Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.

The freeCodeCamp podcast is the official podcast of the freeCodeCamp open source community where people learn to code with free online courses, programming projects, and interview preparation for developer jobs. 

With 25 episodes so far since launching November 2017, you can subscribe to their podcast via iTunes, Google Play, RSS, or listen directly on their podcast website. New episodes are released ever Monday. Their most popular one to date challenges the myth that you may be too old to learn how to code as 56 year old VM Vaughn's shares his epic beat-down of his critical inner self and lays out his path towards an exciting second career as a developer.

The Learn to Code With Me podcast, created by Laurence Bradford, is for aspiring techies and self-taught coders looking to transition into the tech industry. The podcast was created to help others on their coding journey. Unlike many other podcasts, the Learn to Code With Me podcast follows a seasons format, similar to TV shows, where each season has a theme and a break in between seasons.

With four seasons so far, each episode follows an interview-based format and runs between 25-35 minutes in length. New episodes are released every Tuesday at 7:00 AM Eastern Time. You can listen to the podcast across several platforms like iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, or directly on her website. Check out the most popular episode so far which is about when to start monetizing your coding skills:

The official Vue.js News Podcast, produced by Gregg Pollack and Adam Jahr of Vue Mastery, covers the latest news and tutorials in the Vue.js community in just 5 minutes, with the goal of making you a more successful developer. Each podcast episode is released every Tuesday and is based on the official Vue Newsletter.

If you’re a Vue developer or even thinking about learning Vue.js, consider subscribing to the podcast via iTunes, Android, Stitcher, or RSS Feed. Check out their most popular episode so far where they discuss the future of Vue.js and more!

The JavaScript Jabber podcast, produced by Devchat.tv, is a weekly discussion about JavaScript on the frontend and backend. The show also discusses programming practices, coding environments, and the communities related to the technology.

With 308 published episodes, you can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. Listen to their most popular episode so far where they discuss D3.js with Ben Clinkinbeard.

The Shop Talk Show is a podcast about front end web design, development and UX. Each week Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert are joined by a special guest to talk shop and answer listener submitted questions. With 306 published episodes, you can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. Their most popular one so far is their discussion about learning CSS.

The Software Engineering Daily podcast features daily interviews about technical software topics. After every episode, you should feel like you are 1% better at understanding how software works. With over 100 episodes, you can subscribe to their podcast via RSS, iTunes, Android, and Stitcher.

Their most popular episode so far is their interview with Erik St. Martin as they discuss the programming language Go, the use of Kubernetes, and organizing Gophercon, a popular conference for Go programmers.

On The Changelog podcast, hosts Adam Stacoviak and Jerod Santo face their imposter syndrome so you don’t have to. They do in-depth interviews with the best and brightest software engineers, hackers, leaders, and innovators of open source.

This is a polyglot podcast. All programming languages, platforms, and communities are discussed. Since open source moves fast, keep up by listening to The Changelog. 

With 292 episodes, you can subscribe via iTunes, Overcast, Android, Stitcher, and RSS. Their most popular episode so far is with their guest Philipp Krenn to talk about Elasticsearch, the problem it solves, where it came from, and where it's at today.

The Front End Happy Hour podcast features panelists of engineers from Netflix, Evernote & LinkedIn talking over drinks about all things Front End development. New episodes are released every other Sunday.

With 54 episodes published, you can subscribe to their podcast via iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Their most popular episode so far is about the state of web development and their opinions of certain frontend tools.

Hosted by Jen Simmons, The Web Ahead podcast is your shortcut to keeping up as they have conversations with world experts on changing technologies and future of the web. With 117 episodes and 3.1 million downloads, you can subscribe to their podcast in several ways, including iTunes, PocketCasts, Stitcher, and RSS.

New episodes are released once or twice a month. Listen to their most popular episode where their guest, Eva Ferreira, discusses how to transform web pages into any shape you want with CSS:

The Start Here Web Development Podcast is hosted by Dain Miller where he shares his industry experience, insight, and resources to help get you from knowing nothing to becoming a full-time web developer. With 46 episodes released, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS Feed. Their most popular one so far is about how to build a career in web development.

The La Vie en Code podcast, created by Nicole Archambault, is for self-taught web development students, with a spotlight on underrepresented groups. The podcast features weekly solo and guest discussions surrounding issues facing self-taught web developers, learning how to learn, educational technology, and much more.

Each episode is released every Tuesday at 9am EST and is now available on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, and Stitcher! Check out the most popular episode so far where Nicole shares her own journey of becoming a self-taught web developer:

The ultimate podcast directory for software developers, the Programming Podcasts features the best podcasts about software development and topics like web development, devops, design, startups and more.

With over 32,914 hours of content in 28,621 episodes from 219 podcasts, you can always find something new to learn or a new podcast to discover. 

If you’re not sure what to listen to or you’re looking for something specific, you can browse their 13 technical categories or choose from their 21 technical topics. Their directory also accepts podcast submissions.

Looking to grow your digital agency? Check out Agency Highway which helps agencies who want to grow, earn more and work less. On the podcast, you'll Find the best tools, courses, and resources to grow an amazing digital agency. For example, they offer a list of the best podcasts for creative and digital agencies. 

Subscribe to Invent With Code & be the first to know when our first podcast episode goes live!

You’ve read about the different podcasts out there to learn web development.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know which podcast you're going to check out first.

Are you currently a subscriber to one of these podcasts on this list?

If so, which one?

Which podcast would you recommend to fellow developers?

Either way, leave a quick comment below right now.

Related Content:

Curious about what web dev books to study? Check out 40 Best Books For Web Developers.

Curious about what web dev courses to take? Check out the Best Courses For Web Developers.

Prefer watching videos to learn coding? Read 11 Best YouTube Channels For Web Developers

Have a coding interview? Review 8 Must Use Resources For Crushing Your Coding Interviews.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.

With 945 videos and 770K subscribers, the Derek Banas channel is unique in which the creator makes tutorials based on your requests. He covers any topic you can imagine and uploads new programming videos on Saturday and Wednesday morning. He also streams at 8PM EST on Monday and at 7PM EST on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. 

His video tutorials cover JavaScript, jQuery, CSS, PHP, WordPress, Java, ad more. Check out one of his most popular coding videos below which has almost 1M views!

The Learncode.academy channel offers 100% free web development tutorials, web site design tutorials and more. With 140 videos and 445K subscribers, their channel covers HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Responsive Design, React.js, Node.js, Angular.js, and everything else under the sun. Check out their most popular video on learning web development fast with 2.4M views!

