Resources for beginner developers
26 June 2020
Important disclaimer:
- The list is not definitive. You can help by expanding it!
Getting down to business
If you don't know anything about programming and/or web development I recommend you take a look at any of the three resources listed below. They were created with beginners in mind and will set you up for the upcoming journey of becoming a developer. I really recommend to check out the rest of this list too - it's full of great stuff!
🔥 Colt's Code Camp 🔥 Free Code Camp 🔥 Javascript30 🔥
Blogs
There are a lot of creators out there and some of them particularly focus on beginners. I regret this list is so short!
| link | description |
|---|---|
| BaseCS | "Exploring the basics of computer science, every Monday, for a year." |
| https://dev.to/top/infinity | Just read some of the most popular blog posts listed here and you're golden! |
| https://randallkanna.com/blog/ | A bunch of posts from the author of "The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started As A Software Engineer" |
| https://www.giftegwuenu.com/ | Great articles and a lot of videos on many aspects of programming |
| We learn code | "Ali’s friendly guides to your biggest coding questions." |
Blog posts
Every now and then I stumble upon a post which resonates with my inner programmer. I hope you also will find them interesting.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Am I a real software engineer yet | Interesting take on what people think about web developers and why should you care |
| Deep work | "How to master the #1 job skill that will never be obsolete" |
| Why learning code is so damn hard | "What every beginner absolutely needs to know about the journey ahead" |
| Yes, You Should Learn Vanilla JavaScript Before Fancy JS Frameworks | There's no argument it that. Read it to learn why |
Books
The problem with books is while they get written, edited, printed, and optionally translated, the javascript world moves forward and they quickly stop being relevant. But if books work for you and you enjoy the smell of that freshly downloaded pdf then here's a shortlist of books you might find useful.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Eloquent Javascript | Probably the first book a beginner should read |
| You Don't Know JS Yet | Definetely the second book (series) a beginner should read because it gets very technical very quickly |
| The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started As A Software Engineer | "This guide will help you get started coding with low risk to your financial future and time." |
Online courses
I like to have a plan for what should I learn. A step-by-step guide. Someone who will say Welcome back! when I log in. Online courses have it all (the 'welcome back' part depends on the goodwill of the presenter though).
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Data Structures and Algorithms in JavaScript | "This course teaches you how to implement your first data structures and algorithms." |
| Getting Started with JavaScript | "Want to learn to code using JavaScript? This is a great place to start!" from the one and only Kyle Simpson |
| Harvard CS50 | "An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming." |
| Javascript30 | "Build 30 things in 30 days with 30 tutorials. No Frameworks. No Compilers. No Libraries. No Boilerplate" |
Gamification
Some aspects of programming can be taught by games which makes learning fun and, hopefully, quicker.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Code Combat | Students master core coding concepts such as while/for loops, functions, and algorithms all while playing a game. Unfortunately only part of it is free |
| CSS Diner | "It's a fun game to learn and practice CSS selectors." |
| CSS Grid Garden | "Write CSS code to grow your carrot garden" |
| Flexbox Froggy | "A game where you help Froggy and friends by writing CSS code" |
| Learn Git Branching | "The most visual and interactive way to learn Git on the web" |
| Mastery games | "Mastery through Deliberate Practice. Escape from tutorial hell" |
| Typing Club | The most effective way to learn how to type. Oh, you already know how to type? But do you use all 10 fingers while you type? That's what I thought! |
| Warrior.js | "Code your way through dungeons, prove your skills, and get hired." |
Git
You will need git. Probably sooner than later so it's a good idea to grasp the basics.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Git and Github in Plain English | "This blog post aims to explain the “theory” behind version control (Git and Github) in plain English (...) No code. Nothing to download. No muss. No fuss." |
| Git Command Explorer | "Find the right commands you need without digging through the web." |
| Git Immersion | "A guided tour that walks through the fundamentals of Git, inspired by the premise that to know a thing is to do it." |
| Globalna konfiguracja Gita | How to make global .gitignore (it's in polish) |
| How to not f- up your local files with Git | Some good tips on how to use git with a team and not fudge up your files |
| Oh Shit, Git!?! | "Git is hard: screwing up is easy, and figuring out how to fix your mistakes is fucking impossible (...) So here are some bad situations I've gotten myself into, and how I eventually got myself out of them in plain english." |
| Understanding the GitHub flow | "GitHub flow is a lightweight, branch-based workflow that supports teams and projects where deployments are made regularly. This guide explains how and why GitHub flow works." |
Career
Interviewing is hard. Passing an interview is even harder. Increase your chances of landing a dream job by consuming the below material.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Ace the coding interview, every time | "A practical blueprint, refined with the help of experienced Engineers, that will help you succeed in a code-intensive technical interview" |
| Career tips | Career tips for Software Engineers and Recruiters |
| Decoding the Front-end Interview Process | "Let’s take a look at the front-end development interview process and learn some tips to have successful interviews." |
| Get that job at Facebook | Pretty old post from a Facebook engineer and interviewer |
| Get that job at Google | Even older post about interviewing for Google |
| How to fail a programming interview | A list of most common mistakes a candidate can make |
