Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates might seem resolutely old fashioned, but they are high-spirited programmers. Reportedly, Mark Zuckerberg is a college drop out. However, he went on to create and build arguably the best social networking site Facebook. When every kid of his age was busy playing some games, rumor has that Bill Gates was catapulted into programming fray, called upon by his conscience to code games. Today, he is one of the smartest living legends who have seldom failed to hit the top gear of richest billionaires.
Yes, programming is fun and programmers are the real charmers of the internet. Every internet application, right from Email to Microsoft Word Document, is programmed. As a matter of fact, even the computer is programmed. Anybody with decent programming skills can build spirited and lively applications. Again, you need not move any mountains to learn programming. You just have to summon the much required patience and practice consistently to learn programming in 90 days.
The following 10 websites will lend you some impetus and will certainly fine-tune your programming skills:
Codeacademy
Many budding programming enthusiasts aren’t sure of what to learn and how to begin with programming. Codeacademy is a place to learn fundamentals and experiment with new languages. You are not required to download and install any software. You can write your code in a browser-enabled editor. The good part about this website is that it has very good interactive tutorials. If you are looking to master the nuances of web development,
Codeacademy is perhaps the best site. Apart from web development, you can learn the following technologies / languages:
– HTML 5, CSS, PHP and Python
– Structured Query Language
– JQuery
– Ruby on Rails
– AngularJS
– Node JS
– Java Script
Visit Codeacademy now and join its 25+ million users.
edX.org
To be the best, you have to learn from the best. edX.org is an educational marketplace where a plenty of computer science courses are listed. All the courses are free but to get a verified certificate, you have to pay $50 and sometimes more. Certificates are valued by many corporates and hence, it is common to witness thousands of students enrolling in certification programs. If you are eager to up the ante and enhance your programming prowess, you should try its “Micro Masters” program which encompasses a series of graduate level courses. This will be a valuable value addition to your CV and brain pockets.
Visit edX.org now.
Udacity
Udacity has the audacity to believe in the gospel that education is always a lifelong experience. It believes that education today is all fragmented and it aims at aggregating all the fragments through its loads of amazing and informative video content on Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. People often get bitten by laziness bug and soon lose enthusiasm only to repent at later stages. Udacity is simply exemplary by all standards. Its tutorials are interactive and full of quizzes. This removes boredom. Most of its videos are not lengthy. They are short, sweet and simple. Udacity also offers a downloadable certificate if you complete every milestone of the course- quizzes, tests and puzzles. I personally found the following courses delightful:
– Artificial Intelligence
– HTML 5
– Python
– Web Development
– Algorithms
– Java
Visit Udacity now.
Coursera
If you are looking for tons of assignments and extremely tight schedules, Coursera is the right platform. We often see our peers holding Coursera courses to a higher standard than most other courses on other platforms. You cannot start off instantly. You have to enroll well in advance to get access to the courses. The best part about Coursera is that it partners with as many as 138 universities and organizations. While the courses are free, you are required to pay anywhere between $30 and $100 to get a certificate in a particular program / course. This online educational marketplace offers an array of 1700+ courses.
Head on to Coursera now.
Code Conquest
Programming is a field where many budding programmers face an early exodus due to the absence of helping hands. Code Conquest helps you conquer your programming hassles by lending a helping hand. If you are eager to level up your programming skills, you should definitely try it. Its knowledge center is really cool. You can learn how to develop a website and how to start a business with your own website. Learn more Code Conquest by heading on to it.
MIT Open Courseware
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Courseware programs resonate well with the huge community of students. Its courses are certainly effective and all its volumes of study materials can be accessed anytime and anywhere. To complete its under graduate and graduate programs, you should have tremendous patience as the courses are profoundly informative. While all the courses are self-administered, discipline is a pre-requisite without which you cannot complete assignments and home works.
Visit MIT Open Courseware now.
The Code Player
A good programmer is not that programmer who stays in the spotlight. A good programmer is that programmer who knows how to write optimized code. That block of code which has least execution time, utilizes the least amount of CPU space and resources is perhaps the best block of code. Optimized code is divine and The Code Player keeps us posted about the best optimized codes programmed from scratch by some experts. This educational website has great presentations to keep you riveted. The good part about this website is that you get exposed to real case studies. Go through the detailed descriptions provided beneath each and every video to get your foundations strong.
Visit The Code Player now.
Team Treehouse
Team Treehouse is known for its cutting edge courses on web design, web development, and iOS development. It resembles Udacity in many ways. Its services are freemium. To be precise, once the students complete the first stage of a course, they will be invited to pay a monthly subscription fee of $25 USD. This is perfectly affordable as this educational marketplace provides access to over 650 videos and Treehouse membership forums. There is also a provision to engage in freewheeling conversations with industry experts, professional programmers and seasoned veterans. Moreover, stalwarts of Computer Science will organize best of the class workshops. For this, students have to pay a monthly subscription fee of $49 USD.
Head on to Team Treehouse now.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a true trailblazer. It started a revolution in the field of online education and continues to be a firebrand leader. Its programming courses are not structured and lack detail. However, its courses on programming basics are worth your precious time. If you want to stay on the right course, it is recommended to get yourself enrolled in its course- Approach to Coding. Once you master the right approach to coding, you can start applying the correct approach to every programming language. By the way, I developed a small game in Java Script, all thanks to Khan Academy.
Visit Khan Academy now.
Ruby Monk
Amid the barrage of new languages and technologies, Ruby seems to be the most sought after programming language. No doubt, PHP continues to be the king of the web. However, one common trend which cannot be ignored is that many offices are switching from PHP to Ruby. Ruby is used to build TCP servers. It gives you liberty to build long lasting desktop applications. Ruby Monk focuses only on Ruby and helps you master its frameworks. The best part of this website is that the creator of Ruby – Yukihiro Matsumoto will teach you Ruby. How cool can this ever get?
Visit Ruby Monk now.
If you get the measure of programming skills, coding is all fun and exciting. It just takes 24 hours of time to learn the fundamentals of any new programming language. But to display a flair for developing feature rich applications, a lot of practice is required. Compliment the above mentioned resources with a few programming books and embark on a breakthrough journey of building amazing apps and software.
If you have any concerns, doubts or issues, do not get un-nerved for we can help you overcome them. Feel free to drop a line or two by letting us know your thoughts about programming. Subscribe to our newsletter and keep watching this space for technical stuff and life hacks. Our best wishes are with you and your endeavors. On a lighter note, here is what Bill Gates said about programming progress, “Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight”.
Keep coding. Cheers!
Author: Raghavendra Pokuri
Raghavendra Pokuri is a passionate content marketer. He previously worked as a Content Developer for a couple of startups. His interests include Behavioural Economics, E-commerce, and Blogging. When he is not pursuing his interests, he is busy cooking. He has expertise and experience in Digital Marketing. He can be reached on LinkedIn