How to Learn Programming Online – Step By Step Guide and Best Sites to Follow

By Parth Makadiya

I have myself not learned coding from school or any other computer coaching institute, but I know more than 6 programming languages right now. I had no guidance. If you also have the same problem then this post is for you. Below I have given a list of websites, webapps, books, forums and YouTube Channels that will help you to learn and master programming.

BUT - before you start learning from the websites listed below, I have a few advice’s for you and trust me it will really help you in learning to code fast –

What do you want to learn coding for? That is what task do you want to complete by learning to code, like web development, android development, webapps, maintaining servers, developing games etc. etc. 

Now once you have decided the above go and register to – Code.org. This website will keep you updated of all the latest seminars, workshops, competitions and webinars related to computers and programming. They even organize events like – The Hour of Code. And guess what it is FREE!!

Be regular and don’t leave learning a language in between.

Don’t think you will become a pro – game developer or sever maintainer overnight. Learning to code requires time, practice, hardwork and – logic (lots of it!!).
So, you are still reading this post and are not really scared of the last two points I have mentioned above. Here is the list-

Websites and webapps

1.Codecademy

I have personally used this website a lot and still use it!! It is one of the best website if you want to learn Web development. This website is free – 100% and they don’t just teach you or give you notes…..they let you practice programming on their editors. This website have a very nice way of teaching to code, once you sign up and choose the language you want to learn you will see that they have a wholes course made for that language. When you take up a course and start it, you will see a left-sidebar with explanation about how to code in that particular language and a small exercise that you will have to complete in the editor in the center and you can even see an output on the window located at upper-right of the screen. They will teach you to make games like rock, paper, and scissor to blackjack! The languages that they teach are -

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript ( not java, don’t get confused)
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby
• APIs

You can also ask a query to the communities made on codecademy for a particular programming problem.

2.W3schools

Do you want to be the master when it comes to web development? Then you should try this one. This is the site I trust the most. However these people do not offer interactive courses like the ones on Codecademy, you can still program online on their website using their editor. The best part it that they have quizzes that you can take once you have learned a programming language to see how much you actually know. If you get a 18 right out of the 20 questions asked ( without cheating!) you should give their certification exam (even IT Companies prefer people if they have a w3school certificate ). The languages that they teach are -

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• SQL
• PHP
• JQuery
• XML
• ASP.Net
• AJAX
• VBScript
• ASP

They also have a list of references, examples and forums. This website is also free.

3.Grok Learning

Are you ready to spend a little money for learning to code? If “yes” then you should try this out. These people are much like Codecademy, but have more rich courses, competitions and seminar/webinars. You can try a course for free but not the whole. If you want to become good at python you should try this one.

4.Make Games With.us

Want to become a game developer for iOS? I you answered – “yes” they say – “Drive in!” . This website is for people who already have a bit of programming experience. This website as the name suggests will teach you to make iOS games. And the good part is that they let you publish it on the App Store for FREE!! They do not even take money for teaching to code!! They also teach –
Objective-C, Debugging, and XCode
If you want to be a pro game developer and have a little programming experience try this.

5. Udacity

This website is just like Codecademy BUT and this is a big one – You don’t need to read to learn, they have video tutorials from people who are – computer scientist, professors in top U.S. universities, programmer who have been on high positions in companies like Microsoft and Facebook, and even entrepreneurs who have made million from their ideas. They also have courses for both beginners and pro’s-
Learn Python – Build a search engine
Into. to Salesforce App Development
Intro to Data Science
AI for Robotics
Intro. to parallel programming
Functional hardware verification
Interactive 3D graphics
Programming Languages – Make a web browser
Make HTML5 game
Huf, their list is endless, you can find it in their course catalog.

Books to Follow

1.Write your first program

Write your first program is an introductory books to computer programming by Amit Shah. This books focuses on teaching people to program in Python and C on a Windows or Linux OS. The author has assumed that the readers of this book have no prior programming experience. The books also has a companion website which -

• Extended treatment of certain topics
• Additional tips and tutorials
• Questions and comments page

The first chapter covers topics like setting up Windows and writing your first program ( in both Python and C) and the last chapter deals with advanced topics like – Network programming, game programming and parallel programming.

2.The Missing Manual (series) 

The Missing Manual series is one of the best books in the market to learn programming. Although these are little costly but they are worth it. The series so far have completed the following languages.

• HTML 5
• Python & MySQL
• PHP
• Dreamweaver
• CSS

The book however focuses more on application and software tutorials, but the programming books that they offer have not been written by no novice. The books come with tutorials CDs, you can even buy an E-book if you like.

3.C Programming: A Modern Approach

This introductory book on programming with C by K. N. King has a very nice and unique approach to the presentation of the material , as it is stuffed with examples and insights. The books just not teaches its readers to program but it also tells them how the C language actually work. It is a very nice book if you want to become a master in programming with C, but I believe that before reading this book you should be having a little experience with programming (you should at least know how loops and arrays work).

4.MySQL (4th edition)

The book by Paul DuBois is a very fat book with over 1200 pages!! There is nothing to tell about this book ( as the series is already so popular that most people know about it) except that it revolves around -

• General MySQL
• MySQL programming interface for C, Perl and PHP
• MySQL Administration.

5.Simply JavaScript: By Kevin Yank & Cameron Adams

This book is – The Best, when it comes to learning JavaScript. The book is packed with examples and teaches its readers how to solve real life and mathematics problems with JavaScript. The book will take you through a amazing journey in which you will learn to – build smarter forms, track user events (such as mouse clicks and key strokes), and design eye-catching animations. Then move on to more powerful techniques using the DOM and Ajax. This is the best easy-to-understand beginners book available.

Forums and Youtube Channels

1. StackOverflow

This is a forum where you can get answers to your programming queries by some enthusiast and professional programmers. The form has been built well according to categories. It is 100% Free to use. The idea of the forum is the same as of YahooAnswers, but is only for programming queries.

2. Dream in Code

This is also just like other – “Learn programming forums” on the net but it has a quality audience and you will get the answer to your question in 2-3 days. The blog ha been categorized in various pages like -

• Web development
• Computers
• Tutorials

And the following in programming -

• C and C++
• VB.Net
• Java
• C#
• ASP.Net
• PHP
• Ruby
• Python, and many more languages.

3.The New Boston

This is a great channel with truly immense programming tutorial collection. Not only does it has tutorials for various programming languages, but it also has videos on building computers and tutorials for software like Dreamweaver and After Effects, as well as 3D-modeling software.

4.Academy PHP

As the name suggest this YouTube Channel is for people who want to learn PHP and a little MySQL ( as both the languages are mostly used together ). With over 200 videos this programming tutorial YouTube channel has become the most subscribed coding tutorial channel in the United Kingdom.