Many of us chose Frontend Development to break into the tech industry. But, the number of online resources to teach yourself code can be overwhelming.
Welcome to my first article. I'll go over five of the most useful websites on my journey towards my first and current Developer Job.
1. freeCodeCamp
The selling points of freeCodeCamp for me were the free certifications. Each of them requires you to build five projects.
They make it easy for beginners. For each project there is a live demo and a list of requirements to fulfill. Still, it took the 100DaysOfCode Challenge for me to start working them.
These days, I'd often check the YouTube Channel to find new things to learn.
2. 100DaysOfCode
100 Days of commitment to focus on building things with code at least 1hr daily.
The experience gets better when you engage with other participants. You get to see what they are working on. Those are sources of inspiration. Their struggles too. You're not alone and you can help someone out there.
Looking at people sharing their latest projects is what make me work on my own and share them.
3. GitHub + GitHub Education
Before GitHub Pages, sharing my work meant posting screenshot on social media. Recruiters won't bother going through my social media history though.
It is free to deploy your projects with GitHub Pages. Fellow coders and recruiters can then interact with them. You can choose to share your code too. This helps when the recruiters are techies.
Most important of all, you get used to Git. It is safe to say that Version Control with Git is the most valuable skill I brought on my job.
If you're a student like me, consider applying to the GitHub Developer Student Pack through GitHub Education. That is how I got one year access to FrontendMasters for free.
4. FrontendMasters
Having used FrontendMasters for two years I would recommend it for people learning full time.
I couldn't get the most out of it. But they offer quality content on advanced topics. I didn't know about the event loop or the call stack in JavaScript before taking some of their classes.
Neither did I know how responsive grid systems work under the hood. But I've learned with a course on CSS Layout. My JavaScript Calculator uses my own 4-colums flex-based grid system.
5. Scrimba
Scrimba started with some free courses. Since, they have released paid courses and bootcamps. The most featured one is their Frontend Career Path.
Part of learning is revision and that is why I am currently following it. Still, the path is primarily for complete beginners, some of which successfully land a job.
From what I've heard, bootcamps can be expensive. The career path is one of many affordable alternatives with lot of projects to build too.
Conclusion
The path to the first (Frontend) Developer Job is not the same for everyone. No matters the resources you use, keep in mind that it is important to build and share as many projects as you can. Be active in a community and don't shy away from investing money at some point.
Do you use any of these?
Thank you for reading. Let's connect in the comments.