If you want to learn to code you can start teaching yourself using all the free resources you can find online.
Many great educational websites offer instant and interactive lessons that teach programming languages, web design, and other interesting subjects related to the computer science. This way you can also discover what you like before you invest money into a certain course.
To help you decide, we have selected best free online resources that can help you to learn to code.
Codecademy
Most people start learning to code using online educational platforms, and they usually start with Codecademy. Why? Because most people find it easier to learn with interactive learning approach.
The platform revolves around teaching you to code interactively; there is a panel that explains necessary instruction and another that allows you to start writing and testing if you are doing things right. When you type a code into a browser, you can see result immediately, and both instruction and code panel warn you of errors, providing hints and solutions.
What can you learn?
Codecademy offers HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby, web fundamentals, JavaScript, Angularjs, the Command Line, and more.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy’s front page says: “You can learn anything”, and that’s correct as it covers nearly every subject you might encounter.
As one of the first online resources to offer free coding lessons, Khan Academy serves as an open playground for anyone interested in learning to code, offering tons of subjects related to all sorts of digital skills, from coding to computer science theory.
Khan Academy has a unique teaching approach (famous for their ground-breaking video tutorials), and their computer programming course uses games, drawings, and animations to teach students. You can interact with other students online, share the work you have created, monitor your own progress and enjoy the support of the powerful community.
What can you learn?
Khan Academy teaches JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
Code School
While most of the offered courses are free, specific ones will require you to spend a certain amount of money if you want to access the entire course.
Unlike some interactive learning sites, with Code School courses you get more high-quality content and in-depth approach to a particular programming language, which might be a bit hard for amateurs.
What can you learn?
Code School offers more than 40 courses covering JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Ruby, Git, and iOS.
Pluralsight
Although the company started as a “classroom training” platform in 2014, Pluralsight is one of the leading resources for online learning. The company acquired some of the leading companies in the online learning space, Digital Tutors and Codeschool. They focus on web design and development, covering the basic and offering advanced subjects for IT professionals and developers. Pluralsight has massive library, and their subscribers have access to the complete catalog of courses at Digital Tutors.
What can you learn?
Pluralsight offers a wide range of topics related to web design and development.
Udemy
Udemy is a popular learning site probably best described as a combination of Linda and Treehouse. The site offers courses from cooking and photography to programming, paid and free. It offers information on a large variety of topics, covering the creative courses as well as the more technical and career building, such as web coding, graphic design, programming, and more.
Udemy has more than 32,000 courses in more than 10 languages but the courses can be created by anyone, so read the reviews carefully.
What can you learn?
Udemy offers courses on web development, application development, Java, HTML, CSS, mobile apps, game development, databases, and more.
Free Code Camp
Through an established curriculum, Free Code Camp teaches basic and advanced programming techniques by giving you an opportunity to do some social good – building projects for nonprofits. By joining Free Code Camp, you will become part of a very motivated community that work together to tackle coding challenges.
What can you learn?
Free Code Camp teaches HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, and Angular.js.
Dash by General Assembly
Dash by General Assembly is a free online learning platform for beginners. They have projects focusing on HTML, CSS, JavaScript and responsive design. Dash teaches programming using a slideshow style to present the information with a mini code editor where you can type in the code (unlike in their paid monthly mentorship plan). They also have a course on how to build a Tumblr theme from scratch.
What can you learn?
Dash teaches HTML, CSS, Javascript and responsive design.
edX
edX offers computer science courses from some of the best universities and institutions, such as MIT and Harvard. Introduction to Computer Science is for instance Harvard University’s free course you can start today.
What can you learn?
edX offers various courses related to the computer science, and topics include Java, C#, Python and more.
Coursera
Coursera offers various free of charge courses taught by the university professors. To prove you have completed the course, you have an option to pay for a Coursera Verified Certificate. Browse through their courses and find what interests you.
What can you learn?
Coursera offers basic programming courses for beginners and advanced for those who want to learn more.
Code Player
With Code Player you can see detailed presentations and in-depth description showing you how others have built websites, apps, and other things, from scratch. With a compilation of video tutorials it’s good to start learning how to do smaller projects.
What can you learn?
Code Player teaches HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Regex, JQuery.
MIT OpenCourseware
MIT maintains an online library of every subject they teach. No registration is required to access documents and learning material. You can also search for a community of learners studying the same subject or topic of your interest when you visit OpenStudy and ask questions or provide answers to anyone in the group.
There are more than 2200 courses, and many interesting ones related to computer science and programming.
Blogs To Follow
Tuts+
Tuts+ might not follow a specific learning approach, but users do get over 570 video courses (on all topics), and tons of free tutorials. Also, there are many downloadable eBooks related to the tutorials and courses (covering design and illustration, 3D graphics, business, and more). You should try the 14-day trial and explore the different courses and tutorials offered before committing to a full membership.
CSS-Tricks
CSS-Tricks is a well-known web design and development community site that now goes beyond just CSS, including tutorials and articles on Sass, JavaScript, PHP, and more. You can find tutorials and opinions on different web related topics, ask and answer questions and discuss web related projects, or watch hands-on instructional tutorials.
A List Apart
A List Apart began as a mailing list for web designers in 1997. However, it is still one of the best places to go to if you want to explore design and development topics, and learn more about best practices. Apart from content and design, you will find great articles on coding, focusing on CSS, Java, HTML, application development and more.
Learnable
Learnable is the child site of Site Point, a great platform for those who prefer learning via reading. The site offers a wide range of content: HTML, CSS, Ruby, JavaScript, ASP.NET, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PHP, SQL, and more. It also covers topics related to mobile development, design, online marketing, and web-based businesses. Learnable is a good option if you want to further develop your design and web development skills.
If you wish to learn more about web design (and development), these are the blogs your should also check out.
YouTube Channels
DevTips
One of Travis Neilson’s channels focused on web design and development covering HTML, CSS, responsive design, development advice, and more.
LearnCode.academy
Will Stern’s web-development-focused videos cover Sublime Text, responsive design, Node.js, Angular.js, Backbone.js, deployment strategies, and more.
thenewboston
With almost one million subscribers, the channel has around 4000 videos that cover different programming topics (C programming, MySQL, Python, and more), game development, design, Android development, and more.
Developer community
StackOverflow
If you have a specific programming problem, you can ask the largest developer community around the world to help. StackOverflow deals with problems that usually contain code; it’s a good place to get hard fact objective answers. It is built and maintained by programmers and completely free.
GitHub
GitHub is a code sharing and publishing service (a social networking site for programmers) that provides a Web-based graphical interface, access control and collaboration features, and basic task management tools for every project. It manages and stores revisions of projects; you can find out how some of the greatest developers dealt with and solved certain problems.
Do you know of other free online resources that might be useful?
