Nearly everywhere you look—from business management, to customer engagement, to product development—technology plays a massive role. As such, tech-related skills—and coding in particular—are excellent additions to nearly any professional’s resume.
A variety of books, apps and websites make it easy for even busy professionals to get a start on learning the fundamentals of coding. But which entry-level resources are the most effective? Below, 13 experts from Forbes Technology Council share their recommendations for beginners interested in learning coding.
1. Code Complete
The single best cornerstone book on good software development is Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction by Steve McConnell. Oftentimes new developers will get hung up on “The new technology X book,” which is a mistake. You need to understand the fundamentals before jumping into the details. While this book has code examples, it focuses more on patterns and practices. - Matt Kruczek, Tallan
2. Lightbot
For the very young or those who have not yet had any experience with procedural abstraction, I would recommend the Lightbot site/app/game. This learning tool is fun and can identify problems with abstract thought processes. It is an excellent first attempt at understanding programming concepts without having to worry about language/syntax and all the other elements of a programming toolchain. - Chris Kirby, Retired
3. Wrox
You may have seen their red books at the bookstore or on the desks of your IT friends and co-workers. For over 25 years, developers have relied on Wrox books as effective tools for learning new programming languages and technologies. Start at the Wrox website. They have a staple of resources for all levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. - Jonathan Babad, DIRECTED
4. Pluralsight
Previously known as the Code School, Pluralsight is an online resource for all types of coding tutorials and lessons. This resource has helped me stay updated so I can work with my team of developers. - Jon Bradshaw, Calendar
5. The C Programming Language And Codea
In terms of learning how to code, the best book is The C Programming Language by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie. Even if C is not the language you’ll use (and likely you won’t), the book is elegantly simple in its explanation of core programming concepts like loops, arrays and conditionals. For an app, get Codea, an iPad app that helps you write code and execute it on the iPad. - John J. Higginson, Enova
6. Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
There are tons of online resources to learn how to code. There are far fewer resources, unfortunately, for learning to write code that is secure. One of the best resources for learning to write secure code is OWASP. It contains a wealth of information, guides, tools and conferences focused on secure coding. - Brian Contos, Verodin Inc.
7. Swift Playgrounds
Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app is free and includes tons of quality content straight from Apple that teaches people of all ages how to code. The lessons are simple but are an excellent introduction to the logical thinking required to learn programming skills. Once you’ve mastered the lessons available, you’ll be prepared to make a simple iPhone app or apply the same concepts to make a web app. - Jason Gill, The HOTH
8. freeCodeCamp
freeCodeCamp is a free online coding school that provides a proven code curriculum followed by hands-on projects for nonprofit organizations. It’s a great way to move beyond the books and tutorials and hone your skills on real projects while helping organizations that can’t afford the cost of deploying modern technology to deploy great applications. It frees your soul. - Frank Palermo, Virtusa
9. Codecademy and Hands-On Machine Learning
For a complete novice, I highly recommend Codecademy. It’s approachable and builds from the basics. I hadn’t coded for 20 years and quickly taught myself the basics of Python. For learning something more on the cutting edge, Aurélien Géron’s book Hands-on Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn and TensorFlow will quickly get you writing machine learning algorithms using Python and other free tools. - Paul Lipman, BullGuard
10. Grasshopper
I believe everybody in this age should have at least basic knowledge of coding. Grasshopper is a good app to start with. Backed by Google, they’ve made it pretty fun. I think it’s important to start with very basic coding, and it’s important to make it fun so that the students don’t lose interest. Real-time feedback makes it easy to spot mistakes and fix them. - Vikram Joshi, pulsd
11. Khan Academy
With more than half the world connected to the internet, information is readily available to those who seek it. Khan Academy is not only a leader in the online education format, it is also a pioneer, having started in 2007. Their coding courses are interactive and a great resource to learn the basics. It also makes it a fun environment. If you are a visual learner this is a great avenue to take. - Alexandro Pando, Xyrupt Technologies
12. YouTube
I am a self-taught iOS developer who picked up Swift right when it first came out. I explored a bunch of online courses, coding apps and websites, but the tried and true resource that I’d always go back to is YouTube. The combination of code examples with visual demonstrations is powerful when learning to code. The breadth of videos to learn Swift is virtually unlimited on YouTube. - Jon Hegranes, Kittyhawk.io
13. Udemy, Code And Computer Science Distilled
My 14- and 18-year-old sons recently started looking into coding, and after looking at different sites we chose Udemy. They offer an excellent range of high-quality courses taught by great instructors. I would also suggest reading Code by Charles Petzold, as it gives a fundamental understanding of how computers work, as well as Computer Science Distilled by Wladston Ferreira Filho. - Claus Jepsen, Unit4