The Coding Train channel publishes "creative coding" video tutorials every week. With 721 videos, subjects covered range from the basics of programming languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, and GitHub. The channel has 432K subscribers and its most popular video with 1.3M views is one of their coding challenges where the creator recreates the Snake Game in JavaScript with only 10 minutes on the clock!

The Traversy Media channel features the best online web development and programming tutorials for all of the latest web technologies including Node.js, Angular 2, React.js, PHP, Rails, HTML, CSS and much more. Their channel has 540 videos, 370K subscribers, and shown below is their most popular video with 902K view on how to build a HTML5 website from scratch with a responsive layout.

The DevTips channel provides weekly videos on the subject of web design and development. With 307 videos and 268K subscribers, their tutorials cover building responsive websites, css grid series, GitHub, and more! Their top video dives into what development tools and environment setup the creator uses to program efficiently.

The freeCodeCamp channel is the official YouTube channel for freeCodeCamp, an open source community of busy people who learn to code and build projects for nonprofits. With 575 videos and 240K subscribers, their video tutorials cover JavaScript, jQuery, React, Git and GitHub, tech talks, live coding sessions, and more!

One of their most popular videos with 226K views describes their project of building a personal portfolio page.

The Treehouse channel talks about the latest in web design, web development, HTML5, front end development and more. Treehouse is an online school that teaches technology and has courses on hundreds of topics including how to build a website, how to build a web app, how to build a mobile app, and how to start a business.

With 470 videos and 172K subscribers, check out their latest episode below!

The Simple Programmer channel provides programming tips and career advice for developers. With 2K videos and 145K subscribers, their videos cover programming interviews, algorithms, and more. Check out their most popular video with 365K views on the top 10 programming languages to learn for 2017!

The FunFunFunction channel focuses on JavaScript and offers a series on functional programming. With 158 videos and 140K subscribers, their most popular video has 365K views and covers higher-order functions, which is one of the most important concepts in functional programming.

The NetNinja channel will help you earn your black belt in web development. With 681 videos and 125K subscribers, their tutorials cover Node.js, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Vue.js, React and much more. Their most popular video has 243K views and gives an introduction to NodeJS.

Subscribe to the Invent With Code YouTube channel and be the first to know when our first video goes live!

You’ve read about the different YouTube channels out there to learn web development.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know which channel you're going to check out first.

Are you currently a subscriber to one of these YouTube channels on this list?

If so, which one?

Which YouTube channel would you recommend to fellow developers?

Either way, leave a quick comment below right now.

Related Content:

Curious about what web dev books to study? Check out 40 Best Books For Web Developers.

Curious about what web dev courses to take? Check out the Best Courses For Web Developers.

Have a coding interview? Review 8 Must Use Resources For Crushing Your Coding Interviews.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.

freeCodeCamp offers 3 algorithm challenge sets ranging from beginner to advanced with each set taking 50 hours to complete for a total of 47 challenges. For each JavaScript exercise, the objective is to fix the failing tests, so that all tests pass. Once they do, you're able to move onto the next challenge. By the end of each set, you will have developed more of a programmer's mindset. If you ever get stuck on a problem, you can request a hint or ask for help on their forum. You can access these challenges for free on freeCodeCamp platform.

The HackerRank team is on a mission to match every developer in the world to the right job by providing a technical recruiting platform that assesses developers based on actual coding skills. They support over 20 programming languages and have a wide range of questions for bit manipulation, sorting, string processing, dynamic programming and a selection of math-based problems. Whether you're looking to sharpen your coding skills, compete in programming contests, or find a job, you definitely want to check out HackerRank!

CodeWars is an excellent coding practice platform with a ton of excellent "kata", which are small coding challenges. Each morning, spend 10-20 minutes solving katas to rapidly increase your programming fluency. When you complete a challenge, you can compare your answer with others to further your understanding. Within the CodeWars community, you can discuss each kata, learn best practices, and discover other innovative techniques.

The platform currently supports 20 languages with 12 more in beta, allowing you to master your current programming language of choice, or expand your knowledge of a new one.

Interview Cake is a novel step-by-step interview problem walkthrough tool that simulates realistic coding interviews, giving you hints and challenging your answers along the way.  What's great about their platform is that they don't just give you the answer. They actually teach you how to derive the solution yourself. Every question includes a full breakdown, gotcha list, and "what we learned" section guiding you through the right way of determining the answer. 

Interview Cake provides 50+ hours of practice questions and readings, covering all the core data structures like linked lists, queues, stacks, hash maps, graphs, trees, and more! They even cover system design and dynamic programming challenges. Below is a sample problem. 

Students who have used Interview Cake have landed jobs at top software companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and more!

You can purchase a 1-year subscription with Interview Cake or join their free weekly question email list. They have also have an amazing risk-free guarantee when purchasing a subscription. If you ever want your money back for any reason, like you didn't get the developer job you wanted, you never used the material, or you didn't think it was worth it, you can simply email their CEO to get a full refund. Even with a refund, you'll still be able to access their free tier!

LeetCode is a platform to help you enhance your programming skills, expand your expertise, and prepare for coding interviews. Their platform supports 14 popular coding languages and offers over 750 questions for you to practice. Challenge topics include object-oriented design, operating systems, algorithms, databases, shell, system design. LeetCode also supports select mock interview questions by companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, & LinkedIn. You can access their set of free exercises or signup for a monthly or annual LeetCode subscription.

Ace your coding interviews by mastering data structures and algorithms using the course, The Coding Interview Bootcamp, by Stephen Grider. With over 9,100 students enrolled and a course rating of 4.8 out of 5, this course will enable you to master commonly asked interview questions. The instructor uses JavaScript as he teaches you how to solve challenging algorithms and walks you through common data structures used in web development. Throughout the course, you will have practiced dozens of different challenges. Here's a preview of the course curriculum.

In this course, you'll get:

• Clear, well-diagramed explanations for every single problem to make sure you understand the solution.
• An overview of the most important data structures to know about. These are presented for people without a CS degree.
• A huge collection of common algorithm questions, including everything from 'reversing a string' to 'determine the width of a BST'.
• Sensible strategies for tackling systems design problems.
• Insider tips on answering what interviewers are really looking for.
• Constant support on the Udemy Q&A forums with Stephen Grider!

By the end of the the Coding Interview Bootcamp, you'll be able to crush your coding interviews!

Geeks For Geeks is a computer science portal with an excellent collection of programming, algorithm, design patterns, and interview questions.  They provide well written and well explained interview preparation material for dozens of top companies as well as top interview questions for common data structures and algorithms.

What I like about Geeks For Geeks is that they group their programming problems by company and topic. Also, they offer hundreds of interview experiences categorized by company, so that you know what it's like to interview at your dream company. Here's a preview of their most visited posts, trending content, and popular categories.

