So you wanna learn how to program, eh? You have likely found yourself reading this article because there are a seemingly endless amount of ways to potentially begin. You could go to school and get a degree where you learning coding, you could pay for boot-camp courses online to blast your way to the basics, or you could even try your hand at teaching yourself coding through a multitude of free online resources.
Of course, we fancy ourselves leaning towards being able to effectively teach yourself programming for free, but how do you even get started? A great way to get started is to ask yourself the following question, “What problem are you trying to solve?” This has become a popular hypothetical to ask and is the premise of a very popular video that can be seen here. You will find it difficult to enter the broad world of coding if you aren’t entirely sure what you want to do with coding, to begin with. Think about what you want to do with coding, and that will help guide you in how exactly you should begin.
Of course, even once you decide why you want to code or what problem you want to solve, you still have to land on what language you want to start in. Just like how there are dozens of actual spoken languages you can choose from, so too are there dozens of different coding languages you can start in. And again, no to dodge the question, but the language you start in is going to be related to what specifically you are wanting to code. For example, if you want to write games for iOS, you will want to start in Swift. If you are looking for a bit of a general-purpose language, you may want to look at Python or Ruby.
Once you learn a programming language, you will find that it is much easier to pick up other languages (much like after having learned your second spoken language). On top of that, the more you become familiar with coding and what specifically you think you want to use coding for, you will find that you will develop preferences for specific languages.
However, if you are completely at a loss of where to start, Python or Ruby are generally languages that are somewhat forgiving for beginners to learn. They are also the languages that you are most likely to encounter when looking at free resources for learning a programming language.
Reddit has a bounty of different free resources that can help guide your path to learning a programming language for free! In fact, Reddit originally began as a site more specifically dedicated to programming and computer science way back in the day. Learning a programming language for the first time can be overwhelming, so be sure to bookmark the following subreddits. You will likely visit them often for help and encouragement:
However, aside from Reddit, there are lots of sites that offer to take you through the basics of learning a programming language, oftentimes mostly or completely free! Take a look at the following sites and see how they can help you!
CodeAcademy is an educational site that touts itself as “rethinking education from the bottom up.” Their focus is to teach coding to whoever has access to the site, as well as give them resources in being able to land a career with the skills learned through their courses. They offer a lot of personalized support to get started, including finding out what you want to do with coding and guiding you towards languages and skills that will help you accomplish that.
They offer a large catalog of coding languages you can choose from, including popular languages like HTML & CSS, Python, Javascript, C++, and many more. Their courses include not only learning the basics of the languages but also projects for practical application (like building a tip calculator). They even have courses that take you through a mock-interview process.
Their pay structure is pretty straightforward. They offer a huge portion of their content for free (though they do have members-only sections). Their premium subscription for individuals is $20 a month and includes unlimited access to mobile development, real-world projects, as well as assistance from real people should you find yourself getting stumped. If you want a subscription for a team of people, they offer a bundle package with custom quotes.
FreeCodeCamp is a non-profit organization that is focused on helping users learn to code and earn professional certifications. They cover a large swathe of programming languages, but not as many as you may find on other similar sites. However, you will still come across some of the more widely used languages, including Python, HTML, and CSS.
The site is a bit convoluted to navigate. If you are wanting to start with Python, and you start with “Python Tutorials,” it brings up a page with a huge amount of information. This includes the history of Python, developments of Python, what it is generally used for, what coding in Python looks like, and another list of tutorials. However, which tutorials specifically geared towards beginners can be a bit overwhelming to actually come across.
Nothing on the site is blocked by a paywall, which is fantastic. This is especially true of some of the certifications they offer (and if you know you want a certification offered but are a complete newbie, they do have easy access to a beginner’s tutorial within the beginning of the certification). Overall, the site definitely seems geared more towards those with some coding under their belt already as opposed to those who are brand new looking to start.
