3 Sites to Help You Boost Learning to Code For Free

There is a plethora of information on the internet for learning to code for free!

So the short answer is “Yes. you can learn to code for free“!

But if you’ve been around free any amount of time you know that FREE does have its costs or in other words, “You get what you pay for “. 

As previously stated there are A LOT of FREE ways to learn how to code, but for beginners access to ALL of this information can get very overwhelming.  

Here are 3 things to look when learning to code for free:

Structure

This helps to keep you on track and also track your process.

Help

Whether you’re a beginner or veteran we all come against problems or code where we need extra help.  This is especially true for newbies, so it’s important that whatever program you choose free or paid offers help.

Project-Based

This is something I wished I prioritized when looking into coding programs. It’s important that you are able to track your process and also apply what you’ve learned. That’s why completing real-life projects is important, even when taking free courses. 

Now that you know what to look for in a free course, here are some of the more popular sites and a little about my personal experience: 

freeCodeCamp.org

If you’re interested in coding, then you’ve probably heard of freeCodeCamp.  In this program, you work through different projects, step-by-step and you can earn certifications in:

• Responsive Web Design
• JavaScript
• Algorithms and Data Structures
• Front and Development Libraries
• Data Visualization
• And 8 more topics

My Experience

I’ve only used freeCodeCamp in bits and pieces related to my Bootcamp. There are links to articles or explanations on freeCodeCamp to help us better understand one of the topics. And to be honest, in many cases, I would leave even more confused. 

The information is great, but the layout of the problems just didn’t click with me, especially when I got stuck.

The “Get Help” Options include:

Get a Hint

This takes you to a new tab where there is a written explanation and related answer

Watch a video

Obviously takes you to a video exploration of the concept. A couple of the videos I saw were Scrimba videos, which is one of the sites I recommend for new coders.

Ask for Help

This option allows you to post a question on the freeCodeCamp forum. It’s like a new coder version of SlackOverFlow

Projects

As you get further along in the class, you will start to complete projects. In order to get a certificate, you have to complete a certain number of projects.

Many of the projects will be completed using CodePen.io and will include an element that will check to see if you have met the requirements of the projects. 

I really liked having the ability to check my progress throughout the course, especially during the final projects.

W3 Schools

This website and program have come a long way. I remember consulting W3 schools when my interest in coding first started years ago.

Nowadays it is much more robust and even offers Pro exclusive courses. However, there is still plenty of free tutorials covering various coding topics.

Each tutorial will list out all of the topics that will be covered and keep track of your progress (make sure to sign up for a free account).

There are also quizzes and extra exercises, but no formal projects.

My Experience – Use As A Reference

W3 School is really great as a reference site. My BootCamp and other courses often have links to various references on W3 schools.

YouTube

Of course, I had to include YouTube. It’s a great place to go and learn about anything, even

coding.

The problem you may have is not knowing where to start. 

Like the internet, YouTube has a lot of information and lots of options. Fortunately, you can also filter out what it is you are actually looking for.

My Experience

My recommendation is to decide on your end goal and work backward to determine where you should begin.

For example, I knew I wanted to learn Web Development. Then I learned there is back-end and front-end development and decided I liked the front-end.

So I did some research on front-end development and discovered that learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript is where I should start. 

It took me watching lots of videos to finally find something that fit my learning style. My favorite place to start was the FreeCode Camp YouTube channel. 

I was able to filter down to specific HTML, CSS, and JavaScript videos.

Considerations 

You can most definitely learn to code for Free.

But I highly recommend having an end goal and applying what you learn to real-life projects as soon as possible. 

In other words, Don’t Get stuck In Tutorial Hell. 

This is especially easy to do on YouTube. There are tons of tutorials to follow, but it’s important that you apply what you’ve learned away from the tutorials and on your own.

For example, if you’re learning front-end web development, build websites!

Start with simple HTML/CSS static sites and add on the more you learn. 

Conclusion

I hope I answered you’re original question. 

Yes, you can learn to code for free! 

I also gave you 3 popular and useful places to start your coding journey.

If you want more structured learning, check out the post on My Recommended Sites for Coding Practice.