Programming Praxis publishes new programming exercises weekly for developers to maintain and sharpen their coding skills. This blog takes a different approach than the other resources described in which when you solve a problem, you do it for self-growth and self-gratification. You don't earn points or rank on a leader board. You don't even see a record of who completed which problems. The only dopamine hit you'll get is from the satisfaction of solving the puzzle. 

The problems on Programming Praxis may take you minutes to an hour to solve based on your experience. The problems are designed to be language-agnostic, so everyone can participate using their preferred language. Also, each exercise comes with a sample solution, but the author emphasizes that their is no one right answer or perfect solution.

You’ve read about the different resources out there to crush your coding interviews.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know which one you're going to check out first.

Are you currently using one of the resources on this list? If so, which one?

Which resource would you recommend to other developers?

Either way, leave a quick comment below right now.

Related Content:

Curious about what web dev books to study? Check out 40 Best Books For Web Developers.

Curious about what web dev courses to take? Check out the Best Courses For Web Developers.

If you want to become a confident web developer, you must spend more time with other expert developers. The easiest way to get started is by studying their best work. The first step I recommend is to read books written by them.

Books allow you to master a topic in a very short period of time. Furthermore, they allow experts to transfer their knowledge to you in a very convenient and accessible way. As a result, reading a handful of books can quickly accelerate your expertise, and therefore increase your competitive advantage.

By focusing your study on books that are bestsellers, have top ratings, or are highly regarded by other experts, you can rest assured the knowledge is worth learning.

With that said, I've put together this comprehensive guide that captures the best books available for you to learn web development, regardless if you’re a beginner or advanced developer. These books come in different formats, can be purchased online or in-store, or may be found at your local library.

These books also make great gifts for family, friends and colleagues. If you think a book you’re currently reading would make for an excellent gift for the holidays or birthdays, consider purchasing another copy of the book for them. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.

HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett is a full-color book using infographics and photography to engage its readers while describing HTML and CSS in layman's terms, so that anyone can understand and relate to the material. The organization of the book also offers developers the flexibility to read the book end-to-end or only particular chapters of interest. This resource will be one to keep on your shelf for frequent reference.

A Smarter Way to Learn HTML & CSS takes the ultimate learn-by-doing approach. With an emphasis on practicing programmatic concepts, the chapters are paired with free interactive online exercises, preparing the developer to build a website. The book is written for beginners using layman's terms, coding examples, and graphics, so that anyone can learn HTML & CSS. Also, experienced developers can keep their skills fresh from the practice problems alone. 

If you're a visual learner, then this book is for you! With Head First HTML and CSS, you'll learn HTML and CSS using their visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works. Leveraging the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, Head First ensures you won't forget how to program in HTML and CSS.

Need to learn HTML and CSS fast? HTML and CSS: Visual Quickstart Guide teaches its readers using a visual format, friendly prose, and step-by-step, action-based instructions, so that you're building a website quickly and correctly. Throughout the book, the author covers all of HTML and covers the key concepts of HTML5 and CSS techniques.

Even if you only know HTML fundamentals, Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript empowers its developers to build interactive, data-driven websites, covering PHP and MySQL along with JavaScript, jQuery, CSS, and HTML5. The author does a great job at explaining each core technology along with how these technologies work together. At the end of the book, you will have built a fully functional social networking site, using any development stack of your choice. 

The Joy of PHP 5th edition will take you from a complete PHP beginner to someone who can confidently read, write, and modify PHP scripts to make dynamic websites. This book provides a great introduction to PHP and is a great companion to the other PHP books mentioned in this article. By the end of the book, you'll realize that PHP isn't that scary to learn.

​Murach's PHP and MySQL equips you to develop database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL, complete with sample applications and chapter exercises. You'll build your first PHP applications that conform to the MVC pattern. After mastering PHP, you'll learn how to design, create, access, and maintain databases. Lastly, you'll explore how to secure and protect your websites when allowing users and other sites to interact with your site. 

Head First PHP & MySQL is the ultimate learning guide to building dynamic, database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL. Packed with plenty of visuals, exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive features, you won't forget what you've learned! You'll also build complex projects, like a mailing list, a job board, and an online dating site, to help you harness the power of server-side programming in a variety of contexts. 

A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript helps you become fluent in JavaScript by providing bite-size chapters that are easy to digest and twenty free interactive exercises at the end of each chapter, so that you can practice what you've learned. This book is perfect for people new to programming since the author walks you through everything you must know about JavaScript using plain English, so that you can confidently build interactive websites.

A Software Engineer Learns HTML5, JavaScript and jQuery guides you through the author's professional process of writing a large-scale, standards based, feature-rich web-application for the first time. This book is intended for anyone with an awareness of HTML and programming concepts as it walks you through the fundamentals of HTML5, JavaScript and jQuery. Based on the author's professional experience, you'll also learn real-world best practices.

In JavaScript: The Good Parts, JavaScript expert Douglas Crockford reveals all the elegant (and not so pretty) parts of JavaScript. If you want to develop build beautiful, elegant, and lightweight applications or websites, this book is an absolute must! 

In Learning React, author Chinnathambi brings his fresh, clear, and very personable writing style to help you understand the fundamentals of React and how to use it to build really awesome apps. If you want a beginner-friendly and approachable book on React, this is it!

React Quickly is for anyone who wants to learn React fast. Assuming you're comfortable with JavaScript development, this practical book teaches you the key concepts of React using many examples and tutorials.You'll also explore a variety of different projects and build a large main project throughout the book.

With React Up & Running, Facebook web developer Stoyan Stefanov teaches you how to build, use, and organize components into maintainable, large-scale apps. Once you understand how React works, you'll build upon your existing JavaScript skills to build a complete custom app that helps users rate wines and keep notes.

Learning React will teach you how to build efficient user interfaces with React that can quickly display data changes on large-scale, data-driven websites without page reloads. You'll deep dive into how React runs in the browser and explore React’s component life cycle to load data better and improve user interface performance. By mastering React components with this practical guide, you’ll fully understand the power and utility behind React.

Pro AngularJS shows you how to build applications that are smaller, faster, and with a lighter resource footprint. It begins by describing the Model-View-Controller pattern and the many benefits of code separation. Starting from the nuts-and-bolts and building up to the most advanced and sophisticated features of AngularJS, the author goes in-depth to allow for mastery of AngularJS while including common problems and details of how to avoid them.

AngularJS Web Application Development Cookbook will show you how to harness the full power of the AngularJS framework by taking you from a beginner to advanced user of Angular. This book assumes you have an understanding of the basics of AngularJS, and experience with JavaScript. Using a clear problem-solving approach, the author provides code samples and explanations of components you should be using in your development. By the end of this book, you'll be able to confidently build high-performing and scaleable production applications.