EDX.org is another non-profit organization that is focused on helping people to learn how to code. However, EDX.org has impressive credentials. They were founded Harvard and MIT and still allow themselves to be governed by universities. In fact, they boast that they are the “only leading MOOC provider that is both non-profit and open-source.”
EDX.org offers all different kinds of courses, not just courses geared towards computer science or coding. Some of their courses are self-paced, but many are actual classes you enroll in. However, even being in an actual class, many of these courses are completely free. They also offer professional certifications, but those vary in price and are usually at least $100.
If you are looking to get a professional certification or to see if a full-blown degree might be right for you, EDX.org is a great place to start.
Having recently been changed to LinkedIn Learning, this site is another “teach-all” solution, offering courses beyond coding. In the coding realm, they offer a solid library of introductory courses, including a beginner’s introduction to Python, Java, web-based languages, and more. Seeing what specific languages they supported was a bit of a chore, as the only way to see it was a messy side-menu bar.
The site does a good job of organizing information in terms of the overall goal of what you want. For example, if you want to be a front-end developer, they have a specific learning path with courses curated specifically for that goal. If you have a specific career in mind but don’t know where to start, their learning paths organization might be a good start.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any free content available. They do offer a free-month with unlimited access to all courses, which is a great way to get a feel of whether or not the site will fit you. However, once the free trial is completed, you’ll be paying at least $19.99 a month, but that’s if you bill annually. Otherwise, you’re looking at $29.99 on a month by month basis. However, depending on what college or public library you have access to, you may be able to use Lynda for free! Take a look at your local public library (or your university) and see if they offer access to Lynda.com.
This site focuses primarily on coding and offers three paths to learning your new skills. First, if you are “interested in learning in-demand skills,” they offer a subscription service for self-paced learning. The basic package offers standard on-demand instructor-led courses that are going to look and feel very similar to what other sites offer. Its basic subscription is $25 a month.
From there, you can choose their pro package, which offers access to more content and the option to download courses so you can learn without having access to the internet (quite the perk for many). The pro subscription is $49 a month.
Finally, they offer a “Techdegree.” This is going to feel more like an online college class. You have access to all content on the site, as well as curriculum that is geared towards specific learning goals in what you are trying to achieve. You have projects and personalized feedback on what you are instructed to code. Though the course is mostly self-led, you may still have to log in at specific times for real-time instruction. This runs at $199 per month.
Udemy is a well-known site that offers a huge selection of individually made courses to choose from. Though they do not focus specifically on coding, you will almost certainly find a course in the specific language you are looking for. Content creators make courses and upload them to the site, and then you buy the specific course you are looking for. These courses are video-instructed and self-led. Courses purchased through Udemy grant you lifetime access to the material, so you can repeat courses as needed to brush up your skills.
Though there is a seemingly endless amount of content on Udemy, there is no free content available. However, the cost per course is fairly reasonable, and courses regularly go on sale. It is not uncommon to find exhaustive courses about your preferred coding language for around $10, though prices can vary depending on the specific topic and instructor. Of course, the quality of courses can vary as well, which is something buyers should be focused on when looking at potential courses.
For our final site, we are going to take a look at Khan Academy. Like a few other sites on our list, Khan Academy is a non-profit organization focused on helping bridge that gap in learning for disadvantaged students. All content on their site is free not only for students but also for teachers using the site as a teaching resource. Though Khan Academy is not specifically a coding site, it does offer a thorough course in learning to code.
Unfortunately, the coding course is pretty limited in the languages it teaches. You really will only be able to touch on Javascript, HTML, CSS, and SQL for databases. The course is divided into what you can practically do with it, so you will find sections for making games, making web pages, drawing with coding, and several others.
Regardless of what platform you end up starting your coding journey, there seem to be a few consistent pieces of advice we found in the Reddit comments across the different platforms. Keep in mind these few distilled bits of wisdom when you are learning to code for the first time!
Remember to frequent the subreddits we mentioned for further inspiration and advice. Peer support goes a long way in helping you stay encouraged and honing new skills. Good luck!
