Learning to code? Check out self-paced resources on Google, YouTube and Twitch

With a new year approaching, there could be a new opportunity for growth, with new skills and new aspirations. As we’ve been discussing at Technical.ly this month, it could also lead to a new tech job.

Computer systems and design made it in the top ten of industries in those that made over 200k in both Baltimore and DC, according to Technical.ly data. So it goes without saying that transitioning to the tech field can be lucrative. Often, the issue isn’t what you want to do but how to gain the skills to get there. This roundup is a brief overview of resources to consult to break into coding.

Here is to getting a jumpstart on self-improvement. Note that these aren’t actual universities, but rather the sites one can use to find resources and learn.

Google university

For those that excel in self-direction and motivation, many of the answers are searchable on Google. It’s just a matter of looking in the right places. Here are a few hints:

Fireship.io

A place to learn to build web and mobile apps. It has a pro course paid model but also has free lessons.

Code Academy 

Engineer Eric Solender told us he used this resource to learn the basics of Python when it was primarily free. Now it has a paid model, but there are still plenty of free resources on the site.

Libraries to get started quickly with resources in Application Programming Interface or (API) development include:

• FastAPI, which helps build out the web framework using python for beginners.
• Flask, a quick way to learn and get into web development.

MIT open course

Take computer science classes and courses from the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology for free.

Unlock Academy

Another paid course, which is par for the course as tech and coding is becoming more mainstream as a career path. The hook with this training site is it’s Black-owned and the content is created by Black devs.

Twitch university

If you need more interaction with the teacher or a substitute for the mentor/mentee relationship, then following a few streamers on the platform Twitch and showing up to the weekly lessons might be the thing for you.

Mastermnd.io

This is the Twitch channel of Baltimore’s Aaron Brooks and his company Mastermnd.io, which also offers free coding courses of the Google university variety. Currently on the Twitch channel, Brooks is streaming the whole 22 week Betamore software engineering training program. The course is currently two weeks and six classes into the lessons, but you can catch up by watching the videos on demand.



There’s also a software developer niche of Twitch that consists of streaming while you work, which is a great opportunity to see some of the skills you learn at Google university in action, and pick techniques of resources live from more experienced developers.

Along with browsing the Software and Game development category, there’s TheOnlyDevs team. It features many devs and software engineers of similar quality to Brooks. Some focus on game development, while others focus on machine learning or even make bots. They run the gamut. Here’s a few to check out:

• The AltF4Stream
• Simpathey
• Bashbunni
• Erikdotdev

GamesnGoals

This Twitch channel follows the “streaming while working” model of software dev Joshua Lynch, featured in one of our earlier “So You Want to be a Software Developer pieces on UX design for web.

YouTube university

For the visual learners of the world that need to see the code in action. Here are a few channels to follow:

Kevin Powell

He’s all about frontend development, so if you’re into HTML and CSS this is the place to go.

Eddie Jaoude

Here’s a great place for tips and advice on how to maximize your Github and freelance in tech. If you’re into fullstack development, which is development of both frontend (client side) and backend (server side) portions of web application, then this is a great place to start.

Derek Banas

Here’s a one-stop shop for tutorial on a variety of software and languages. There’s playlists on Frameworks (Full Stack)” and “Javascript UI Libraries tools like Django  and React. Along with playlists with tutorials on languages like C++ and Python.

Technical.ly

Along with videos about startups and the journey of the entrepreneur, our own channel has tutorials on Kubernetes and Pycharm.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt0K9QsWlJU]

Donte Kirby is a 2020-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.