Angular 2 Cookbook is for developers who are skilled with JavaScript and are looking to dive into Angular. This book describes all the most complicated Angular concepts while introducing its best practices. It also explains how to build applications faster; furthermore, the author took the time to cover testing and performance optimization. By the end of this book, you'll have a strong understanding of the Angular framework.

AngularJS by Example walks you through examples of how to use AngularJS to create your own real-world applications. Before starting this book, make sure you are familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Once you dive in, you'll be creating multiple applications to demonstrate the effectiveness of Angular and its key concepts. By the end of the book, you'll have a strong foundation to build and test complex web applications.

Practical Node.js is your roadmap to learning how to build a wide range of scalable real-world web applications using a professional development toolkit.  The author takes you from installing all the necessary modules to writing full-stack web applications while harnessing the power of a varied collection of standards and frameworks. The book also covers how to deploy to Heroku and AWS, daemonize apps, and write REST APIs. By the end of this book, you'll build full-stack real-world Node.js apps from scratch, and also discover how to write your own Node.js modules and publish them on NPM.

Pro Express.js is for the reader who wants to quickly get up-to-speed with Express.js, the flexible Node.js framework. This book assumes familiarity with Node.js scripts and npm package installations. The author clearly explains how to start developing with Express.js and then delves into its API reference. Each aspect of the Express.js API is explained clearly with a simple exercise to demonstrate its usage. You’ll also dive into critical development concepts, complex modules, and additional frameworks. Finally, you'll build real-world apps including a REST API, Todo App, and Instagram gallery.

Node.js the Right Way shows you how to write compact, robust, fast, networked Node applications that scale. You'll write asynchronous, non-blocking code using Node's style and patterns. You'll cluster and load balance your services with Node core features and third-party tools. You'll work with many protocols, creating RESTful web services, TCP socket clients and servers, and more. The author also shows you how to test your code's functionality and performance under load. By the end of the book, you will have developed small, fast, low-profile, and useful network applications.

Web Development with Node & Express shows you how to build dynamic web applications with Express. In this practical guide, the author teaches you the fundamentals through the development of a fictional application that exposes a public website and a RESTful API. You’ll also learn web architecture best practices to help you build single-page, multi-page, and hybrid web apps with Express.

Ruby on Rails Tutorial provides integrated tutorials not only for Rails, but also for the essential Ruby, HTML, CSS, and SQL skills you’ll need when developing web applications. The author guides you through the development of three example applications of increasing sophistication, focusing on the fundamental techniques in web development needed for virtually any kind of application. By the end of this book, you will have master Ruby on Rails.

Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby covers a set of Ruby-focused best practices for building Ruby applications, all illustrated with extended examples that can be downloaded from their companion Web site. This book is perfect for any level of experience with Ruby. Whether you’re a novice or advanced Ruby developer, this book is packed with golden nuggets that will make you a better developer.

The Ruby Programming Language begins with a quick-start tutorial to the language, and then describes the language in detail from the bottom-up, covering its rich API thoroughly with heavily commented examples. It is written for experienced programmers who are new to Ruby, and for current Ruby programmers who want to deepen their expertise of the language.

In Eloquent Ruby, the author shows you the “Ruby way” of programming. The book starts small, answering tactical questions focused on a single statement, method, test, or bug. Then the author addresses bigger questions related to building methods and classes prior to explaining advanced concepts and projects. Throughout the book, you will have learned the ins and outs of Rub development. By the end, you will have gained the fluency needed to write great Ruby code.

Python Crash Course is a fast-paced, thorough introduction to Python that will have you writing programs, solving problems, and making things that work in no time. You’ll learn about basic programming concepts and practice writing clean and readable code with exercises for each topic. You’ll develop interactive programs and explore how to properly test your code. By the end of the book, you will have created three substantial projects: a Space Invaders–inspired arcade game, data visualizations with Python’s super-handy libraries, and a simple web app you can deploy online using Django.

The Self-Taught Programmer, based on the author’s experience of landing his first software engineering position, teaches you how to code in Python, the fundamentals of Computer Science, and everything else you need to know about programming professionally. The book serves as a roadmap, guiding you from writing your first Python program to passing your first technical interview.

Python Programming illustrates the essentials of Computer Science through Python. The author teaches the fundamental principles of design and programming that can be applied in any language or computing environment. Updated to reflect the new changes in Python and the addition of several graphical examples, this book achieves an excellent balance between Computer Science theory and practical programming.

Hello Web App, written by a designer and aimed at non-programmers, teaches the basics of web app programming using Python and Django. The tutorial uses down-to-earth, friendly, and jargon-free writing to walk you through choosing a project, setting up a database, creating your website, building features, and launching your app so you can start working with real customers and users. By the end of the book, you’ll see how easy it is to build your own dynamic websites.

Head First Java introduces object-oriented programming and Java in a visually compelling and playful way with puzzles, strong visuals, and more! You'll learn everything from the fundamentals to advanced Java topics with no topic left uncovered. It's unlike any other Java book you've ever read.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies, 4th Edition is a comprehensive guide covering basic development concepts and techniques with step-by-step instruction and detailed explanations. You'll learn what goes into a program, how to put the pieces together, how to deal with challenges, and how to make it work. The new Fourth Edition has been updated to align with Java 8 and is the perfect resource for new and experienced Java developers.

Java: The Complete Reference, Ninth Edition explains how to develop, compile, debug, and run Java programs. The author covers every aspect of the Java language, including its API library. The book also demonstrates Java in action with real-world examples and the latest features of Java SE 8.

Core Java® has long been recognized as the leading, no-nonsense tutorial and reference for experienced programmers who want to write robust Java code for real-world applications. Updated extensively to include new Java SE 8 features, idioms, and best practices, it contains hundreds of example programs—all carefully crafted for easy understanding and practical applicability.

Don’t Make Me Think Revisited reexamines the principles that made Don’t Make Me Think a classic–with updated examples and a new chapter on mobile usability. And it’s still short, profusely illustrated, and best of all–fun to read. Hundreds of thousands of web designers and developers around the world have relied on usability guru Steve Krug’s guide to help them understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design. This book is required reading for all web designers and developers!

The Design of Everyday Things shows the possibility behind creating good, usable design. The book emphasizes the importance of guiding the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. The book reveals how and why some products, including web sites, satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.

Burn Your Portfolio teaches the real-world practices, professional do's and don'ts, and unwritten rules of business that most creative professionals only learn after putting in years of experience on the job. The book showcases the advice the author has collected over the last decade from the personal successes and failures he has faced running his own agency. By the end of this practical guide, you’ll understand that it takes more than a design school education and a killer portfolio to succeed in a creative career.

