There was a time when coding was a skill only reserved for the uber-geeky. You had to be an extreme genius, with a background in Software Engineering, Computer Science or IT to lay down a single line of code.
But as technology advanced, prompting businesses to establish a solid online presence, the ability to work around codes and make regular tweaks and changes to websites for better online interactions became even more of a necessity.
Think of coding as an essential skill to have under your belt. Besides adding value to your web presence, coding allows you to be clued in on the mechanisation of the internet for a better understanding of how things come into play.
Once you understand crude codes, you’ll be able to understand SEO and other aspects of blogging and online marketing at a much deeper level, instead of lapping everything up at face value.
Places to Learn How to Code
College is NOT among these places. Neither will you be asked to folk over your hard-earned money for overblown fees.
All you need instead is some vested interest in coding, and some ample amount of time specifically dedicated to coding.
Once your interest is confirmed and you have some time set aside, you can go ahead and check out the following places to get started.
This is where you start if you’ve never typed a single line of code your entire life. Perfect place for those giving coding a first attempt, and are looking for a way to learn coding as they experiment with it while seeing results.
With this platform, you can learn almost any programming language you can think of, including Javascript, PHP, HTML, CSS, Ruby, JQuery, and Python to name a few.
300 hours of these courses are available for free. You’re allowed to try that while getting your feet wet as you contemplate on whether or NOT there’s value in paying for progressive classes.
Sololearn is another interactive programming platform, not much different from Codeacademy or codeavengers.
The best thing about Solo learn is that it’s completely free. At no point will you be asked to pay for a pro version or advanced level of any of the courses provided.
Lastly, Sololearn has a mobile app version of the site. You can learn on the go, via your mobile phone, saving your codes in the logbook provided for future retrieval.
With Free Code Camp, you’ll be assigned an 800 hours curriculum of nothing but coding. This will be followed by another 800 hours of getting your hands dirty coding for hands-on experience.
What makes Free Code Camp a preferred place to learn coding is that it allows you to work on your portfolio as you progress. Which is to say, you’ll have real-time projects to present to potential clients once you’re done learning any given programming language.
Here, you can learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, Java, Ruby, PHP, DevTools, Angular.js and Node.Js, just to name a few.
Billed as the world’s largest web development site, W3 schools offers all of its tutorials and notes for free. You don’t get to pay for a thing — just your time.
Here, you can expect to find a comprehensive coverage of well organized and structured tutorials on almost any imaginable programming language, including HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQP, PHP, Bootstrap, and Java to name a few.
It’s a good online spot to familiarize yourself with the basics, preferably to those who learn better by reading. Most developers use it as a reference site or when they’re looking for specific example or how-to notes for getting something done.
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Udemy
Founded in 2010, udemy is a project-based learning platform, not just for coding but a broad range of other skills out there.
The site has a small section of free courses, but for a great majority of them, you’ll be required to pay to undertake the full course.
Unlike most of the other platforms on the list, Udemy offers videos lessons by taking a simulation of a classroom. With an upward of 45, 000 courses to choose from, students are taught by instructors or experts in a broad range of fields.
EDX is a non-profit, open source learning platform. Founded in 2012 by Havard and MIT, the platform is treasured for exposing developers to cutting edge discoveries and theories.
Students get to choose what to learn from about 60 schools provided. Those enrolling can be located virtually anywhere in the world, and are allowed to take almost any course, including computer science.
Keep in mind that the platform is both run and managed by universities and colleges. It’s also available for free, and can make a good platform to start if you’re interested in the mainstream kind of learning.
Introduced in 2012, Coursera is one of the most known educational facilities for programmers across the world. Boasting more than 1000 courses, supplied by 119 institutions, including the university of Vanderbilt, Stanford, Toronto and Washington, the platform features both free and paid courses.
In most cases, the free courses will be the introductory courses from these institutions, whereas the advanced courses are availed at a fee.
Those who complete their courses are awarded course certificates. The courses take 4 to 6 weeks and cost anywhere from $29 to $99. So long as you have a computer, you can apply for any of the courses provided today, and learn everything you need to know about the course online.
GD-Dash is a project-based online learning platform for HTML, CSS and Javascript. Here, students are given special assignments that they’ll be learning as they do. This works to ensure you’ll have acquired lots of hands-on experience by the end of it all.
Good place to start if you’re a beginner and happen to be looking for a platform that teaches you by doing rather than watching and reading.
All the courses provided therein are completely free.
The Odin project offers free courses that include html, CSS, GIT, Databases, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Javascript, and PHP to name a few.
The courses provided allow you to learn by both reading and doing. Meaning there will be a lot of hands-on projects for you to complete as you learn.
Also offered is an interactive forum of both beginning and experienced web developers who will be standing with you all through as you learn.
Code Conquest is designed to offer free coding tutorials on an array of programming languages, coupled with quizzes, and cheat sheets for testing what you’ve learned.
Even better, the platform offers reviews on different training resources and the various code-related dealings found online.
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Lynda
All courses at Lynda are free for the first month of subscription, followed by a monthly deduction of $9.99 from your linked credit card account or PayPal.
This subscription allows you to access the large number of courses provided on various subjects, of which web designing and coding happen to be part.
Also provided are courses on SEO, content development, web designing, English Language, and UX design to name a few.
It’s a Wrap
Learning how to code should be something every web owner is excited about. You need to understand how your website works and be able to make some changes or tweaks on your own without relying on the services of a web developer. For Singapore-based web owners, you can consult MediaOne for more clarification on some of these courses or help with your website.
