10 Sites That Teach Coding For Free Online

Tech has changed, web practices as well and new platforms have become key players in determining the success of a Brand's online footprint. When starting a new business, the first thing entrepreneurs ten to do is hit social media and start creating pages and profiles, regularly posting about what's hot and happening in their world. Once things start to progress, you get hold of a developer and get a website built. He works his magic and voila, you have an excellent new site which you share with the world.

Fast forward a few months later, and you need some changes made, big or small, and you have to contact the developer to change these things. And depending on the size of the Job and his/hers capacity you will probably have to wait a while to get these changes implemented. With platforms like WordPress and Shopify it's quite easy to make these changes yourself, but knowing a thing or two about coding will decide whether your changes will look professional or a complete mess.

Why everyone should have basic coding skills in 2018

Knowing how to make fundamental code changes, in at least HTML, is an essential skill for each entrepreneur, small business owner and digital marketer should know. In this world, its a necessary skill like knowing how to tie your shoelaces or make a PB & J sandwich.

Learn the basics, and it will open up so many doors for you

1. Make small quick and easy changes without relying on a developer.
2. Reduce your overhead costs and allocate this budget to growing your business elsewhere.
3. Ensure your site/ brand always look professional online.
4. Help you to speak the language of tech; this will help you to express yourself better when talking to developers. And also have the ability to identify what part of a platform requires changes.
5. Identify talent from the fakers - if you know a thing or two about coding it will help you to access the performance of new hires that are responsible for this aspect of your business. You'll know how long it takes to do the basics so you can always call them out if they are wasting your time.
6. Learn a new skill and have the ability to transfer that knowledge to other team members, this is always an admirable quality in a boss.
7. Coding also improves your problem-solving and logic skills which are not limited to the tech aspect of your business.

Learn to code for free with these sites:

CodeAcademy

Codecademy is everyone's favourite place to start. The platform is easy to use and focuses on practical, interactive learning; i.e. You see the results as you completing exercises. They also offer a number of courses in various programming languages at various levels.

freeCodeCape

freeCodeCamp runs like an interactive community online and offline. You'll learn to code by completing coding challenges and building projects. You'll also earn verified certificates along the way. CodeCampers are also encouraged to join a study group in their city so they can code in-person with other people.

Coursera

Coursera has a large online course library focussing on various topics. Every course on Coursera is taught by top instructors from the world’s best universities and educational institutions. Courses include recorded video lectures, auto-graded and peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums. When you complete a course, you’ll receive a shareable electronic Course Certificate. The course itself is absolutely free, but certificates have to be purchased if you want proof of completion. These cost between $29 and $99.

edX

Open edX is the open-source platform that powers edX courses and is freely available. With Open edX, educators and technologists can build learning tools and contribute new features to the platform, creating innovative solutions to benefit students everywhere. Edex is run by MIT and Harvard and offers 524 courses in the “computer science” category, teaching various coding languages on all levels.

codewars

Codewars offers a unique game style way of teaching code. The platform runs off a martial arts theme which urges you to complete level or challenges called kata to earn honour badges. Reviews are great, and users tend to love this fresh take on learning.

code.org

Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. They offer access to a wide range of tutorials in the form of how-to guides and give you access to material as offered by their partners. Once you mastered your coding skills, you can also learn about the development of games if you are interested.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalised learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. They offer 674 courses in the computing category covering various discipline. The more popular for basic coding is their "Hour of Code" course, breaking it down into bite-sized bits.

HTML Dog

HTML Dog offers free tutorials in HTML, CSS and Javascript. They start with the basics and then introduce you to common techniques and practices to help make your coding life easier.

The Odin Project

The Odin Project provides a free open source coding curriculum that can be taken entirely online. Since it’s inception, it has helped many students get hired as developers and has assisted countless others to learn enough programming to work on their own personal projects. They offer many interactive courses in various languages.

SoloLearn

SoloLearnis a free interactive platform that teaches the fundamentals of various programming languages. There web, mobile and tablet versions available for this tool so you can learn to code anywhere at any time. All platforms are seamlessly integrated so you can pick where you left off. They also offer quizzes after each section where you can test your skills before you advance.

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Tags: coding, How to, skills