Software is all around us. It’s hard to find anything in the modern world that doesn’t run on code, from cell phones to sneakers. The invisible world of programs is all around us, and once you learn how to tap into it, you can accomplish a lot.
Even if you don’t want to pursue a computer science career, learning how to code has numerous real-world applications. Much like learning a foreign language, learning programming opens up new neural pathways to encourage creative thinking and can improve general problem-solving skills as well. There’s never been a better time to learn.
So what’s stopping you? The world of programming is more accessible than ever before, with tons of tutorials and platforms available for people at all levels of skill. In this feature, we’ll spotlight nine affordable resources (and one pricier option) to build skills.
1. Codecademy
The absolutely free Codecademy is an excellent place to start for low-level tutorials in eight of the Web’s most popular languages. From basic HTML and CSS to Python, Ruby, and PHP, it’s a robust service with a wide selection of tutorials and lessons. As is common for online learning, the process is very gamified, with badges to earn and high score leaderboards. The platform has a number of really interesting features, including the ability to create groups to learn and collaborate in, as well as the ability for more advanced students to publish their own lessons. For more, check out PCMag’s review .
2. Treehouse
You have to pay for the offerings at Treehouse ($25 Per Month at Treehouse) , but if you need a rapid immersion into the world of coding that will prepare you for the job market, then $25 a month is well worth paying. Treehouse’s curriculum is centered around real-world computing needs, so you’ll find less theoretical discussion and design patterns and more basic usability and functionality. Over 1,000 instructional videos are hosted on the site, all created in-house in accordance with their well-articulated teaching philosophy. Lessons are project-based and many revolve around developing sites and services for hypothetical businesses. For more, check out PCMag’s review .
3. Free Code Camp
4. Crunchzilla
5. Dash
6. CodeHS
7. CodeCombat
8. Khan Academy
One of the leaders in the online educations pace, Khan Academy isn’t solely programming-focused, but its offerings are very solid—and free! They focus on Javascript, a powerful language that’s used all over the Web for a wide variety of interactivity. Courses are structured as a series of video walkthroughs that introduce the essential concepts, followed by online challenges to ensure that you’ve got them down. Those are followed by “projects,” where you use your new skills to create programs that are then evaluated by other Khan Academy students and coaches. It’s an intuitive setup that’s easy to drop in and out of. For more, check out PCMag’s review.
9. Code School
At $29 per month, Code School gives you unlimited access to all of their tutorials and exercises. Unlike many of the other platforms in this feature, these are intended for more of a specialist audience that has already mastered the basics of programming. Code School’s offerings cover a wide variety of languages, from Web basics like HTML/CSS to Ruby and even iOS development. Code School is notable for its very high production values and integrated narratives, which make the programs seem like cohesive units as opposed to just sets of exercises. The presenters also get high marks from students for clarity and personality.
10. Udemy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xK5zRXIFLo
On a course-by-course basis, Udemy is probably the most expensive resource on this list. It offers a massive and varied catalog of self-paced online courses, many of which are free ($0.00 at Udemy) . But a number of those courses are so short they are effectively tutorials, and free courses constantly seek to upsell users to paid offerings. Still, if you have a specific need beyond entry-level coding, it’s a good investment. Udemy lacks a lot of the bells and whistles that other programming courses boast—there’s nothing in the way of gamification, you can’t work with other students, and the presentation is fairly bare-bones. However, what you do get from the best Udemy courses is specialization. For example, popular 3D game engine Unity is heavily supported on Udemy, with very detailed tutorials and lessons for getting projects up and running with solid attention to best practices. The fee structure is per course, but there are definitely coupons and special offers floating around that can offset that cost.
For more, check out PCMag’s review.
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