Here are my top 8 free resources I used to learn the fundamentals and still reference all the time. I may put together a list of paid resources in the future as well but I wanted to get started with these too. This is, by no means, an exhaustive list. There are many more out there and they continue to grow! Also these are not in any particular order, they are all great resources.
MDN (Mozilla Developer Network) (learning & documentation)
MDN is a project for documenting how the web works. It was started my Mozilla in 2005 as a unified place for documentation about open web standards, Mozilla’s own projects, and developer guides. MDN content’s is maintained by Mozilla, Google employees, and volunteers.
Features
MDN has a free curriculum all about learning the fundamentals of the web. Starting in basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Then onto accessibility and version control. This is honsetly a great place to start learning about being a web developer.
There is also a playground to experiment with code with out needing to setup a local environment.
In addition to the curriculum they also have an extensive and detailed references into how the different parts of web technologies work. For example, want to know how the input event works? MDN has you covered, along with several other related references in the side bar. Or want to know all of the js array methods?
I use this resource very often, probably the most out of this list. There is just so much to look at, especially when working with unfamiliar browser APIs. It can fill in the gaps that some people leave out.
Javascript Weekly (newsletter)
Javascript Weekly is a newsletter you should subscribe to. It will give you news on happens in the community, including interesting projects/ libraries to use. Also about updates to the various js runtimes like nodejs, bun, and others. I read it every week and get something out of it.
Devdocs.io (documentation)
This is a new one to me. They have created an open source central place for many different sources of documentation into one place. They have info on web apis’, languages, libraries, frameworks. It is easy to search and you can even customize it to you. I am starting to make this a part of my researching.
Here are some quick links:
flems.io (service)
This one is less of a learning resource and more of a practice one. flems.io is a place you can write code and get it on the internet right away to show off the results AND the code. Need help on a problem, or you need a way to show someone else a code concept? You can put it in a flem and easily share the link with someone else to have a look. The really cool thing about this site is that it does not require a sign-in as it does not store your code. It puts it all into the URL and loads it on the client.
codepen.io (service)
codepen.io is a social platform for browser code writers. It is similar to flems.io in that you can write code and see the results, then share it with others. But it is different in that there is a login and you can search for others ‘pens’ as they call them. There are other cool features too but I mostly use it for experimenting with frontend code and looking for what cool things other people have posted. Its a great way to show off and appreciate some talent out there too.
At first glace it kinda sounds like how some use github and similar services. The big difference is that you can see a preview right away of your code running and even edit it and see the internal workings in real time. It is a great teaching and learning tool.
You don’t know JS (book)
you-dont-know-js is a great straight forward book about the fundamentals of creating programs with Javascript. It is understanding some of its nuances. To quote from the preface “My experience not only as a developer but in teaching many other developers tells me: you will always be more effective in your development work if you more completely understand how your code works than you are solely just getting it to produce a desired outcome. In other words, good enough to work is not, and should not be, good enough.” I really enjoyed the deeper understanding I get when reading it. It answer’s some of the ‘why’ questions you may get when working with Javascript and helps me remember.
You can read the book for free on github or you can pick up a copy at several book stores.
Eloquent Javascript (book)
Eloquent Javascript is a great addition to any programmers library. This is a great book to get someone started in the very concept of programming. It tries to introduce concepts in a way that helps understand why things are the way they are. For example, the book helps you see computers as purely a machine that will do exactly what you say. But it will do exactly what you say, if you know what I mean.
You can read it for free on the website or pick on a copy here
The Modern Javascript tutorial - Javascript.info (book/website)
This is one I reference from time to time as well. The Modern JavaScript Tutorial was created in 2007 by Ilya Kantor and is open source. It gets regular updates and you can see the contributors here. The book, like the title says, is more of a large tutorial. It is broken up in a step by step manner to understand the different parts of Javascript.
These are some of the bigger free resources I have found to help me learn and re-learn javascript over the years. Hope they help you too!
