7 Best Christmas and New Year Gift Ideas for Programmers in 2024
Looking for Gift ideas to give best gift to your programmer friend or colleagues? Here are the 7 best Gifts for Software Developers and Tech geeks
So, its that time of the year again when you start thinking about gifts for your programmer boyfriend, husband, colleagues, or your near dear ones. Even if selecting presents or gifts were not tough, if your friend happened to be a programmer, it becomes slightly tougher.
You might have heard that Programmers are aloof, nerd, and tech freaks, well, you heard it right. Programmers prefer to be alone in their own world, but they also like gifts, and you got it right; they are a nerd, so they love books, gadgets, music, and something which helps them to learn something, like a Udemy, Educative, or PluralSight membership.
In 2021, gadgets like Apple Watch, the New 15" Mac Book Pro, and Samsung Gears were rocking, but that’s what everyone is buying, so if you want to be a little bit different, chose the one from this list.
7 Best Christmas and New Year Gift Ideas for Software Engineers and Developers in 2024
Here is my selected list of 5 gift items you can buy for your programmer boyfriend or colleague in this holiday season and New Year. They are some of the valuable gifts you can give to your programmer friend, they are exciting, provides values, and they also fit your budget.
1 Gift a course from Udemy
Programmers love online courses, including me, and Udemy is the biggest collection of online courses. It has got over 125,000 online courses to learn anything, like starting from popular programming languages like Java and Python to advanced technology, like Big Data, Automation, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Robotics, etc.
Udemy allows you to send a course or a gift card to your programmer friend, you just need to enter his email while purchasing the course.
My wife gifted me the Machine Learning A-Z: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science, and I simply loved it. If your husband is interested in Data Science, Machine Learning, or Artificial intelligence, then you can gift that too.
If you know what your husband or boyfriend likes, then you can choose some excellent courses from Udemy; otherwise, I just bought a gift card for them. It’s also one of the most affordable gift you can buy for a programmer friend as most of Udemy courses can be bought for less than $10 during sale.
They are also offering a personal plan of their selected courses, you can also consider giving them, it may cost more but he/she will love it.
2. Pluralsight Subscription (33% OFF)
Even though I’m a bit biased, since I’m a Pluralsight user, I still think a Pluralsight subscription is one of the best gifts for any programmer or software developer, simply because it is just so valuable.
There are so many courses on Pluralsight now that every developer should have a subscription.
It’s a little bit expensive, the annual subscription cost you around 299USD, but it’s precious, and your programmer friend will appreciate you every time he uses his subscription to learn something.
It’s also a holiday time so they might be offering their traditional 33% discount, you can check their website if that is available you can also take advantage of that.
3. New 16-inch MacBook Pro
Programmers Love Gadgets, and nothing beats Apple when it comes to gadgets. If you are a programmer, friends don’t have MacBook Pro, then its a perfect idea to gift that to them.
Apple announced a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, which many people calling the ultimate developer machine, and I also think the best programmer gift this year.
Apart from Apple fixing the keyboard issue, here are some of the major highlights of New 16-inch MacBook Pro, looking like an awesome Developer machine:
- 16-inch Retina display
- Up to 8-core processor
- Up to 8TB SSD storage
- Up to 64GB of memory
- Up to 11 hours of battery life
- Dedicated escape key
- Dedicated arrow buttons
- AMD Radeon Pro 5000M series graphics
- Six-speaker sound system and studio-quality mics
Sure, it’s costly, but if he is someone you love or very close to, then its definitely worth it, and whoever you gift it will not forget you for a long time. In fact, this is the ultimate gift for a programmer, it’s on the wish list too just in case if you want to gift me :-)
4. Amazon Echo
This is the perfect gift for a programmer who has a family. At first, I was skeptical about this device, but everyone in my house loves it. It’s very convenient to be able to set timers, play music, and make shopping lists.
Most importantly, It also has an API that can be extended to build custom apps to keep your programmer friend interested. In short, a perfect gift for a programmer family friend.
There is also a new version of Amazon Echo is coming, Amazon Echo Plus, if the delivery time suits your need, you can also pre-order it.
5. Kolibri Camera Drone Delta-Recon FPV App Quadcopter Drone
This is one of the most popular gifts for programmers and tech geeks this year, and I am expecting the trend will continue in the coming years too.
The Kolibri Camera Drone Delta-Recon FPV App Quadcopter Drone with Auto Takeoff and Landing Altitude Hold Headless mode VR Capable iPhone and Android Beginner Drone, as the name suggests it is just so powerful and amazing.
It can auto take-off, and it also VR Capable, and you can control it from your phone too. In short, your programmer friend will simply love it. It’s an excellent gift for not just programmers but to their families or any technical geeks.
6. Asus ROG PG348Q 34-Inch Ultra-wide QHD Swift Curved Gaming Monitor
I’ve been using an ASUS Full HD 1080p 144Hz 1ms DP HDMI DVI Eye Care Gaming LED-Lit 27" Monitor for quite some time.
In fact, at one point, I had two monitors hooked up to my PC, but I’m starting to think that a curved UltraWide display may just be the ultimate monitor choice for a programmer.
I haven’t picked up an UltraWide for myself yet, but I have just ordered an Asus Curved 34-inch UltraWide QHD Gaming Monitor. Indeed, the best gift for programmers, game lovers, and tech geeks.
7. CanaKit Raspberry Pi 2 Ultimate Starter Kit with WiFi
Raspberry Pi is the finest small computer that you can buy, and this kit is only $99. Although it’s only the size of a credit card, it can be plugged into a TV and keyboard and programmed to make spreadsheets, games, and more.
This kit includes Raspberry Pi 2 (RPi2) Model B Quad-Core 900 MHz 1 GB RAM, 8 GB Micro SD, CanaKit WiFi Adapter, and quick start guide. Raspberry Pi Foundation’s mission is to teach children how to program, but they do a terrific job entertaining adults and seasoned developers too.
Online Course Gift Idea for Learning
If you need more Git Ideas here are few more of them
- Gift Educative.io membership — If your friend is looking for new job or preparing for coding interview then this would be the best gift for him
2. ZTM Membership Gift — this is another great online portal and if you wan to give a learning gift them gifting this membership is also a great idea. It has a lot of great courses on coding interview, Python, and JavaScript.
You can also use coupon code FRIENDS10 to get a 10% discount on this course or any subscription you choose.
That’s all about some of the best gifts you can buy for your programmer friend. I know a gift is not just about money. In fact, spending money is easy, but finding the right gift is much tougher.
But the joy of giving a perfect gift, which is both valuable and amazing, is worthy of all these troubles of searching for the ideal gifts for programmers. Btw, if you are looking for options, you can also see my gift ideas list from last year.
P. S. — If you are not able to select a gift or don’t have enough time to choose one, gifting Educative, or Pluralsight membership will never heart as every programmer loves learning. They are also offering a good 50% OFF (Educative) and a 33% discount (Pluralsight) to go with that.
