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Marko Denic used to work “crap” restaurant jobs growing up in Serbia, until his daughter was born and he felt he had to quickly reevaluate his career to support his new family.
“Making no money was fine when I was alone and went out with friends. But then I got married and got my first kid, then I realized I was spending too much time making nothing,” he told Insider.
After coming across the mobile programming language Swift, which is the basis of most iOS apps, Denic launched into learning software development. Within three years, he landed a full time job as software engineer that he says now provides for his new family. While school helped, Denic said he was able to become a developer largely thanks to resources he found on the internet, and more importantly, the communities that gave him advice and feedback on his projects when he was just starting out.
“The problem is that when you are doing this stuff alone, and you have no idea what you’re doing, the basic stuff is really hard, whether you are in college or studying by yourself,” he said.
But Denic’s story isn’t unique. Self studying and online resources can help current and hopeful software developers practice coding, learn new skills, and even break into tech. To learn more about the best online resources, Insider spoke to 10 software developers who were able to become full-time developers largely through teaching themselves.
Raywenderlich is a community website founded by educator Ray Wenderlich where developers work together to create programming tutorials across web and mobile development.
Sergio Bost, a HVAC engineer turned-mobile developer, recommends Raywenderlich to learn mobile programming languages Flutter and Swift, as well as for its community and opportunities for networking.
“When you are starting out, its important to have a community you can turn to,” Bost told Insider. “And Raywenderlich is like the mecca for mobile developers.”
TwilioQuest is a free-to-play game designed by cloud communications company Twilio. It’s designed to help beginners learn programming languages like JavaScript and Python.
The game is set in a retro-style science-fiction world where players battle enemies that teach developers about cloud skills, open source software, and key programming languages.
Insider previously reported on how pixel artist Kerrie Lake got a job at Twilio and redesigned the game to update the its characters, environments, and creatures with a new pixelated style.
“It took a lot of guts, work, and dedication to get where I am today,” Lake said. “I love how my role blends together creativity and technology and gives me the opportunity to work alongside and learn from a passionate, imaginative team from around the world.”
Big Nerd Ranch is a web and mobile app development agency that publishes tutorials on programming languages Kotlin and Swift, as well as general iOS and Android programming.
Rick Wolter, who was formerly incarcerated and is now a mobile developer in Orlando, told Insider that Big Nerd Ranch really helped him brush up on key mobile development languages, especially since the books provided a general overlook at the languages’ important concepts.
“It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are doing some programming and learning programming fundamentals,” Wolter said.
While looking through documentation can be tedious, mobile developer and Alchemy Commerse cofounder Noah Gilmore still recommends developers looking to make their own apps do it. For this, he says the official Swift documentation can be a great resource, because Apple publishes its own samples and guides for building simple apps.
“If I were starting to develop a mobile app today, I would definitely start by doing 100 days of Swift and supplementing that by pouring through the Apple documentation and making sure I understood how everything worked,” Gilmore said.
Sean Allen is a content creator who makes iOS tutorials on Youtube. He’s shared introductory videos on Swift, job hunting advice, and various tips for junior developers just starting out in the industry.
According to Gilmore, Sean Allen’s Youtube channel is a good starting point for aspiring mobile developers in particular.
Swift by Sundell is run by John Sundell, who has been publishing articles, tutorials, and podcasts on iOS programming language Swift since 2017. All of the site’s content is completely free, and he regularly updates it with material for developers at all skill levels.
“There are a ton of content creator who make courses and resources for mobile development,” Gilmore told Insider. “Sean Allen, Hacking with Swift, and Swift By Sundell are three of my favorites.”
Freecodecamp is very popular with developers, mainly because it has a wide arrange of topics, tutorials, and resources — all for free.
Denic especially recommends Freecodecamp because its one of the “few online tools” that has no hidden costs and has a wide breadth of topics.
Jason Dsouza, a developer who contributes to the site, recommends aspiring developers looking for a very comprehensive at Python start with Freecodecamp’s four-hour Python course.
“Python is a hands-on language. I would definitely recommend it for a beginner, someone who’s getting into computer science in general,” Dsouza said.
“Automate the Boring Stuff with Python” is a free-to-read book written by Al Sweigart, a professional software developer who teaches programming to both kids and adults.
Reshama Shaikh, an organizer for the New York chapter of popular Python community Pyladies, recommends this book for people looking for a comprehensive yet approachable look at beginner programming.
Codecademy is an online platform that provides free coding languages courses in 12 programming languages like Java, Python, and JavaScript.
While some sections of Codecademy cost money, such as guided practice and coding projects, basic courses in front end engineering, web development, and data analysis are all available for free.
Denic told Insider that Codecademy was one of the first resources he used to learn key software development skills.
“For me as someone who never coded before, it was really really overwhelming to get the basic stuff to work. That is why I am grateful for communities and the resources they shared,” Denic said.
Test Automation University is an educational training program where developers can upload and participate in free courses related to testing and executing software. Founded by automation company Applitools, the site offers free lessons, programming paths, and certifications related to AI and machine learning.
“This is the first resource I advise to people because it starts completely from scratch,” Denic told Insider.
Udemy provides paid and free courses on a variety of subjects, like web development, programming, and data science.
Wolter recommends Udemy, as it provides a “relatively cheap” yet guided course path for beginners in front end and back end development. Intro courses in programming start at $12.99 for two hours of course material.
Udacity is a learning platform that offers individual courses, as well as “nanodegrees” that train you for specific careers like front-end web developer or data analyst. Most of its course materials are free, but nanodegrees require a tuition fee, starting at $399 a month.
Some developers use online schools like Udacity to make a career change, including Nikitha Gullipalli — a web developer and hardware engineer, who was a pastry chef at a Michelin Star restaurant before she transitioned to Android development.
She recommends taking Udacity’s courses on JSON, which is a popular application programming interface platform. She also took courses on Android language Kotlin, and React, a popular web development framework.
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