We’ve compiled a list of the best online courses for beginners to get you started on your journey. With the promise of more access, flexibility, and convenience than traditional learning environments, these nine popular sites will give you insights into programming with multiple languages and software tools. Whether you just want to learn basic coding principles or have an interest in building websites and apps, these beginner-friendly skills will strengthen your tech skills and introduce you to the world of computer science.
The Top Online Coding Courses for Beginners
1. Coursera
Look no further than Coursera for a well-regarded, academically rigorous web development coding course. Stanford professors founded the site, which continues to collaborate with universities, colleges, and corporations to provide a comprehensive suite of courses, degrees, and specializations.
But first, let’s talk about coding. You might not expect it, but Coursera has a good number of free courses available, though keep in mind that you’ll usually have to pay for the final certificate. There are good beginner-level courses available; if you’re starting from scratch, we recommend the University of Michigan’s ‘Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding’ course. Advanced users may want to take a look at IBM’s course ‘Applied AI with Deep Learning.’
Whatever stage you’re at in your coding career, Coursera is an excellent place to start.
2. Coding for Beginners with Applause Interactive
The Coding for Beginners course promotes itself as a foundational level course for total beginners that teaches students typical coding topics such as errors, pseudo code, and code execution. The ideas learned may then be applied to whichever programming language you want to study next. Over 30 lectures and coding exercises will help you develop the skills needed to create a basic app in both the coding languages Scratch and Python, the course’s final project.
Throughout the course, you’ll accomplish a variety of tasks, including designing and coding a candy game, creating crossword puzzles, building animations for games, designing user accounts for an e-commerce site, and more. This course is hosted by Applause Interactive.
Coding for Beginners is a great way to start learning how to code without all the advanced features that come with other courses.
3. Pre-programming: Everything to Know Before You Code with Evan Kimbrell
Evan Kimbrell, the founder of a digital business, begins his preprogramming course with fundamental topics such as how the computer, the internet, and operating systems integrate into programming. This may appear very simplistic, but if you’re just starting on your learning path, it’s useful context.
Finally, the session focuses on the fundamentals of coding, various programming languages, front-end and back-end frameworks, application programming interfaces, content management systems, and other advanced ideas.
Furthermore, The pre-programming course is broken into six progressive modules, which means you can dive in and out of the course as you choose.
4. Programming for Beginners with Cas Van Gool
The programming course taught by software engineer Cas Van Gool emphasizes the fundamentals of programming in any software language. Variables, strings, integers, if-statements, while-statements, for-statements, and for-each-statements are all covered in the coding lessons. From shopping lists to minigames, Van Gool gives step-by-step exercises and builds projects using C++ for kids. For this course, you’ll also need Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code source code editor application, which is free to download.
The project-based learning and real-world examples make this course an efficient way to learn the basics. Plus, Van Gool makes the material engaging in his slightly goofy, good-humored style.
5. Python for Beginners with Deitel and Associates, LLC
Founded by brothers Paul and Harvey Deitel, DEITEL is a computer science training organization that focuses on creating software training materials for IT professionals and tech enthusiasts. Their free Python programming course teaches beginners how to write programs in Python, a popular general-purpose language widely used for web development, as well as system administration tools, automated testing tools and scientific computing applications. You’ll learn how to use Python programming features interactively.
Python is a scripting language that can be used for various purposes, including web development. This free course covers the basics of the language and is suitable for beginners who want to learn Python in no time.
6. Programming Foundations with Javascript, HTML and CSS with Susan Rodger
Among the topics covered in Duke University’s Programming Foundations with Javascript, HTML, and Cascading Style Sheets course are HTML, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Programming, algorithm creation, testing, and debugging are all covered in this course.
The Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization includes the five-course Java Programming and Software Engineering Foundations course. Enrolling in a single course and earning a certificate is one option, but you can also choose to examine the materials without spending any money. One course in the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization entitles you to the whole specialization, making it ideal for beginners.
CodePen.io and a Java-enabled laptop or desktop computer are required for the training. You’ll need to download and install Bluej, a free Java programming tool if you decide to continue with the other courses.
7. Code Academy
Code Academy is a coding bootcamp that provides an intensive one-year training course that teaches students how to code using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and other programming languages. Besides eight-week video courses, this program also teaches live coding on a team for free.
Students are expected to supply their computers and recommended software, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud.
The program offers a combination of interactive lessons, in-class projects, and self-paced exercises. During live projects, students are mentored by former Google engineers and study under the guidance of industry experts.
What’s interesting about this course is that with its help, you can turn any idea into a potential online business using the internet, mobile apps, or web design. Plus, you’ll learn how to navigate the business world and build partnerships.
Conclusion
No matter what programming language you choose, or how you go about learning to code, a free course will be a worthwhile resource for completing your goals. Not only will it help you master the basics of programming and code, but you’ll also gain confidence as well as the ability to build useful apps.
Do any of these free courses inspire you to learn more coding? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
