Should You Teach Yourself Code?

Is it possible to teach yourself how to code? Yes. Should you? That’s a much trickier question to answer. The reality of the situation is that every “coder” needs to learn how to research their code problems in order to find solutions, so, in a way, you do need to teach yourself code. On the other hand, teaching yourself the foundational principles of coding can be challenging, if for no other reason than there is so much information available online. Where do you even start?

You Can Use W3Schools, Stack Overflow, and Quora

Since coding is such a nebulous term, here are some broad resources to get started, if your goal is to teach yourself how to code, that is. There are many other options out there--paid, free, good, bad, specialized, generic--but these three should have a little of what you’re after.

• W3Schools - For future web developers
• Stack Overflow - For most any programmers
• Quora - For when you can’t quit social media

YouTube. That’s a Thing Programmers Use, Right?

In our modern age, teaching yourself things isn’t a novelty. Most anyone can search for what they want to learn on YouTube and find some tutorials. Will they be good? Will they be accurate? Will the ad revenue and sponsorships be enough for content creators to keep uploading tutorials? Who knows. We believe hunting down video after video works for some people, but we don’t think it’s as structured as some learners need. Basically, your mileage may vary.

Ever Thought, There Must Be a Better Way?

If teaching yourself to code is proving to be challenging because of roadblocks related to structure, support, and direction, then a coding bootcamp like Hackbright might be a better option for your educational future. Check out our 4-week Prep course to get started. This course is designed to give you a taste of what it’s like to be a software engineer by teaching you the foundational principles of Python.

Recommended Reading

Don’t Make This Silly Mistake When Learning Python

Is a Coding Bootcamp Right for You?

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