The Web Designer’s Idea Book, Volume 3 features more than 650 examples to inspire any web designer. Arranged thematically, this book dives into the important topics like technology, design styles, elements, site types and site structure. This new volume will empower you to select the best platform for your project with its detailed discussion of various content management systems. The author provides you with the latest in themes, styles and trends you need to keep your projects relevant in the fast-paced and every-changing world of web design, making it an indispensable reference.

You’ve read about the different books out there to learn web development.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know which book you're going to read first.

Are you currently reading one of the books on this list? If so, which one?

Which book would you recommend to family and friends?

Either way, leave a quick comment below right now.

Related Content:

Curious about web dev courses? Check out the Best Courses For Web Developers.

Curious about how to level up your coding? Check out The Web Developer Playbook.

Even if time and money weren't an issue, many curious and aspiring developers repeatedly ask, "How do I start learning web development?" or "What courses do you recommend to start learning X?" After taking a class or two, the next common question that is asked is, "What do I learn next?"

Once they have a grasp of the basics, many new developers desire to learn more intermediate or advanced concepts, but struggle to find courses that teach them, and eventually become overwhelmed or frustrated when taking on complex real-world development projects.

As a result, I've put together this comprehensive guide that captures what online courses are available for you to learn web development when you're broke, short on time, on a budget, or looking to advance your expertise and skill set.  

These courses also make great gifts for family, friends and colleagues. If you think a course you’re currently enrolled in would make for an excellent gift for the holidays or birthdays, consider purchasing another copy of the course for them. Some of the sites described below also enable you to choose any course that you’re not enrolled in by using their gift giving option.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more details.

There are excellent, online resources that are free to access if you want to learn web development. They allow you to get a feel for how web development works and cover everything from the basics to best practices. Below we’ll take a look at the ones I recommend, I'll highlight what they cover and I'll also provide additional resources to check out.

freeCodeCamp is a donor-supported non-profit that offers free online curricula covering front-end development, back-end development, full-stack development, and data visualization. Using their hands-on, interactive coding platform, you’ll learn:

As a student of freeCodeCamp, you’ll join a supportive community, build projects, become certified in each discipline, and you can gain real-world experience by participating in their open-source projects used by nonprofits.

They offer 4 programming tracks online: web fundamentals, front end development, back end development, and databases. They also teach topics that cover over 200 different web technologies.

In addition to Bento and freeCodeCamp, you can also access 100+ free resources to learn full-stack development.

If you’re short on time and need to learn web development, One Month has you covered. With One Month's affordable and fun online bootcamps, you’ll learn HTML, Javascript, Ruby, or Python in 30 days. They have had thousands of successful students and have seen first-hand the amazing progress their students have been able to make in less than a month.

According to One Month, "Yes, there are some things that you can only learn with time, but anyone who says you need 10 years to become good at programming is a liar."

Along the way, you'll learn HTML, CSS, FTP, SEO best practices, Facebook API, Responsive Web Design, Bootstrap, blog theming, and much more. This course is for beginners, so no prior programming experience is necessary.

The course includes 6+ hours of step-by-step video, 4 projects that you'll create for your portfolio, and a course certificate. As a student, you’ll experience, Q&A sessions with the instructor, online support when you have questions, and homework sets graded by the instructor or TA. By the end of this course, you'll know all of the fundamentals of HTML and be ready to start building website on your own.

One Month JavaScript is a series of video lessons and tutorials that teach anyone, even a total beginner, how to build four real-world projects that you can add to your website. You will learn how to make your website more interactive and engaging using JavaScript.

By the end of the course, your portfolio will consist of

• an app that tells you where to go to happy hour after work
• an app that searches for animated GIFs using the Giphy API
• an app that searches SoundCloud for music and plays the results live in the app like a jukebox
• an app where you generate your own API and use Google Spreadsheets as a database

If you had a hard time trying to learn JavaScript or feel completely lost when trying to make dynamic websites, One Month JavaScript can easily change that for you.

One Month Ruby shows you how to write and run your first Ruby scrips to automate tasks, to write scripts that interact with APIs, and scrape websites. In just 30 days, you will be ready to start coding Ruby apps on your own.

In One Month Rails, you'll learn how to code your own web apps using the most powerful and user-friendly framework available to web developers, Ruby on Rails. You'll need to commit 2-3 hours per week (about 15 minutes per day) to this course.

Half of the course is comprised of on-demand videos that you can watch on your own schedule. The other half will be spent completing homework assignments and getting feedback from your instructors in the private, students-only Slack room that will be dedicated to this course. 

By the end of One Month Rails, you'll also be able to build and add powerful features to your web apps including creating user accounts, allowing them to upload images and other content, and more.

The course consists of 50% online video that you can take at your own pace and 50% interaction with up to 50 of your fellow students and the bootcamp instructors through a Slack chat room. There are 1-2 hours of video to watch per week and you'll be asked to complete assignments and submit them to the instructor for feedback and a grade.

Programming for Non-Programmers is One Month's course for students who want to gain a basic understanding of coding before they get into learning an actual programming language. If you are someone who wants to get a developer's mindset, then this is the perfect place to start.

In this course, they tackle basic development principles to get you started on the right path, so no experience is necessary! You’ll learn what makes up the front-end, back-end, and UX. By the end of the course, you will know how to read code and will have produced three web projects from scratch.

When you’re on a budget, look no further than Udemy, the largest destination for online courses. Their web development courses, normally valued at $200 or more, are regularly and heavily discounted where you can usually snatch them up for just $10 each. What a deal!

The target audience for this course includes anyone who wants to learn about web development. It's perfect for complete beginners with zero experience. It's also great for anyone who does have some experience in a few of the technologies (like HTML and CSS) but not all. But most importantly, if you want to take ONE COURSE to learn everything you need to know about web development, take this course. 

The bestseller course, Complete Python Bootcamp, is advertised as is the most comprehensive, yet straight-forward, course for the Python programming language on Udemy! As a student, you’ll learn the basics and go all the way to creating your own applications and games. This course is intended for beginners who have never programmed before, programmers switching languages to Python, and intermediate Python programmers who want to level up their skills.

With a course rating of 4.5 and 174K students enrolled, the course includes:

The Complete Java Masterclass, another bestseller course, is a step-by-step course that will allow you to master Java 8 and Java 9 core development. You’ll build creative, fully functional Java programs and by the end of the course, you will have gained the technical skills to become an in-demand Java developer for exciting software companies.

