Web development has become one of the most demanding skills in modern economies, and many people are now transitioning into tech. But, unfortunately, starting your web development journey can be difficult and frustrating if you don’t pick the right learning resources. This is because web development requires mastery of complex languages, tools, and frameworks to create beautiful applications and websites for users.

The above shouldn’t scare you if tech is something you did like to do. Infact, I will encourage you to give it a go and push through your passion. It is something you can do. Therefore, in this article, I will share with you free online resources that can solidify your experience and jump you from a beginner to an expert software developer.

FreeCodeCamp

FreeCodeCamp is a non-profit organization that provides an online interactive learning platform for web development. Their course is structured so that it is easy for a non-technical person to learn front-end web development technologies and languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Their course is also excellent in learning backends development technologies such as Angular, Node.js, and Git. This can even make you become a full-stack web developer.

One of the things I like about freeCodeCamp is that it will teach you most of the things you need to know through an interactive learning and project-based approach. You get to work on projects while learning simultaneously, which is great. They also have a dedicated supporting team.

W3School

This online school for developers covers almost all aspects of web development. The website has massive tutorials and references on web development languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, JQuery and other web programming languages. The site derives its name from the World Wide Web (W3), but is not affiliated with the W3C.

I especially like that W3School focuses on simple and straightforward learning patterns. It uses simple code explanations and provides an online code editor that illustrates how to use the codes by trying it yourself. It is suitable for learning from a beginner level and quickly testing forgotten codes.

The Odin Project

I have personally not used this website before, but I have read great recommendations about it over the years. This made me do a quick scan of their website and have a quick look at how things work.

The Odin Project is a website that empowers aspiring web developers to learn together for free. It is an open-source curriculum for learning full-stack web development. With this website, you can easily learn various technologies and web programming languages that you need with an interactive community.

Udacity

Udacity is a for-profit learning organization that offers massive open online courses. It was founded by Thrun, David Stevens, and Mike Sokolsky. According to the founders, the name Udacity was coined from the desire of the company to be audacious to students. The website offers free and paid courses. Students get to build their knowledge and skills in various topics such as programming, data science, product design, software development and product management.

One thing I like about Udacity is that they have excellent tutors with high-quality videos explaining each concept in clear terms. In addition, lesson materials are developed by industry experts from big-name tech companies. Their Nanodegree programs can be a bit expensive but far cheaper than traditional learning methods like University. The Nanodegrees programs are project-based video courses (graded by real humans) that will take you from a beginner to a job-ready software developer.

Tech YouTube Videos

This list shouldn’t come up as a surprise. Youtube is now one of the most popular online video learning websites in the world today. Many great channels will teach you all the skills you need to be a software developer, from a beginner to an expert level. Some of these videos are handled by experts and veteran programmers who are good at their work.

A software developer should closely follow popular Youtube channels like Traversy Media. You can find crash courses and detailed web development programs with various programming languages on his channels. In addition, channels such as DevTips, The Net Ninja, Wes Bos, Mosh, CSS-tricks, and Web Dev Simplified are all other great recommendations that you won’t regret.

Codecademy

Codecademy is a free online learning resource that teaches web development by learning and doing. This is a good place to begin your programming journey if you’re unsure where to start. You can take their quiz and determine which path you’re more passionate about.

Besides having a wide range of programming languages and topics to learn from, Codecademy also offers a good career path that will give a structured and wonderful learning experience. They also have tons of articles and videos about web development that will keep you updated. No set-up process is required, and it is completely free.

Learning by playing code-based games

This is another great alternative to consider. This will strengthen your coding skills and prevent you from tutorial hell. Most popular web development programming languages have websites or applications where you can code by playing games, enabling you to get better at coding tasks and significantly improve your understanding of the specific language.

For instance, if you’re learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you should consider playing games such as Code Wars, Flexbox Froggy, CSS Diner, Flexbox Defense, Memory Game, Breakout, and Space Invaders. These games would teach you how to code, and you should try them.

Thank you for reading my article and sticking to the end of it. I would like to hear if you have any great additional resources in the comment section.