the "computer science" category, teaching various coding languages.
Topics taught: Java, C#, Python, and many more
Learn to code first through an established curriculum, then via hands-on experience working on projects for nonprofits. Great, right?
Topics taught: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, React.js, and D3.js
General Assembly's free online learning platform. Entirely project-based. You build a "project" with each walk-through.
They are one of the very few options that have a course on how to build a Tumblr theme from scratch.
Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and responsive design
Tons of subjects (as their front page says, "You can learn anything"), including many on computer programming. A few courses are offered for younger kids, too.
Topics taught: Many
Competition to get into MIT may be stiff, but accessing their course material has no minimum SAT score. They maintain an online library of every subject they teach, with no account required for access.
Topics taught: Many
Made by the creators of Viking Code School - a premiere online coding Bootcamp. The Odin Project is their free version. FYI: you can also work with others in
in-person or online study groups.
Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript & jQuery, Ruby programming, Ruby on Rails
Offers individual courses, as well as "nanodegrees" that train you for specific careers like front-end web developer or data analyst. Some course materials are free, but nanodegrees require a tuition fee.
Topics taught: Many
Paid and free courses on a variety of subjects, including web development, programming, data science, and more. Courses can be created by anyone, so make sure to read reviews - you want to learn to code through a true expert! Coupons can also be easily found, too.
Topics taught: Many
A compilation of video tutorials to help you walk through a process from start to finish. Good for learning "smaller" projects or tasks one at a time.
Topics taught: HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Regex, JQuery
YouTube: Learn to Code by Watching the Experts
Features numerous series of videos on coding topics: a 19-video series on JavaScript, another 19 videos on HTML/CSS, and more.
Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, WordPress, iOS and Android, and more
Subscribers: 44,215
One of Travis Neilson's YouTube channels. Focuses on web design and web development, with occasional live Q&As.
Topics taught: HTML, CSS, responsive design, development advice
Subscribers: 82,907
My personal favorite. Web-development-focused videos made by Will Stern.
Topics taught: Sublime Text, Responsive Design, Node.js, Angular.js, Backbone.js, deployment strategies, and more
Subscribers: 154,590
Over 4,000 videos on a range of programming languages, game development, and design. Has over one million subscribers.
Topics taught: Android development, C programming, MySQL, Python, and more.
Subscribers: 1,131,977
Blogs: All the Best Tips for Coding Beginners
Lots of authors. They write books, have events, and run a great development and design blog, which is easy to understand even if you're new to this (and includes some great topics around coding for beginners). See all code topics here.
Goes deep into CSS with their big, bad CSS almanac. However, the blog now goes beyond just CSS and talks about other things like Sass, JavaScript, PHP, and more. Explore tons of resources and check out their code snippets.
Run by David Walsh (a senior developer at Mozilla), although there are others who write on the site too. Tutorials, how-tos, demos, and more.
Covers lots of topics related to web development and workflow. To name a few: Angular, Node.js, Laravel, Sublime Text, and more.
They have lots of writers and publish often. Topics range from HTML and CSS to entrepreneurship. SitePoint now also has paid books and courses on their child site Learnable.
Tons of free tutorials, as well as paid options like actual courses. Has over 570 expertly-instructed video courses (on all topics, not just computer-related). Also publishes eBooks.
Resources by Coding Topic: Command Line
Free video series created by Wes Bos. More at an intermediate level, so not for total newbies.
Free online book by Mark Bates. Very in-depth. Can purchase hard copy and screencasts.
Free online book by Zed Shaw. (My personal favorite command line resource.)
Git and GitHub
An interactive series of challenges to learn about and experiment with Git. Created by
Code School.
A guided tour to teach you the basics of Git. Set preferences and create your own projects.
HTML and CSS
Skillcrush's free coding bootcamp is a perfect place to start for absolute newbies. You'll learn what it means to work in tech, get digestible definitions of common industry lingo, and get the chance to write your first lines of code.
This website will teach you CSS fundamentals that are used in setting up a website's layout. It's best for those who already have basic HTML and CSS know-how.
For beginners. Broken down into four chapters: The web, HTML5, CSS3, and Sass. It's like an online ebook, but under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. So you can adapt it for your needs.
Free documentation on HTML and CSS (also JavaScript). Has tutorials for people of different levels, introductory to advanced.