This course is intended for people who want to produce the highest-quality, creative Java software, people looking to go from absolute beginner to advanced Java expert, and people looking for expert knowledge and insider tips used by the world’s best programmers and top companies. With a course rating of 4.6 and close to 151K students enrolled, the course includes:

Master Angular (Angular 2+, incl. Angular 5) and build awesome, reactive web apps with the successor of Angular.js with the bestselling course, Angular 5. You’ll develop modern, complex, responsive and scalable web applications with Angular while fully understanding the architecture behind an Angular application. By the end of this course, you will have master the fundamentals of Angular to quickly establish yourself as a frontend developer.

If you’re a newcomer as well as an experienced frontend developers interested in learning a modern JavaScript framework, this course is for you. With a 4.7 rating and 112K students enrolled, the course includes:

In addition to The Web Developer Bootcamp, another top comprehensive web development course is the Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 where you will build 25 websites and mobile apps using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, MySQL and more. This course is perfect for anyone who wants to learn to code, anyone who wants to build websites, and learn in-demand skills to get hired as a junior developer.

With a 4.6 course rating and roughly 139K students enrolled, the course includes:

The bestseller course, Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5 and CSS3, will teach you everything you need to know to get started with HTML5 and CSS3 by building professional, beautiful and truly responsive websites. This course is suitable for complete beginners or students with some knowledge about HTML and CSS, but who struggle to put together a great website. It would also be worthwhile for designers who want to expand their skill set into HTML5 and CSS3.

With a 4.7 rating and close to 57K students enrolled, this course includes:

Taking a step-by-step approach, the course, Build Websites from Scratch with HTML & CSS, will have you learning the essentials of HTML and CSS by building several mini functional websites from scratch. This course with more than 77 lectures and 8 hours of content gives you a basic, yet thorough understanding of both HTML and CSS. Rated at 4.7 with 52K students enrolled, this course includes:

In the course, PHP for Beginners, learn everything you need to become a professional PHP developer with practical exercises & projects. This bestseller course is meant for total beginners in PHP and it doesn’t require any prior programming experience. This course will help you get all the fundamentals of Procedural PHP, Object Oriented PHP, MYSQLi and ending the course by building a CMS system similar to WordPress, Joomla or Drupal.

With a 4.5 course rating and 35K students enrolled, this course includes:

In the course, JavaScript: Understanding the Weird Parts, you will gain a deep understanding of JavaScript, learn how JavaScript works under the hood, and how that knowledge helps you avoid common pitfalls. You’ll even learn how to build your own JavaScript framework or library. This course is for new and experienced JavaScript developers who want to deepen their understanding of the language.

With a 4.8 course rating and 91K students enrolled, this course includes:

Go from a total JavaScript beginner to an advanced JavaScript developer with The Complete JavaScript Course. This bestseller course is different because it's not just about writing code, it's also about how and why code works the way it does. It's the perfect mix between theory and practice, covering not only small coding examples, but also on real-world projects and use cases.

Rated at 4.6 with 50K students enrolled, this course includes:

In the course, Modern React with Redux, master the fundamentals of React and Redux as you develop apps with React Router, Webpack, and ES6. This bestseller course will get you up and running quickly, and teach you the core knowledge you need to deeply understand and build React components and structure applications with Redux.

By the end, you’ll be the who explains how Redux works to everyone else, because you know the fundamentals so well. This course was created for programmers looking to learn React and developers who want to grow out of just using jQuery.

With a 4.7 course rating and 73K students enrolled, this course includes:

In the course, Advanced React and Redux, realize the power of building composable components by learning advanced React and Redux concepts with detailed walkthroughs. This course is the perfect follow-on after taking Modern React with Redux.  For example, you’ll learn how to write Redux middleware from scratch to uncover what is happening behind the scenes with Redux.

In addition to Angular 5 - The Complete Guide, the bestseller course, Learn and Understand AngularJS, teaches you the fundamental JavaScript concepts that power AngularJS. You’ll become fluent in AngularJS terminology and you’ll write quicker, better AngularJS code by discovering how AngularJS itself is built.

This course is for web developers and designers looking to learn AngularJS, those who have researched AngularJS but still find it hard to understand, as well for people who have used jQuery but are tired of doing everything manually.

With a 4.6 rating and 64K students enrolled, this course includes:

Dive deep under the hood of NodeJS with the course, Learn and Understand NodeJS. Master V8, Express, the MEAN stack, core JavaScript concepts, and more. In this course, you’ll build a web server in Node and understand how it really works. You’ll also build a web application and API more easily using Express.

This course is for those who don't have server technology experience, but wish to gain this skill; those coming from other server technologies (like PHP, ASP.NET, or Ruby on Rails) and want to learn Node; those desiring to become MEAN stack developers; and, those who want to only have to write both client and server code in one language, specifically all in JavaScript.

Rated at 4.6 with 68K students enrolled, this course includes:

In the course, The Complete Node.js Developer Course (2nd Edition), learn Node.js by building real-world applications with Node, Express, MongoDB, Mocha, and more. This bestseller course is based around a single goal: turning you into a professional Node developer capable of developing, testing, and deploying real-world production applications. It’s perfect for anyone looking to launch their own Node applications, switch careers, or freelance as a Node developer.

With a course rating of 4.7 and roughly 44K students enrolled, this course includes:

With the course, The Complete Ruby on Rails Developer Course, learn to make innovative web apps with Ruby on Rails 4 & 5 and unleash your creativity. In this bestseller course, you’ll learn how to rapidly prototype ideas and turn them into presentable apps.

This course takes a very structured approach of teaching Rails starting with Ruby - the programming language behind Rails. Everything from "Hello World" to Object Oriented Programming is covered.

It’s designed to take students with no programming or web development experience to accomplished Ruby on Rails developers; furthermore, it’s just as useful for students who have experience coding in Rails and want to take their skills to the next level or students who are making the switch to Ruby on Rails from other frameworks.

With a 4.5 rating and 38K students enrolled, this course includes:

In addition to the Complete Python Bootcamp, another bestselling course to consider is Python and Django Full Stack Web Developer Bootcamp. This course covers how to build full-stack websites with HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, Python 3, and Django 1.11.

This course can be your one stop shop for everything you need to become a web developer. It’s designed for complete beginners, professionals looking to bridge gaps in their knowledge, and python Developers looking to get into web development.

With a 4.6 rating and 24K students enrolled, this course includes:

In addition to the The Complete Java Developer Course, gain a detailed understanding of Web Automation Frameworks with the course Selenium WebDriver With Java. The course starts with how to code in Java, so no prior programming experience is needed, and then covers selenium, TestNG, selenium grid, log4j, maven, Jenkins, database testing, performance testing, and more!

