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Gone are the days when you had to enrol in software engineering courses at big universities. With the rise of educational institutions like Great Learning, Coursera, Udemy, and various other online educational platforms, the barrier to enter the software files had become less. Anyone with a laptop and internet access can learn software development either for free or paid.
If you are a coding aspirant, then this list of resources given below will be really useful.
Top 10 software development resources. This article covers the following software development resources:
- Online Courses
- Self-Taught Resources
- Books, Magazines, and Online Publications
- Podcasts
- Thought-leaders, Influencers, and Blogs
1.Udacity
Udacity is well-known for nano degree programs, which offers a variety of programming courses like front end – full stack development, android, IOS and many more. In nano programs, students/participants must dedicate themselves to about 10 hours per week.
2. Springboard
Springboard is an education platform that provides springboard career tracks and 1-on-1 sessions with the expert.
- Udemy
Udemy is an online educational platform with a variety of courses. They have 10000 programming resources, and the majority of their language courses are in Python, Javascript, Java etc. Here, courses are pre-recorded, and they also provide related articles and resources to make students understand the topic in a better way.
- Great Learning
Great learning is an online educational platform provider. They have collaborated with top universities like IIT- Madras, IIIT- Hyderabad to provide a solid foundation in the software development area. An individual can opt for any software development course from any of these top universities.
In addition to the online course, they are also providing software development degree programs online. This helps an individual take up a degree in their interested field and enhance their skills.
Self-Taught Resources
Many professional coders like to do self-learning. Any aspirant who wishes to enter the profession as a self-taught programmer can benefit from the below-mentioned resources that are freely available on the internet.
1.Google Code
Overview: Google’s code repository is of extensive value to self-taught programmers and software developers.
Link: https://code.google.com/archive/
Cost: Free
Key Takeaway: According to Google, this service was shut down recently, but the archive still contains more than 1 million projects, 1 million downloads, and 12 million issues. This can help budding developers to know in and out of the programming language.
2. Great Learning Academy
Overview: Great Learning academy is a free platform to kick start your career. They have more than 200+ free courses available.
Link: https://www.mygreatlearning.com/academy
Cost: Free
Key Takeaway: This program helps software aspirants to start learning to code. In addition to the course, they also provide you with certification. This helps an individual to showcase their skills.
3.OER Commons
Overview: OER is an open-education directory, offers access to programming courses from Teachers.
Link: https://www.oercommons.org
Cost: Free
Key Takeaway: OER Commons helps aspiring developers to get access to high-quality information.
4. SitePoint Reference
Overview: Site Point provides a vital reference on HTML, CSS, JavaScript freely. This can help self-taught programmers to start their career.
Link: http://reference.sitepoint.com/css
Cost: Free
Key Takeaway: SitePoint Reference is a good resource for beginning software developers.
5. WIRED Tutorial Library
Overview: Wired tutorial helps aspiring developers to build the website for the first time through their tutorial.
Link: https://www.wired.com/tag/tutorial/
Cost: Free
Books
1.Clean Code: by Robert C. Martin
Overview: Clean Code breaks down into three different sections.
1. Writing the clean code.
2. Provide case studies to clean the code.
3. Provides a review to ensure the readers can understand how to produce clean code consistently.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882
Cost: $49.99
Key Takeaway: Clean Code is a must-read book for software aspirants.
2. Code Complete: by Steve McConnell
Overview: This is one of the best and most practical programming guides that includes numerous latest code examples.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Code-Complete-Practical-Handbook-Construction/dp/0735619670/
Cost: $54.99
Key Takeaway: This is also called an encyclopedia for beginners.
3. Coders at Work: by Peter Seibel
Overview: This book is a summary of coders like Brendan Eich (inventor of JavaScript), Donald E. Knuth (creator of TeX and author of “The Art of Computer Programming”), and Ken Thompson (inventor of UNIX )at work.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-Programming/dp/1430219483
Cost: $29.99
Key Takeaway: Aspiring software developers will get benefits from this book due to its brief insight into everyday career aspects in the programming field.
4. Design Patterns: by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm
Overview: This book helps you understand how patterns influence design in software development during the software development process.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612
Cost: $59.99
5. Programming Pearls: by Jon Bentley
Overview: A classic text that is surely helpful for the new generation of readers to understand the problem-solving skills necessary to excel in software development.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Pearls-2nd-Jon-Bentley/dp/0201657880
Cost: $44.99
Key Takeaway: Candidates who aspire to become software developers will benefit from this book as it primarily focuses on algorithms and coding techniques.
Podcasts
Hanselminutes
Overview: Scott Hanselman is a programmer. He hosts many podcasts related to coding. He also offers new developers an inside look at the coding. His podcast is always entertaining and engaging for even a layman who is interested in programming or technology in general.
Link: http://hanselminutes.com
Cost: Free
2. Herding Code
Overview: Herding Code’s podcast keeps relatively brief and focuses on topics of particular interest to hackers and developers. Here the hosts are K. Scott Allen, Kevin Dente, Scott Koon. They focus on accomplished developers to help aspiring programmers get in-depth knowledge.
Link: http://herdingcode.com
Cost: Donations Accepted
3. JavaScript Jabber
Overview: Javascript Jabber is a weekly podcast, which mainly focuses on a wide range of subjects like javascript, HTML, CSS, front-end community, careers etc. They also feature insights from exceptional guests.
Link: https://devchat.tv/js-jabber
Cost: Donations Accepted
4. NodeUp
Overview: The name itself indicates that this podcast is all about Node.js. They usually do a 30-60 minutes podcast with the host Rod Vagg and James Kyle. This is an entertaining and informative podcast on Node.js.
Link: http://nodeup.com
Cost: Free
5. Partially Derivative
Overview: Partially derivative is a goal-oriented data science podcast hosted by Chris Albon, Jonathon Morgan, and Vidya Spandana.
Link: http://partiallyderivative.com
Cost: Free
Practice
- Codewar http://www.codewars.com
- Hacker Rank com
- Code Fight com
- Coders Clan com
- Code Combat http://codecombat.com
- Coding Game com/start
- Hacker Trail com
- LeetCode com
- io Practice interviews with engineers
- Pramp Practice live technical interviews
- Byte by Byte Coding practice
Follow these people on Twitter- To know more about Software development updates and trends.
1. Andy
Author: Andy Hunt
Twitter: @PragmaticAndy (https://twitter.com/PragmaticAndy)
7,711 tweets; 14.8K followers
2. Ajaxian
Author: Multiple Contributors (12 in total)
Twitter: @ajaxian (https://twitter.com/ajaxian)
1,497 tweets; 3,842 followers
3. Bit-player
Author: Brian Hayes
Twitter: @bit_player (https://twitter.com/bit_player)
539 followers; 235 tweets
4. Clarke Rolls Rocks
Author: Clarke Ching
Twitter: @clarkeching (https://twitter.com/clarkeching)
1,115 followers; 6,802 tweets
5. Code Simplicity
Author: Max Kanat-Alexander
Twitter: @mkanat (https://twitter.com/mkanat)
1,829 followers; 1,709 tweets
6. Coding Horror
Author: Jeff Atwood
Twitter: @codinghorror (https://twitter.com/codinghorror)
211K followers; 52.8K tweets
Wrapping up…
I assure you that these resources will help you to keep updated in your software career. Follow these resources and get the most out of them.