Top Free Online Resources to Learn Coding

Published in

Level Up!

9 min readMar 26, 2017

by Bradley Nice, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — software documentation tool

Coding is a skill that is becoming more and more in demand. If you learn to code, you will make yourself more marketable as a worker. However, going to school for computer programming can be costly and time-consuming. Fortunately there are resources online for you to learn to code for free. And today I’ve compiled a list of free online resources to learn coding.

General

Codecademy

Codecademy is an innovative and fun online service that will help you to learn basic of coding trough short and easy lessons.

Topics taught: HTML & CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, AngularJS, The Command Line, Sass, Rails, Git, SQL, Java, jQuery.

Codewars

Codewars is a fun, addictive and challenging programming training platform on the web.

Topics taught: CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java, Clojure, C++, C#, Elixir, Haskell, PHP, Swift, TypeScript.

Coursera

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 (30-100$).

Topics taught: Many (far beyond your basic coding/computer science).

edX

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.

Free Code Camp

Free Code Camp is a friendly open-source community where you learn to code and help nonprofits.

Topics taught: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, React.js, and D3.js

GA Dash

General Assembly’s free online learning platform. Entirely project-based. You build a “project” with each walkthrough.

Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and responsive design

Khan Academy

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

MIT OpenCourseware

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.

“The idea is simple: to publish all of our course materials online and make them widely available to everyone.”
Dick K.P. Yue, Professor, MIT School of Engineering

Topics taught: Many

The Odin Project

Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript & jQuery, Ruby programming, Ruby on Rails

Udacity

Offers individual courses that train you for specific careers like front-end web developer or data analyst. Some course materials are free, but some require a tuition fee.

Topics taught: Many

Udemy

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.

Topics taught: Many

YouTube Channels

Neil Rowe

Features numerous 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

DevTips

Focuses on web design and web development, with occasional live Q&As.

Topics taught: HTML, CSS, responsive design, development advice

LearnCode.academy

Web-development-focused videos made by Will Stern.

Topics taught: Sublime Text, Responsive Design, Node.js, Angular.js, Backbone.js, deployment strategies, and more

thenewboston

Over 4,000 videos on a range of programming languages, game development, and design.

Topics taught: Android development, C programming, MySQL, Python, and more.

Blogs

A List Apart

Lots of authors, which write books, have events, and run a great development and design blog. See all code topics here.

CSS-Tricks

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.

David Walsh

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.

Scotch.io

Covers lots of topics related to web development and workflow. To name a few: Angular, Node.js, Laravel, Sublime Text, and more.

SitePoint

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.

Tuts+

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.

The Command Line

Command Line Power User

Free video series created by Wes Bos. More at an intermediate level.

Conquering the Command Line

Free online book by Mark Bates. Very in-depth. Can purchase hard copy and screencasts.

Learn Command Line the Hard Way

Free online book by Zed Shaw.

Git and GitHub

Try Git

An interactive series of challenges to learn about and experiment with Git.

Git Immersion

A guided tour to teach you the basics of Git. Set preferences and create your own projects.

HTML and CSS

Skillcrush’s Coding Bootcamp

Skillcrush is a free coding bootcamp, a perfect place to start for absolute newbies.

Learn CSS Layout

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 knowledge on HTML and CSS.

Marksheet.io

For beginners. Broken down into four chapters: The web, HTML5, CSS3, and Sass.

Mozilla Developer Network

Free documentation on HTML and CSS (also JavaScript). Has tutorials for people of different levels: from introductory to advanced.

HTML5 Dog

HTML beginner tutorial here (They also offer intermediate and advanced HTML tutorials.).

JavaScript

Eloquent Javascript

Another online book, longer than most.

Javascript.com

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.

JavaScript for Cats

It’s like a single-webpage book broken down into sections. Created by programmer Max Ogden.

Learn JS

Go through lessons, type in the window at the bottom.

NodeSchool

Has in-person workshops and events all over the world, as well as an active web presence. See online tutorials here.

That JS Dude

A website that teaches JavaScript. Specifically this, scope, hoisting, closures, inheritance, and more. It relies on videos as well as text to explain concepts.

The Node Beginner Book

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

WordPress.tv

Recordings of live WordCamp lectures around the world.

WPBeginner

Website for beginner WP users. Great WP glossary of terms, coupon deals, video tutorials, and a blog which publishes useful articles by different authors.

Python

A Byte of Python

Free online book for beginners. Available in a PDF for free.

LearnPython.org

Interactive online tutorial on Python coding. Has a little window at the bottom where you can write your code as you go through the lessons.

Learn Python The Hard Way (Website)

The book costs money, but the website is free. Written by Zed Shaw.

Python Spot

Beginner and intermediate Python tutorials. Most come in a written form. There’s also some tutorials on game development, databases, and more. All using Python, of course.

Ruby

Learn Ruby the Hard Way

Free HTML version of the book online. Buying the hard copy also gets you access to videos. Another book written by Zed Shaw.

Rails For Zombies

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.

Rails Tutorial

12-chapter book by Michael Hartl. Can purchase ebooks, screencasts from author, and more. Or just read it for free online.

RubyMonk

Entirely free, RubyMonk is 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.

Try Ruby

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

Learn SQL the Hard Way

Another resource 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.

MongoDB University

MongoDB University offers free online courses to teach you how to build and deploy apps on MongoDB. There are also quizzes and graded exercises along the way. Courses last seven weeks, but you can work through at your own pace.

MySQLtutorial.org

If you go through the entire tutorials, you will know how to manage MySQL databases and manipulate data using various techniques such as SQL queries, MySQL stored procedures, database views, triggers, etc. They offer over ten different MySQL tutorials in total.

Vertabelo

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.

Design/User Experience

HackDesign

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 receive a design lesson in your inbox each week.

UX Apprentice

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.

UXPin

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.

Online Communities

CodeBuddies

CodeBuddies is a community of 1400+ code learners who help each other through conversations on Slack and scheduled hangouts. Great for those who want to study with others or do pair programming.

CodeNewbie

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.