Rated at 4.5 and 15K students, the course includes:

Learn everything from design to frontend and backend programming with the course, Ultimate Web Designer & Developer Course. In this bestseller course, you’ll build 23+ custom design, web and programming projects all from scratch. The course covers Visual and Web Design, how to use Adobe Photoshop, and how to sketch professional wireframes.

Next it proceeds to teach HTML5, CSS3, Javascript and jQuery. At this point you'll be able to code custom websites, animations and web applications by yourself.

Then it’ll dive into designing responsive websites, PHP, MySQL, WordPress and custom WordPress plugin development. By the end of the course, you'll then have the ability to build responsive, dynamic websites and blogs, basic eCommerce sites and online stores, and have a professional understanding of all aspects of web design and development.

With a 4.5 rating and 41K students enrolled, this course includes:

If you’re a novice web developer and don't want to purchase courses individually, I highly recommend Treehouse. After completing your 7-day free trial, you can continue your Treehouse membership by paying $25/month for their Basic plan or $49/month for their Pro Plan.

As a Treehouse member, you can get access to 1000+ high quality video courses, interactive tools, on-demand learning, and a supportive community of students.

They have 4 tracks dedicated to web developers: Frontend Development, Rails Development, PHP Development, WordPress Development. They also have a web design track for developers that want to expand their skillset.

By the end of this track, you’ll have what it takes to begin your career in many well-known companies and startups, or you could even begin your own startup!

By the end of this track, you’ll have basic programming knowledge to build your own PHP websites.

Also, because it’s an open-source platform, it has millions of themes and plugins available for anyone to use — most of which are completely free and easily customizable for your website.

These are useful skills to acquire as they are needed by nearly every single business in the world to communicate to customers. By the end of this track, you’ll have all the skills required to design and build your own websites or even start a career as a web designer.

If you’re looking to take your skills to the next level, I highly recommend investing in Pluralsight to learn intermediate and advanced web development concepts.

The Pluralsight platform takes the guesswork out of learning by providing learning paths that combine specific courses and tools into one experience to teach you any given skill from start to finish. Paths are aligned to an individual's knowledge level, to help you develop the right skills in the right order.

What I greatly appreciate about their platform is that their course skill assessments identify where you should start in a path and what material you can skip over based on your current knowledge, so that you start at your current skill level. This is a huge time saver and allows you to hit the ground running.

As you progress through a course, you can measure your knowledge and skill development over time by completing associated learning checks, skill assessments and certification practice exams.

They have several paths dedicated to web development: HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, React, NodeJS, Python, and Java.

Their intermediate courses on HTML5 will show you how to build useful and meaningful applications using many new HTML features. You will learn how to create reusable web components, leverage JavaScript APIs for real-time communication, add rich media to your web pages and harness the power of data in the browser.

Their advanced HTML5 tutorial topics include a deeper dive into building rich internet applications. You will learn how to apply many of the new features found within the HTML5 specs, such as WebSockets, geolocation and web storage, offline applications, and more.

Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced CSS courses cover how to make your CSS more readable, maintainable and easier to write with LESS and SASS. You will also dive a little deeper into the world of responsive design, CSS gradients, selectors, generated content, media queries, shadows, text-effects, transitions, animations and much more.

The intermediate and advanced JavaScript courses dive deeper into concepts including objects, scopes, and design patterns. You’ll also learn advanced event handling, jQuery deferred objects as well as best practices when it comes to syntax, behaviors, Async patterns, and production code.

For intermediate and advanced developers, you’ll learn about common jQuery bugs and how to fix them, in addition to working with forms and plugins. You’ll also see some handy tips and tricks you can use to improve your code quality. Advanced topics include complex event handling and customization.

Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced Angular courses will help you better understand Angular as a whole, as well as taking a closer look at routing and different form approaches. They also help you optimize your development process by diving into Angular best practices.

For the React Path, you’ll learn more of the intricate elements within React, including working with Flux and Redux, in their intermediate React courses. Their advanced material covers topics like the context API, HOCs, external state, performance optimization, production deployment, testing and building a full-stack app using React.

Intermediate and advanced Node developers will master more of the nuanced topics including integrating Node.js with Express, asynchronous code, and working with RESTful web services. Furthermore, you’ll nail down testing, application patterns, and Node.js module structure.

Intermediate and advanced Python developers will master unit testing and debugging, full-stack development with Python, implementing sophisticated frameworks, and additional advanced topics.

Java developers will learn the ins and outs of memory management, reflection, frameworks like Spring, patterns, best practices, testable code, and much more in Pluralsight’s intermediate and advanced Java courses.

You’ve read about the different resources out there to learn web development.

Now it’s time to choose one.

The first step?

Leave a comment to let me know what course you're going to enroll in first.

Will you purchase coding courses individually or signup for a membership?

Or, maybe you want to explore the free resources that are available.

Which course would you give as a gift to family and friends?

Either way, leave a quick comment below right now.

Related Content:

Curious about how to level up your coding? Check out The Web Developer Playbook.

See how other developers are monetizing their coding skills in Code Your Way To $5K.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.

If you're new to web development and don't know where to start, the first thing you want to invest in is learning how to build a website. You can achieve this by tackling front-end development. Already know HTML, CSS, and Javascript? Take yourself to the next level by learning back-end development. Using your newly gained knowledge, take time to complete end-to-end projects by mastering full-stack development.

For example, Ahliana invested in herself to land a software engineering position despite not having a college degree.

Once you become a web ninja, continue improving your competitive advantage by becoming familiar with other elements that are important to developing an online presence for businesses, such as web design, digital marketing, SEO, or copywriting.

Take Cassi who lost her job, but invested in herself to become a UX developer.

If you're on a budget or if money is tight, no worries. You can still invest in yourself right now by improving your coding skills for free!

When you try to offer everything to everyone, you're unable to offer the right thing to the right person.

Anyone can develop a website, but who do you want to develop for? Also, what type of audience do you want to attract to your websites? 

By picking a niche, you will be able to position yourself as an expert that understands the needs and wants of a particular market group and can offer solutions that solve their unique problems. This will provide you with a great competitive advantage over other developers.

It's common for web developers to market to 'anyone who needs an amazing website that is the best and the fastest in the world!' Who wouldn't want to hire this developer?

After all, your prospective clients are too busy running their businesses to sit down and research web developers. By presenting yourself as the expert that caters to them, it becomes a no-brainer to hire you.

Curious what niche to choose? Here are 400+ creative n​iches to consider!

The same goes for getting hired as an employee of a company. Selecting a niche allows you to network and market yourself more effectively. ​Imagine trying to network with every single recruiter in the world to get a job. That would be time-consuming, exhau​sting, and impossible!

Narrow down the types of companies you want to work for and the type of web applications you want to specialize in creating. By developing specific skills and producing relevant projects, it'll become clearer to your employer that you're the right candidate to hire.

