Web development is a rapidly growing field that offers a wide range of career opportunities. Whether you're a complete beginner or looking to expand your skills, there are plenty of free online resources that can help you learn web development and start your journey to becoming a professional. I'll share with you the ones I took that helped me land my first job as a Front-end Developer.

Define Your Web Development Roadmap

Starting to learn web development can be overwhelming, with so many technologies and tools to choose from. To make the most of your time and resources, it's important to structure your learning path and define a clear roadmap for your development journey.
Specifically for web development, you can follow this amazing interactive roadmap: Web developer Roadmap. It helped me keep track of my evolution and set up the next topics to learn. It was so effective that I still had to this day follow the Front-end developer roadmap to strengthen my skills and keep improving.
If you want to learn how to properly structure your learning path, check this article: New Horizons: A Guide to Start a Career in Programming.

Coding tutorials and exercises

Once you've your roadmap ready and set, a great place to start learning web development is with coding tutorials and exercises. This is where the fun part begins! I've studied in FreeCodeCamp its basically a non-profit organization that provides a free, self-paced curriculum for learning web development. The curriculum is designed to take someone who has no prior experience with coding and turn them into a professional web developer. It covers a wide range of topics, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and various web development frameworks and libraries.
Although I'm a big advocate of FreeCodeCamp, there're so many resources out there. You can even complement your learnings with multiple sources. Websites like Codecademy and W3Schools offer a wide range of interactive tutorials and exercises that can teach you the basics of web development, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These tutorials are designed for beginners and are a great way to get started with coding and web development.

Video tutorials

Another great way to learn web development is through video tutorials. Websites like YouTube and Udemy offer a wide range of free and paid video tutorials on web development. Look for tutorials that focus on the specific skills you want to learn and that have good reviews from other users. Additionally, some websites like Coursera and edX offer free web development courses from reputable universities.

Web development communities

Joining a web development community can be a great way to learn from other developers and get help with any questions or problems you may have. Websites like Stack Overflow and GitHub are great places to connect with other web developers and get help with your code. You can't imagine how many times you'll end up there asking for solutions, or helping others. Additionally, participating in coding challenges and hackathons like HackerRank and CodeSignal can help you improve your skills and gain experience.

Open-source projects

Participating in open-source projects is a great way to gain real-world experience and learn from experienced developers. Websites like GitHub and SourceForge host a wide range of open-source projects that you can contribute to. I never tried this, but this can be a great way to get hands-on experience and build a portfolio of work to show potential employers.

Conclusion

Learning web development can be challenging, but there are plenty of free online resources that can help you get started and advance your skills. By using the resources outlined above, you can start your journey to becoming a web developer and launch a successful career in this exciting field. Remember, to keep learning and practicing, and you will be on your way to becoming a pro.

Always keep in mind that it takes time and effort to become proficient in any skill, including web development. The key to success is to keep learning and practicing and to stay motivated and persistent. The more you learn and practice, the better you will become, and the more you will be able to accomplish.

Start Your Journey to Becoming a Web Developer: Free Online Resources to Learn From