Long gone are the glory days of Myspace, where anyone with enough self-devotion and time could HTML their way to incredible levels of social cred and…
So we were super psyched when Google announced in June that it would offer free coding lessons to women and minorities interested in learning the trade. But then we were super bummed when Google subsequently closed the application because, duh, so many people wanted to get involved.
Rejection hurts, but it doesn’t have to, because there are a lot of free, easy, user-oriented websites designed to help you learn to code all by yourself. Here are four of our favorites.
1. Code Academy offers comprehensive and easy tutorials in a handful of programming languages, including HTML/CSS, Javascript and Python. Their basic HTML/CSS course takes seven hours, and includes how to build a website, resume and even a your own social networking profile.
2. If you’re a little short on time, and looking for a fun, artistic way to spice up your skill set, check out Hello Processing. The program is only an hour long, and will get you comfortable in Processing, a great platform for visual artists.
3. Another great site is MIT App Inventor. As another site that boasts just an hour lesson, by the end you’ll have made three working apps for Android. If your brand devotion lies elsewhere, have no fear, as the on-screen emulator lets viewers learn the process without the technology. More hour-long tutorials can be found at Code.com as part of their “Hour of Code” series.
4. Now if you’re really short on time, and are a sucker for cute web design, you can learn the basics of Ruby in only 15 minutes. Try Ruby may not take you as in-depth as the other programs, but it will give you enough exposure to the language to decide whether or not you want to keep learning.
Hopefully these resources will encourage more women and girls to try coding and allow everyone access to vital information for the future!