Now that you have selected your niche, the next competitive advantage to work on is developing your portfolio, which will showcase your best work. Your portfolio can be the deciding factor in getting an interview, job offer, or new client. Similar to your resume, your portfolio should including the following items.

You can even go a step further by including testimonials that endorse your skills and experience. If that's not enough, you can also include a video introducing yourself and thanking your visitors for taking the time to review your portfolio.

Here are impressive portfolios that you can reference as you develop your own:

Also, tracking your hours keeps you honest and accountable by revealing how much time you are actually dedicating to your development and not the amount of time you think or say you are doing. I can say that I'm working out 3 times a day, but my fitness log may only show I'm going to the gym once a week. ​

Furthermore, if you're not getting the results you are expecting, review your log and reflect on whether you are committing the amount of time necessary to achieve your goal.

Consider using Wakatime to increase your competitive advantage which measures coding time for programmers using open-source plugins for your text editor. You automatically get insights about your programming which will enable you to improve your productivity. Wakatime is free to try and used by many developers like TJ Holowaychuk who created Express.js.

Blogging allows you to capture and transfer your knowledge and experience. At any point in time, you and fellow developers, who are on a similar journey as you, can reference your blog to overcome a technical problem or complex concept. Writing about what you're learning, developing, or struggling with shows:

1. you are human,
2. you are growing your technical expertise as a developer,
3. you are serious about becoming a developer, and
4. you are willing to help the coding community at-large.

How many times have you looked on Google or Stack Overflow to become unstuck? Sometimes, you can't always find the answer or the answers provided are not sufficient. Your blog can help fill in the gaps for aspiring developers, especially since you're able to be more descriptive and specific about the topic at hand. Moreover, when you are having trouble using a method or module, your blog can remind you of what to do and lessons learned.

Your blog also improves your competitive advantage in several other ways. It allows you to develop your communication skills by learning not just what to say, but also how to say it. Writing a blog post about your efforts will enable you to master the language of your craft.

It can be challenging at times to explain a technical concept to someone else; but, being able to communicate a concept or project in layman terms will help you when you're interviewing, working on a team, or speaking with clients.

Blogging about your developer journey also showcases your experience and abilities to potential employers. They'll be able to grasp the type of complex projects you can handle, your ability to communicate, your initiative to teach yourself and others new concepts, and your commitment to follow-through in completing projects. Brownie points if you declare a deadline in your blog post and show that you finished the project on-time or ahead of schedule!

When you're down reading this blog article, check out these developers' blogs:

Once you're ready to get started, you can host your blog on WP Engine, SiteGround, or Bluehost which are the three most popular hosting services for bloggers.

Using your social media accounts, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can start building your online network by joining relevant groups, following fellow developers, and establishing stronger connections with people through direct messaging.

According to a University of Victoria survey, 67% of participants agreed that Twitter helps them to discover interesting software developers while 28% of survey participants agreed that Twitter provides them access to job opportunities. Even some interviewees from the study mentioned getting job offers through retweets and Twitter connections.

A major advantage that may result from networking in-person or online is discovering a mentor who can take your development skills to the next level. Having a mentor coupled with the community of support you've created for yourself will enhance your competitive advantage. 

Take Andrew Shell, who was offered a job given his impressive Meetup presentations, telling the Huffington Post, "I remember being shocked at my non-interview. My interview consisted of going out for lunch at Olive Garden and then getting a job offer. I don’t even think he asked for my resume. He didn’t need to because my real interview was all of the meetups that he had attended. He knew that I had the skills he needed because I had demonstrated it month after month".

A developer that can communicate in front of an audience is a major competitive advantage. ​Things you can present include your current projects, how you solved a particular coding challenge, or a deep dive on a specific technical concept such as frameworks or libraries. You can even include what you would like to work on next, technical areas that you are interested in further developing, or that you're looking for a entry-level web developer job in the area.

In your presentations, you can also mention that you're seeking to work on a team project. Developing your collaboration skills can be a strong competitive advantage and is crucial because at one point or another in your career you will be working with other developers. There are many ways to gain teamwork experience, especially if you're a self-taught programmer:

1. You can contribute to open-source projects. ​
2. You can participate in hackathons.
3. You can collaborate with members at your local Meetup group.
4. You can pair program with a fellow developer.
5. You can also participate in programming contests or competitions. 

Similar to networking and presenting, you have to take the initiative to seek out or create opportunities to gain teamwork experience. By putting yourself out there about who you are, what you're about, and what your skill level is, people will be more open and welcoming about collaborating with you.

There are also additional benefits to participating in hackathons or programming competitions, such as earning cash prizes and even job offers. Justin Woo landed a software developer job with PayPal after winning a hackathon it sponsored in his hometown of Seattle.  

With the network that you've developed at Meetups, workshops, and local events, I challenge you to connect with your new contacts over coffee or lunch. It's amazing how many career opportunities I have been offered by simply getting coffee with people. This is your opportunity to build a stronger connection with your new acquaintances. 

Here's how you develop this competitive advantage, even if you think you don't have enough time to network. Take the 2x2 networking challenge where one week you connect in-person with someone you know and the next week you meet with someone that you don't know, so that at the end of the month you have networked with two people who are familiar to you and two people who were strangers. 

Over coffee, learn more about who they are and how they got to where they are today. Take time to understand the vision and mission of their company. Inquire about current challenges they are facing or what solutions they are currently seeking out. Ask what their favorite books are and what they're currently reading. Learn more about their goals over the next 3, 6, and 12 months.

At the end of your meetup, ask the person who they can recommend to have coffee with next. Also, make sure to send a follow-up note or email thanking the person for their time.

• didn’t require a college degree,
• doesn’t require a technical background,
• could offer you better job security,
• has high earning potential,
• would allow you to set your own hours,
• could allow you to be your own boss,
• and would enable you to work from anywhere (with an internet connection).

You may think this sounds too good to be true.

What career could possibly offer all of these things?

Two words.

Web Development.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The employment of web developers is projected to grow 27 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations.” Web developers can start out earning a salary of $66K to $100K. Many go on to start their own businesses or work around the world.

​How would your life be different if you had better pay, better job prospects, and a better work-life balance?

The only thing that you need to get started as a web developer is a computer, an Internet connection, and this Web Developer Playbook.

This book is written for people who want to become a web developer and level up their coding, so that they can earn more and live they life they desire. The Web Developer Playbook is a 12-step process that will help you begin and advance your career in web development, even if you don’t have a college degree, experience, or a programming background. This plan will show you exactly what you need to learn and how to gain these critical skills, including a personalized study plan.

Click the button below to download the Web Developer Playbook for free!