HTML beginner tutorial
here. (They also offer intermediate and advanced HTML tutorials.) And ones on CSS.
JavaScript
Another online book, longer than most. It has big-tech financial backers like Mozilla and Hack Reactor ("the Harvard of coding bootcamps").
Created by Code School. Quick and perfect for absolute beginners. (Warning: JS in real life is a lot tougher.) 9 mini-lessons. At the end, it points you to more in-depth JS learning materials.
It's like a single-webpage book broken down into sections. Created by programmer
Max Ogden. Filled with non-cat gifs but has cat pics at the end. Just because. Lol.
Go through lessons, type in the window at the bottom. Created by the same folks who make
learnpython.org.
Has in-person workshops and events all over the world, as well as an active web presence. See online tutorials here.
A website that teaches JavaScript. Specifically this, scope, hoisting, closures, inheritance, and more. It relies on videos as well as text to explain concepts. Created by @mdkhan005.
Written by Manuel Kiessling, this book targets people who have some experience in other programming languages. While the free version online is a shortened version of the full book, it still teaches a lot about Node.
WordPress
Recordings of live WordCamp lectures around the world. Created by
Automattic.
Website for beginner WP users. Great WP glossary of terms, plus coupon deals, video tutorials, and a blog which publishes useful articles by different authors.
Python
Free online book for beginners. Can choose to download it as a PDF for free or invest in the hard copy.
Interactive online tutorial to learn Python coding. Has a little window at the bottom where you can write your code as you go through the lessons.
The book costs money, but the website is free. Written by Zed Shaw. (I used the book when I first started learning.)
Beginner and intermediate Python tutorials. Most come in a written form. There are also some tutorials on game development, databases, and more. All using Python, of course.
Ruby
The
free HTML version of the book online. Buying the hard copy also gets you access to videos. Another book was written by Zed Shaw.
An interactive way to learn Ruby on Rails right in your browser. (This is a better choice for people who know some Ruby already.) Created by Code School.
12-chapter book by Michael Hartl. Can purchase ebooks, screencasts from author, and more. Or just read it for free online.
Entirely free, though you have the option to donate. Based on interactive tutorials, where you read a lesson and type in code. Lastly, "run" it. RubyMonk has one beginner course option, two intermediate, and one advanced.
Also created by
Code School, this is a better option for beginners. Type into an in-browser prompt window as you go through the exercises.
Databases
Another resource created by Zed Shaw. This free online book takes you through 33 exercises. By the end, you should understand SQL, how to design data, and know a bit about database optimization. You don't need to know how to program to work through the book, but it helps.
Courses on MongoDB. Lessons come in video form. There are also quizzes and graded exercises along the way. Courses last seven weeks, but you can work through at your own pace. As of now, 200,000+ people have already taken courses on MongoDB University.
Offers a range of MySQL tutorials including how to use MySQL as a developer and database administrator. They offer over ten different MySQL tutorials in total.
The free digital book created by renowned computer science professor at MIT, Philip Greenspun. It contains 16 sections including data modeling, simple queries, transactions, trees, and more.
This free platform has three different SQL courses: SQL Queries, Operating on Data in SQL, and Creating Tables in SQL. On Vertabelo you'll learn in an interactive code editor, table, and console.
Web Design/User Experience
HackDesign is, "an easy to follow design course for people who do amazing things." There are 50 lessons total, all taught by different instructors. Topics include typography, interaction design, front-end design, and more. You can get a design lesson delivered to your inbox once a week or you can view all the lessons on their site.
Created by Theresa Neil and the team at Balsamiq. This is like a UX 101 course - perfect for beginners. Three main parts: discovery, strategy, and design. As you go through, you are quizzed and shown related resources.
While UXPin has paid offerings, there are a variety of free UX books available on the site. All you need to do is provide your email to access the material. They have books on minimalism, color theory, flat design, interaction design, and more.
Coding Long-Term: Online Communities
Learn with others in peer-to-peer organized Google Hangouts. Great for those who want to study with others or do pair programming. CodeBuddies also has a Slack chatroom as well as a Facebook group where people can congregate and ask questions.
CodeNewbie has a variety of tools for beginners including a Slack community where you can ask questions, a Twitter chat every Wednesday, a weekly podcast, and more. Now there are also some in-person meetups - like in
Atlanta.
What's next?
Relying on free courses and books is great when you're just starting out. However, they can only get you so far.
Source: HOB