| How to write a killer Software Engineering résumé | "An in-depth analysis of the résumé that got me interviews at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and more." |
| The 30 Most Important Interview Questions to Ask This Summer | A candidate can also ask questions! |
| The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing | Interesting take on interviewing from the interviewer point of view |
| Watch technical mock interviews | "Watch technical mock interviews with engineers from Google, Amazon, and more" |
Knowledge base (or brain dump)
Sometimes I need a solid source of knowledge. Reliable, up-to-date, and easy to understand. So far I found these to be of that kind.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| 30 seconds of code | "Browse 898 short code snippets for all your development needs on 30 seconds of code." |
| 30 seconds of interviews | "A curated collection of common web development interview questions to help you prepare for your next interview." |
| 33 Concepts Every JavaScript Developer Should Know | "This repository was created with the intention of helping developers master their concepts in JavaScript. It is not a requirement, but a guide for future studies. " |
| 50+ Data Structure and Algorithms Interview Questions for Programmers | "In this article, I’ll share some frequently asked programming interview questions from different interviews for programmers at different levels of experience" |
| BlockScoped | "Random coding questions by topic and difficulty" |
| Developer Roadmaps | "Step by step guides and paths to learn different tools or technologies" |
| Front End Interview Handbook | "Almost complete answers to "Front-end Job Interview Questions" which you can use to interview potential candidates, test yourself or completely ignore" |
| Refactoring Guru | "Refactoring is a controllable process of improving code without creating new functionality. Design Patterns are typical solutions to the commonly occurring problems in software design." |
| SourceMaking | "Design Patterns and Refactoring articles and guides. Design Patterns video tutorials for newbies. Simple descriptions and full source code examples in Java, C++, C#, PHP and Delphi." |
| VS Code can do that?! | All the best things about Visual Studio Code that nobody ever bothered to tell you |
Javascript
Also a lot of knowledge, this time purely about JavaScript
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Guide for the daily JavaScripter | "This document is a summary of good programming practices in js in general." |
| JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures | "This repository contains JavaScript based examples of many popular algorithms and data structures." |
| JavaScript The Right Way | "A quick reference to best practices for writing JavaScript -- links to code patterns and tutorials from around the web" |
| JavaScript Questions | "From basic to advanced: test how well you know JavaScript, refresh your knowledge a bit, or prepare for your coding interview!" |
| JavaScript Visualized | First part of a great series on javascript fundamentals |
| The JavaScript Beginner's Handbook | The title is self-explanatory |
| The Modern JavaScript Tutorial | "How it's done now. From the basics to advanced topics with simple, but detailed explanations." |
| What the f*ck JavaScript? | "A list of funny and tricky JavaScript examples" |
Online editors of things
Need to quickly put together some code? Not enough time to set up your favorite environment? The below websites come to rescue!
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Code Sandbox | "An instant IDE and prototyping tool for rapid web development" |
| Carbon | "Create and share beautiful images of your source code." |
| regex101 | "Free PCRE-based regular expression debugger with real time explanation, error detection and highlighting" |
Learning platforms
It's all there.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Free Code Camp | "You'll learn to code by completing coding challenges and building projects. You'll also earn verified certifications along the way." |
| The Odin Project | "Provides a free open source coding curriculum that can be taken entirely online." |
Podcasts
There are plenty of podcasts. I'm subscribed to, like, thirty but I regularly listen to one or two. Here are the ones which might be of use for beginner developers.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| CodeNewbie | "The most supportive community of programmers and people learning to code |
| Ladybug Podcast | "We’re debugging the tech industry." |
| Syntax | "A Tasty Treats Podcast for Web Developers." |
Whiteboard challenges
If you're thinking of becoming a professional developer then sooner or later you're going to encounter coding challenges during an interview. Why not prepare for that in advance?
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Code Wars | "Achieve code mastery through challenge" |
| Leet Code | "LeetCode is the best platform to help you enhance your skills, expand your knowledge, and prepare for technical interviews." |
Other aggregators of tasty links
This is not the only list. In fact, there's plenty of them. Below you will find the most useful ones. At least in my opinion.
| link | description |
|---|---|
| Design Resources For Developers | Curated list of design and UI resources from stock photos, web templates, CSS frameworks, UI libraries, tools and much more |
| Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free | "Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free" |
| How to Hack Together Your Own CS Degree Online for Free | A list of resources related to computer science like algorithms, operating systems, maths, etc. |
| Learn Vanilla JavaScript | Open source list of paid & free resources to learn vanilla JavaScript |
YouTube channels
I wish I had the time to watch all of the videos my subscription feed is throwing at me.
Academind \ Coding Blonde \ Colt Steele \ Fireship \ mayuko \ The Net Ninja \ Traversy Media
Twitter people to follow
Twitter is a gold mine when it comes to talking about tech. Here's a list so you won't have to dig through hordes of people. Sorry if you're on Twitter and you're not on the list.
@_marcba \ @cassidoo \ @DThompsonDev \ @EmmaBostian \ @flaviocopes \ @kentcdodds \ @kvlly \ @Madisonkanna \ @ossia \ @sarah_edo \ @techgirl1908 \ @tlakomy \ @WellPaidGeek