Free Code Camp and It's Community

As a mother and a self taught coder I spend a lot of time going slightly stir crazy in front of my computer. I love my little boy more then anything, but he knows nothing about Javascript. He always appreciates the end result though and sometimes having a cheerleader while you’re banging your face into your computer screen is the best thing in the world.

When I started posting my coding projects on Twitter and connecting with other developers I discovered my next educational resource that everyone seemed to be talking about. Free Code Camp and the 100 days of code challenge was everywhere on the coding twittersphere. This website had created a community of coders who celebrated each others accomplishments and helped out when people were stuck. I had to explore it.

The Free Code Camp website it a completely free resource that asks for donations, but all the content is there for you to use whether you donate or not. It starts you off at the beginning with HTML, CSS and responsive web design. It then moves you into Javascript and Data Structures. The front end libraries like JQuery and Bootstrap. The other sections of content include:

Data Visualization Certification
Apis And Microservices Certification
Information Security And Quality Assurance Certification

It all culminates in thousands of hours of coding interview prep challenges for the dreaded tech interview. Every section of content ends in roughly five portfolio projects to show off your work to potential employers.

As I was making my way through the front end libraries section trying to learn React and Redux I discovered the very helpful discussion forum. A mix of new coders and others with experience trying to learn something new. I found when I went looking for answers to my questions either people would respond with their own code examples, or find a very descriptive way to point you in the right direction so you can write the code yourself.

I would recommend this site to anybody looking to either start coding or learn a new library for work. As somebody who can’t afford to go to a coding bootcamp or go back to school and get my CS degree this site is a cost effective alternative to build my portfolio and go out into the workforce as a freelance coder.