5 Free Online Coding Courses to Complete in 2024

Gone are the days when only software developers and computer scientists work with code. Today, code is everywhere and coding skills are in high demand and a great way to make you stand out amongst the competitive workforce. Luckily, many online resources can help you gain skills in some of the most popular coding languages. 

There are many benefits to learning how to code. In addition to being highly desirable by many hiring managers, coding also helps you to develop logical thinking and problem-solving skills. These are two skills that will help you in every field, regardless of whether or not you work directly with code. 

In this article, we list some of the best online courses to help you learn these critical skills. Best of all, they are all free! With a little time and effort, these courses will take you to the next level and help you learn basic coding skills. 

For more like this, check out these articles: Best Business Skills and Courses for Tech Geeks and Highest Paying Programming Languages.

CS50X

CS50X is one of the most popular online computer science courses. This course is offered by Harvard in partnership with edX, an open online course provider run by Harvard and MIT. However, don’t let the Ivy League prestige scare you. This course is built for beginners and will teach you coding basics as well as introduce you to the art of programming. 

The course covers a variety of topics over 11 weeks of material. In the course, you can expect to be introduced to the following key computer science concepts:

  • Abstraction
  • Algorithms
  • Data Structures
  • Encapsulation
  • Software Engineering
  • Web Programming

Upon completion of CS50X, you will be familiar with some of the most popular coding languages such as C, Python, and SQL. You will also have gained experience working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — the basics of website programming. Additionally, Harvard offers the option to pay for a certificate upon completion of the course, which would look fantastic on any resume. 

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for Web Developers

This course is another great coding resource taught by an esteemed university. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for Web Developers is a five-week course offered by John Hopkins University on Coursera. Similar to CS50X, this course also has a paid version, in which you can earn a certificate upon completion. 

Like many online courses, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for Web Developers have many video resources. However, what makes it stand out is the “real life” project that provides students with a chance to demonstrate their skills and apply what they have learned. In the course, you will learn about the basics of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.  In week four of the course, students will use what they learned in previous weeks to code a website for a Chinese restaurant. This is a project that will enhance any coding portfolio. 

For those who may be new to the world of web development, understanding the core principles might seem challenging at first. An essential question to ask at this point is – what is coding? Simply put, coding is the process of using a programming language to get a computer to behave how you want it to. Every line of code tells the computer to do something, and a document full of lines of code is called a script. Each script is designed to carry out a job. In this context, coding is the practice of writing scripts in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to create a functional, engaging, and aesthetically pleasing website.

Introduction to Python Programming

Introduction to Python Programming is taught by Juno Lee, a former data scientist and curriculum lead at Udacity, another educational organization offering open online courses. In this course, you will learn the fundamentals of programming and gain insider tips on the best coding practices

For five weeks, you will become familiar with Python, one of the most used programming languages. The course covers Python’s data types and operators, allowing you to easily run arithmetic computations. You will also cover loops, while loops, and conditional expressions and learn to code custom functions. If some of these terms seem unfamiliar to you right now, don’t fret! At the end of this course, you will surely gain a better understanding of these key coding principles.

Object-Oriented Programming in Python: Create Your Own Adventure Game

The concept of object-oriented programming (OOP) can be hard to wrap your head around, especially for those with limited coding experience. However, Raspberry Pi Foundation’s beginner-friendly course, Object Oriented Programming in Python: Create Your Own Adventure Game, will walk you through the key principles of OOP and teach you how to create your own game

In this course, you will learn about objects, functions, methods, and classes as well as OOP logic that will teach you to think about code the way professionals do. Using Python, you will also be guided through a step-by-step tutorial for creating your own text-based adventure game. This is an exciting project that will allow you to practice and apply your newfound OOP knowledge.

Learn R

R is a coding language typically used for statistical computing and data analysis. In the current business environment in which we rely heavily on data, learning to code in R will be beneficial regardless of your field.

Learn R is a free course offered by Codecademy that walks you through the basics of statistical analysis with R. The course begins with an overview of the general syntax for R then moves on to data cleaning for efficient and effective statistical analysis.

 Listed below are some of the topics covered in this course:

  • dplyr
  • tidyr
  • ggplot2

This course is a handy resource and can be used to jumpstart your journey to better data analysis. 

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