Alternative Ways to Learn Coding
Or What Are Some Resources to Get You Started With Coding Without Having to Go to a 4-year College
Learning to code, as exciting as it seems, can be a daunting task, especially if you are not pursuing it as a part of a formal college degree. But why do you need a 4-year commitment (and a student loan to go along with it) if there are so many other options to help you learn coding in a shorter amount of time and for much cheaper?
In the past decade or so, we have seen a shift in the way many of us think about education and whether a college degree is necessary for certain fields. While learning a discipline in a university classroom surrounded by like-minded students has a number of benefits, it may not be a feasible option for many of us. The growth of free online resources and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) made learning a lot more fun and accessible to people from all different socioeconomic backgrounds from around the world. Even big tech giants like Google and Apple recognized that and changed their policy to no longer require employees to have a college degree.
Whether you work full-time to take care of your family and you don’t have the time and means to go to college full-time or you simply don’t think the formal college setting is the most optimal way for you to learn, this blog can help you find an option that works for you!
Our team put together a list of resources in three categories — self-learning, online courses, and bootcamps — to help you navigate the ever-growing online education space and get you started on your journey of learning a new skill and landing your dream job!
Self-learning
Pros: Flexibility — you can pick any language or topic whenever it’s convenient for you. Self-learning also lets you choose the pace at which you are going through the materials. You can easily go back and refresh a certain topic, take a break for a couple of weeks, or breeze through a chapter if it all makes sense. Lastly, most of the self-learning resources are completely or partially free. Some sites have free trials, which encourage you to complete as much as possible in that timeframe.
Cons: While it’s great to study at your own pace, this approach definitely lacks accountability and structure. If you are one of those people who needs a group environment to stay driven and motivated, the self-learning approach may not be right for you. With this method it’s also much harder to determine how much time you have to put in and when you will be done.
Resources
Mode is a collaborative data platform that provides the user with datasets to allow them to learn and practice SQL, Python, R and data visualization. It is a great source for anyone interested in getting started with data science and analytics.
Languages Supported: SQL, Python
W3schools is an educational website for learning different coding and scripting languages online. The platform provides sample codes and datasets to enable its users to learn and practice coding. Although the website offers tutorials and materials on a variety of coding languages, it would be a great starting point on your coding journey, but it will be hardly sufficient if your goal is to make a career pivot into a tech role.
Languages Supported: SQL, HTML, XML, PHP, C#, C++, Python, Java, Kotlin
SQLZoo is another free online resource to help you learn basic SQL, but as W3Schools, think of it more as a starting point than your end game. It is also limited to SQL only.
Languages Supported: SQL
LeetCode’s main benefit is in practicing interview questions given to other candidates, but you might be surprised to know that the website also has a learning section in which you can find topics such as Introduction of Algorithms and Data Structures.
Languages Supported: C, C++, Java, Python, C#, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Swift and many more
HackerRank is not only great to help you prepare for interviews with tons of practice questions. It also provides different Tutorials like 30 Days of Code in which you are introduced to different Computer Science Concepts and give you interactive problems each day. You can write the code in any of the major languages and you can submit your code just like practicing on the regular HackerRank platform. On top of the Tutorials, they also have Skills Certification in many different languages in both basic and intermediate level.
Languages Supported: C, C++, Java, Python, C#, Go, Ruby, Perl, Objective-C, Swift and many more
Khan Academy is a well-known website that was initially catered for Elementary school Math, but nowadays it’s offering different Coding Courses including AP CS Principles, Intro to languages like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and SQL. Their Hour of Code section is tailored specifically for those who want to learn to code with interactive videos, step-by-step challenges and projects to master the gained knowledge.
Languages Supported: CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and SQL
Raywenderlich.com is the right place for you if you want to specialize in mobile development! They have easy to follow guides, in-depth video courses, sample projects and books! Since it’s a community based website, all of the creators are mobile development experts who bring the newest content weekly.
Languages/Platforms Supported: Objective-C, Swift, Java, Android, Kotlin, Flutter, Unity
Online Courses
Pros: Online Courses provide the organization and in-depth knowledge self-paced learning lacks. By having a prepared syllabus, you are able to know beforehand how long the course will take, how much time per week you will need to put in and whether you are on schedule. Another benefit is that they are led by professors or experts in the field. The biggest advantage of the online courses is the certification that they provide, which can be useful during job hunting.
Cons: If your biggest motivator is having peers, unfortunately, most online-courses may not be for you since most of them are self-paced. Having a predetermined schedule makes these courses somewhat actionable, but also less flexible. Majority of these courses are free or have a free trial, but if you want to get an official certification you normally have to pay for it.
Resources
There are so many MOOC options to choose from nowadays, but here’s a list of the most popular ones: Udacity, Coursera, edX, Udemy, CodeAcademy, LinkedIn Learning.
Our team identified a few great options to get you started with SQL, Python, and Java hosted on some of these platforms:
SQL Courses: CodeAcademy, Coursera [Intro to SQL], Coursera [SQL for Data Science], edX, Udemy.
Python Courses: Udemy has a fantastic course on fundamentals of Python coding. Harvard’s CS50 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python on edX is also a good course if you are interested in AI.
Java Courses: edX’s Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming with Java 3-part course will give you in depth knowledge of the language and how object-oriented programming works.
Bootcamps
This section is focused on in-person bootcamps, although a lot of bootcamps do provide an online option as well.
Pros: Studying at a Bootcamp would provide you with structured content and a support system of teachers, mentors, and other students to help keep you on track to achieve your end goal. The community and opportunity to collaborate with others that bootcamps offer is invaluable, especially when studying something as challenging as coding. Not only do you get to learn with and from the other students, but you also get to work on cool projects that you can then add to your portfolio.
Cons: Bootcamps are similar to college classes in terms of their curriculum and set completion timeline (a course can last up to 6–9 months). As such, they offer little flexibility when it comes to studying the content at your own pace. Bootcamps have a defined start and end date and a set time when the whole class meets that you will need to adhere to. This might prove a particularly difficult task when you try to tackle a bootcamp and a full-time job. Moreover, bootcamps can be very expensive and require weekly time commitment for the duration of the course.
Resources
Bootcamps are offered by a lot of local colleges and universities, as well as organizations such as General Assembly and Galvanize. We recommend you consult with each organization about their specific offerings and choose the one that best fits your personal preference and budget.
We hope you were able to identify a resource that you would like to give a try. If you did or if you already have experience with any of these, please let us know in the comment section. We’d love to hear what your go-to resources are!
Happy coding!
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Disclaimer: All opinions and experiences shared in this article are our own and do not represent the views of our employers.
About the Authors
Antoaneta Manko is a Data Analyst at Amazon. She is a strong believer that the world’s toughest problems can be solved using data. Apart from her job, she is passionate about helping others pursue careers in analytics by mentoring and knowledge-sharing.
Allie Stoyanova is a Software Engineer at Microsoft working on Office for Mac & iOS. She is very passionate about education, volunteering, and growing others through mentorship. She handles problems with unrelenting optimism and shares her enthusiasm for computer science with those around her.
About Bulgarian Women in Tech
Bulgarian Women in Tech is a global organization that aims to establish a strong network of women working in technology across the globe.
Our mission is to increase the women in tech global impact through providing accessible-for-all global opportunities for education, collaboration, growth, inspiration and mentoring, while celebrating our successes together.
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