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This year’s National Coding Week runs from September 14-20. During this time, volunteers in several countries around the world will deliver coding-focused classes and presentations in libraries, schools, and businesses.
The goal isn’t necessarily to inspire individuals into pursuing a career in coding (although that would certainly help address the enormous coding skills gap). Rather, it is to help people of all ages — from kids to adults — increase their digital skills and build confidence in coding, so they can more fully engage, participate, and contribute in their workplaces and communities.
Indeed, while in the past coding typically only interested developers and programmers, these days it is something everyone should be familiar with; at least on a fundamental level. As AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant has said: “coding is the new literacy.”
Suggested coding resources
Below we suggest some resources to boost your coding skills during National Coding Week and beyond:
GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant that helps you write code faster, so that you can focus more on problem solving and collaboration (and enjoying the Devolutions blog and Sysadminotaur comics, of course!). There are several useful features, including code suggestions, chat functionality, and auto-complete navigation. GitHub Copilot offers limited access to individual developers through a free tier, but full access requires a paid plan. However, the fee is waived for students who are enrolled in a degree or diploma-granting program.
Discover the new AI assistant
We will get back to the list of suggested coding-related resources in just a moment.
We just finished highlighting a great AI tool, GitHub Copilot. And we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to mention another great AI tool: the new AI assistant in Remote Desktop Manager!
Powered by Microsoft Semantic Kernel, the AI assistant is designed to assist with various tasks such as generating and improving scripts, proofreading, translating, creating comments, and more. The goal is to help you save time, increase productivity, and work smarter.
Dive deep into the AI assistant by attending our upcoming webinar: “How Remote Desktop Manager brings AI to secure IT operations.” Click here for all of the details, including the registration link.
And now, let’s get back to our list of suggested coding-related resources!
Codecademy
Codecademy offers multiple coding-related learning courses, articles, and videos. It also provides code challenges, in-browser workspaces, and an interview simulator to prepare for tech careers. Access to a limited selection of learning resources is free. If you sign-up for a paid subscription you’ll get access to all courses, quizzes, and projects. Codecademy is ideal if you’re starting your coding journey.
Bro Code
If you’re looking for clear, straightforward, and free tutorials on programming languages like Python, Java, C, C++, C#, you’ll definitely want to check out Bro Code. The YouTube channel has 2.85 million subscribers and nearly 1000 videos. Granted, the tutorials do not have conventional structure and elements like quizzes and tests. But they are still valuable, provided that you augment what you learn with practice and exercises, such as those offered at Codecademy and many other interactive platforms.
Learn Python the Hard Way
If you’re interested in learning Python (and some community members have mentioned this in response to our September poll question!), then Learn Python the Hard Way is for you. Don’t let the title mislead you. The extremely popular course is acclaimed for helping total beginners learn how to read and write basic Python, and establish a solid foundation upon which to understand other books and resources. The course is available as a download or conventional book. As a nice gesture, the creator, Zed A. Shaw, allows prospective learners to try the course for free to see if the approach and method works for them. Thank you Mr. Shaw!
Codewars
Codewars is an online platform to train and improve your coding skills, whether you’re a novice or an expert. The idea is to solve various small coding challenges — called kata — which are available across more than 50 programming languages. You’ll earn points by completing katas, which will boost your profile from beginner to expert. A helpful feature is that after submitting your code for a specific kata, you can explore other learners’ solutions to discover interesting and better approaches.
Just the start
There are many — we are talking MANY — other resources available to boost your coding confidence and competence. The resources that we suggest above are designed to give you somewhere to start. Jump in, explore, connect with experts and other learners, and create your own learning path — whether you want to enhance your current career path, or launch a new one.
Share your top resources and advice
We also invite you to list your most valuable coding resources. What tutorials, courses, books, videos, tools, and platforms do you recommend? And how do you prefer to learn about coding – would you rather learn on your own, or in a more structured manner in a class or course?
In addition, what advice do you have when it comes to learning how to code? What tips do you have for total beginners, as well as those who have some proficiency but want to elevate their skills? Please share your knowledge, experiences, and wisdom below.
IT Professionals Day – September 16 Tomorrow, September 16, is also IT Professionals Day. Celebrated each year on the third Tuesday of September, it highlights the vital contributions of information technology specialists. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our IT teams for their essential work: thanks to their expertise, our organizations can thrive in an increasingly complex, innovative, and secure digital world.
