Become a Full Stack Developer for Free
I really think we’re conditioned to see the word free nowadays and think “scam” because who in their right mind would share resources without any personal benefit? To be honest, you’re probably not wrong.
My husband wants to learn how to code and doesn’t want to spend money attending a bootcamp when there are so many great, free resources online, so I reached out to my software engineering friends for all of their favorite learning resources. After receiving a truly solid wall of links, I decided some of them were too good not to share and, well, here we are! So, rest assured, I’m not selling anything and I did get some form of personal benefit.
Please note, you don’t have to go in the order that the resources are in (or feel pressured to do ALL of them… it’s a lot), especially if you have no interest in learning one language or only want to do frontend or backend stuff, but I do suggest waiting to click on the resources I’ve marked advanced until you have mastered the language. (Common sense, I know, but consider it a disclaimer.)
Huge shout out to Elias Taveras, Alvee Akand, Triona Moynihan, Raymond Gan, Julia Zhou, and Gbenga Ojo-Aromokudu for contributing to the resources!
- All About JavaScript -
Official JavaScript Documentation
The first place to check syntax, find tutorials on topics for complete beginners to advanced engineers, and browse the complete JavaScript reference documentation.
Head First JavaScript (Online Book)
A brain-friendly guide to help you learn JS and “launch your career in one chapter.” 120 puzzles and exercises and learn how to watch out for common coding traps and pitfalls.
The Modern JavaScript Tutorial (Online Book)
A 3-part collection of knowledge from the basics to advanced topics with simple, but detailed explanations.
Part 1 covers learning JavaScript, starting from scratch and going on to advanced concepts like Object Oriented Programming (OOP). There is concentration on the language itself here, with the minimum of environment-specific notes.
Part 2 covers the Browser: Document, Events, and Interfaces. Learn how to manage the browser page by adding elements, manipulating their size and position, and how to dynamically create interfaces and interact with visitors.
Part 3 is a list of extra topics that can be read in whatever order you want. You must complete parts 1 and 2 before moving to this section.
You Don’t Know JS Yet (Online Book Series)
This is a series of books diving deep into the core mechanisms of the JavaScript language. This is the second edition of the book series. Please note, you can purchase the physical copies of the books so don’t get confused and buy them unless you really want to.
JavaScript Basics (Video Series)
A video series on JS fundamentals, links to practice problems, and references. These resources mostly cover the JS language and the first 2 references have amazing info on JS in the browser web APIs (DOM, canvas, etc.)
Kevin Powell (Youtube Tutorials)
With a mix of short videos and long series, he tries to expand your front-end skills, while also giving you tips and tricks on improving your designs along the way too. New videos out every Wednesday.
Garrett Halstein (Youtube Tutorials)
A former Chemist who is a software developer at IBM. He helps people who are seeking a job as a software developer and also has tons of great videos and tutorials about Software Engineering dos and donts.
CodeSmith (Online Course)
I’ll preface this with: I’m not sure if you can go through the entire course for free, but this is a good resource nonetheless. CSX has courses, coding challenges, mentors, and a great community.
Frontend Mentor (Online Coding Challenges)
Improve your front-end skills by building real projects. Solve real-world HTML, CSS and JavaScript challenges while coding to professional designs.
- Full Stack Resources -
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They are a free Software Engineering bootcamp that focuses on collaboration, freedom to explore different areas of programming, peer and project-based learning, and learning how to learn. You can learn at your own pace and it’s not just for people who want to be a software engineer, they are very realistic that some people would prefer to do UX/UI or project management and cater to those people accordingly. It’s an all-around great bootcamp. The best part? It’s free. The downside? It’s in Paris… or maybe that’s an upside for you?
App Academy (JavaScript and Python)
Their free course has over 1,500 hours of material (readings, videos, projects), an interactive coding environment, and community features (like chat) to keep you connected with thousands of prospective developers across the globe. The free course is an identical curriculum to the in-person full-time course, you just won’t have access to Live Video Lectures, Job Placement Services, Pair Programming, and a few other collaborative things.
Code Academy
They teach you how to build websites, analyzing data, and more. Just pick the language you want to learn and get immediate feedback on whether or not you’re on the right track. I have a friend who only did the free code academy course (start to finish) and is now a full-time employed Full Stack Developer.
Full Stack Python (Python)
How to build, deploy, and operate python applications. An open source book that explains technical concepts in plain language. Read everything online for free!
Harvard University Online
You can audit all of Harvard’s Online Computer Science courses for free! Just in case you don’t know, that means you attend the online class but you don’t get the certificate. If it matters to you, you can pay for the certificate, but personally I would just take as many courses as you can for free.
The Odin Project (Javascript, NodeJS, and Ruby)
Track 1: Full Stack Ruby on Rails will teach you everything you need to know from start to finish in order to create beautiful responsive websites from scratch in Ruby on Rails.
Track 2: Front End Only will take you through all of the front-end content. You will only learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Track 3: Full Stack Javascript will everything you need to know to create beautiful responsive websites from scratch using JavaScript and NodeJs.
Full Stack Open (React, Redux, Node.js, MongoDB, GraphQL and TypeScript)
Advanced Resource: This course will introduce you to modern JavaScript-based web development. The main focus is on building single page applications with ReactJS that use REST APIs built with Node.js. The course also covers testing, configuration and environment management.
- Bonus: One Paid Resource -
Front End Masters
I know I said this blog post was full of resources that are completely free but everyone chimed in that this website was AWESOME. I don’t know anything about this website but it came so highly recommended that I figured it’s worth throwing in there. (So don’t yell at me!)
“Some of the best online instructions I’ve ever had!” — Some Guy on Discord
Here is a link to their Frontend Engineer Handbook (2024) — https://frontendmasters.com/guides/front-end-handbook/2024/
Are you overwhelmed yet? ❤ Feel free to ask questions below and/or add me on LinkedIn if you’re confused or just want to chat.
