Question: How to: June 14, 2025

Answer:
1. Learn how to build your own full-stack JavaScript apps. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on the popular MERN Stack. MERN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. These are the key tools that a lot of modern web apps use, including freeCodeCamp's platform itself. You'll learn how to build your user interface, handle data routing, and even rate-limit your back end API – so you can stop your app from getting overwhelmed by all those bots out there that are scraping the web for LLM training data. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-the-mern-stack-in-2025/

2. Learn MLOps by building your own system that can run sentiment analysis on YouTube videos. The emerging field of ML Ops is a hybrid of Machine Learning and System Administration (AKA Ops). This comprehensive course will give you a solid project-oriented intro to MLOps. You'll learn about Data Preprocessing, AI Model Benchmarking, Hyperparameter Tuning, Ensemble Techniques and more. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-mlops-by-creating-a-youtube-sentiment-analyzer/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview former CTO and prolific programming teacher Hitesh Choudhary. He shares lessons he's learned from personally mentoring dozens of software engineers over the years. He also talks about India's higher education system. And he gives tons of tips for managing your time as a developer. I had a blast learning from Hitesh and I think you will, too. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-electrical-engineering-student-to-cto-with-hitesh-choudhary-podcast-175/

4. freeCodeCamp published a new handbook on the emerging architecture paradigm of Micro Frontends. You'll learn why this approach is gaining so much steam among software engineers. This handbook will teach you all about Module Federation, Cross-Window Messaging, the Shadow DOM, and more. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/complete-micro-frontends-guide/

5. And we published a handbook on Apple's code signing process. If you want to publish mobile apps in the Apple store, this handbook is a real lifesaver. It would have saved freeCodeCamp's team a ton of time when we were publishing the freeCodeCamp iOS app. We're going to publish a lot more hyper-specific handbooks like this in the future to make developers' lives a bit easier. Bookmark this and you can come back to it when you're ready to publish your first app. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/apple-code-signing-handbook/

Quote of the Week: *"You will not get opportunities unless you prove yourself first. And for proving yourself, there is no hiring manager coming to your door and saying, ‘Hey, please build something for me.’ You have to prove it by contributing to open source."* — Software Engineer and programming teacher Hitesh Choudhary, on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: June 7, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published our first-ever chemistry course. Over the years we've published hundreds of courses on math and computer science, and we're gradually adding other academic subjects as well. This is an excellent starting point for beginners, and a great refresher for folks who want to get back into learning chemistry. Chad, the instructor, has taught chemistry for more than 15 years. He'll teach you the absolute basics of matter, chemical bonding, and scientific notation. Then you'll dive into more intermediate topics like thermodynamics, kinetics, and electrochemistry. (35 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/general-chemistry-college-course/

2. Learn low-level game development by building your own Candy Crush-style match-3 video game using the C programming language. That's right – instead of using a powerful game engine like Unreal or Unity 3D, you're going to use some of the most fundamental tools imaginable. You'll implement the core game logic, detect player input, and even add bursts of animation using the Raylib graphics library. This is a fun way to spend an afternoon while getting reps with the world's most widely run language. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/c-game-development-with-raylib/

3. On this week's podcast, I interview software engineer and O'reilly programming book author Joe Attardi about the many changes he's seen during his 21 years in industry. He talks about how AI tools are changing development, and how he thinks devs with a strong foundation in computer science are best positioned to fully leverage these tools. Joe's one chill, humble dude. I had a blast learning from him. And I think you will, too. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-survive-in-tech-when-everythings-changing-w-21-year-veteran-dev-joe-attardi-podcast-174/

4. freeCodeCamp published a couple handbooks this week, too. This first one will teach you how to build your own AI agents using open source tools like LangChain and LangGraph. You'll learn about automation workflows, agent loops, multi-agent collaboration, and more. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-open-source-llm-agent-handbook/

5. And this second handbook will take you on a deep dive into the world of Front End Monitoring. You'll learn how to collect performance data, error data, user behavior data, then make sense of these insights through modern reporting tools. If you're serious about leveling up your full stack development skills, I think you'll find this to be well worth reading. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-front-end-monitoring-handbook/

Quote of the Week: *"Computer Science fundamentals are more important than ever. As a software engineer, I want to understand things. I don’t like just taking stuff at face value. I want to know why it works and what’s going on behind the scenes."* —  21-year industry veteran Joe Attardi on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: May 30, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a full course to help you learn Python for Data Science. This beginner's course covers popular Python libraries like Pandas, NumPy, and scikit-learn. First you'll learn how to configure your development environment. Then you'll dive in and practice key skills like Data Extraction, