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Know what to learn, and where.

Start with the basics every developer needs, pick a path, and use free resources from people who teach it best. Then see what the world's developer studies say is in demand.

The basics everyone needs.

Whatever path you pick, these carry you. If a session ever felt like it went too fast, the gap is usually one of these.

Git and GitHub

Save versions of your work, collaborate without overwriting each other, and show your code to employers.

How the web works

What happens when you type a URL. DNS, HTTP, servers and browsers, explained once properly.

Asking good questions

Show what you tried, the exact error and a small example. You will get answers twice as fast.

Pick a path. Here's the road.

Each path has an order that works, free places to learn it, and a first project worth putting on your CV.

Game development

For people who want to make things others play. Coders, artists, writers and sound people all fit.

First projectA one-screen arcade game with a high score.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Pick one engine: Godot (free, light on old laptops) or Unity
  2. 2Make a tiny 2D game: move, jump, collide, score
  3. 3Learn game feel: juice, sound, feedback
  4. 4Ship a build to itch.io and get strangers to play it

Web development

For people who want to build things anyone with a browser can use.

First projectA site for a real person: a friend's business, a lecturer, the club.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1HTML and CSS: structure and layout
  2. 2JavaScript: make pages do things
  3. 3A framework (React) and a backend (Firebase)
  4. 4Deploy it and share the link

Mobile

For people who want their work in someone's pocket.

First projectA timetable or expense tracker you actually use.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Kotlin or Dart basics
  2. 2Jetpack Compose (Android) or Flutter (both platforms)
  3. 3Store data and call an API
  4. 4Publish a release build

AI and machine learning

For people curious about how machines learn, and how to build useful things with models.

First projectA study helper that summarises your own lecture notes.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Python and a bit of NumPy and pandas
  2. 2Core ML ideas: training, overfitting, evaluation
  3. 3Build with a model API (Gemini)
  4. 4Train or fine-tune your own small model

Cloud and DevOps

For people who like making systems reliable, fast and cheap to run.

First projectContainerise a club project and deploy it on every push.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Linux and networking basics
  2. 2Containers with Docker
  3. 3Deploy to a cloud (Cloud Run, Firebase Hosting)
  4. 4Automate it with CI/CD

UI/UX design

For people who notice when something is confusing and want to fix it.

First projectRedesign one painful student portal screen, then test it with five classmates.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Design basics: type, spacing, colour, hierarchy
  2. 2Figma: components and prototypes
  3. 3Talk to users and test with them
  4. 4Hand off designs developers can build

Cybersecurity

For people who like puzzles and figuring out how things break.

First projectAudit a club project for the OWASP Top 10 and fix what you find.

Learn it in this order

  1. 1Linux and networking
  2. 2Web vulnerabilities: the OWASP Top 10
  3. 3Capture-the-flag practice
  4. 4Secure your own projects first

What the world's developer studies say.

Popularity isn't the only reason to learn something, but it tells you where the jobs, tutorials and help are. Each chart links to its source.

Languages professional developers use most

Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025

  1. JavaScript 66%
  2. HTML/CSS 61.9%
  3. SQL 58.6%
  4. Python 57.9%
  5. Bash/Shell 48.7%
  6. TypeScript 43.6%
  7. Java 29.4%
  8. C# 27.8%

Languages people learning to code use most

Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025

  1. Python 71.8%
  2. HTML/CSS 66.6%
  3. JavaScript 62.8%
  4. C 48%
  5. Bash/Shell 47%
  6. SQL 45.4%
  7. C++ 44.6%
  8. Java 40.8%

Most popular languages worldwide, October 2026

Source: TIOBE Index

  1. Python 19.23%
  2. C 11.33%
  3. C++ 8.87%
  4. Java 8.41%
  5. C# 3.79%
  6. JavaScript 2.77%
  7. Visual Basic 2.2%
  8. R 2.06%
  9. SQL 1.97%
  10. Rust 1.44%

GitHub Octoverse 2025

TypeScript overtook Python and JavaScript to become the most used language on GitHub in August 2025.

It reached about 2.6 million monthly contributors, up 66% in a year. GitHub links the rise to AI-assisted coding, where types catch the assistant's mistakes early.

Read the report

Fastest-growing jobs to 2030

Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025, a survey of over 1,000 employers. Tech roles from the top of the list.

  1. 1Big data specialists
  2. 2FinTech engineers
  3. 3AI and machine learning specialists
  4. 4Software and applications developers
  5. 5Security management specialists
  6. 6Data warehousing specialists
  7. 7Autonomous and electric vehicle specialists
  8. 8UI and UX designers
  9. 9Internet of Things specialists
  10. 10Data analysts and scientists
  11. 11Information security analysts
  12. 12DevOps engineers

The Stack Overflow survey asks developers what they used in the past year. TIOBE measures search-engine popularity. Octoverse counts activity on GitHub. They disagree because they measure different things, and that's useful: Python dominates learning and AI, JavaScript and TypeScript run the web.

Habits of people who ship.

  • Commit small, commit often

    One change per commit with a message that says why. Future you will thank you.

  • Write the README first

    What it is, how to run it, a screenshot. Half of judges and recruiters read nothing else.

  • Never commit secrets

    API keys and passwords go in environment variables, not code. Leaked keys get abused within minutes.

  • Test the part that would hurt

    You don't need 100% coverage. Test the logic that loses data or money if it breaks.

  • Build for slow phones

    Most of your users are on mobile data. Smaller images, less JavaScript, works offline where it can.

  • Make it accessible

    Real labels, enough contrast, works with a keyboard. It's also what makes it usable for everyone else.

  • Review code kindly

    Ask questions instead of giving orders. Everyone on the team is learning.

  • Read the error message

    All of it, slowly, top to bottom. Then search it. Most bugs are explained in the first line.

Free stuff for students.

Your student email unlocks cloud credits, pro tools and courses. Claim these before you graduate.

GitHub Student Developer Pack Free GitHub Pro, Copilot, Codespaces and a long list of partner tools. Google Cloud for students Free credits Free credits, always-free products and skill badges. JetBrains IDEs Free IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm and every JetBrains IDE. Figma Education Free The professional Figma plan for students. Microsoft Azure for Students Credit Azure credit plus free services, no card needed. DigitalOcean Credit Platform credit for hosting and databases via the GitHub pack. MongoDB for Students Credit Atlas credit and free clusters for learning. Notion for students Free Free Plus plan for notes, projects and study planning.
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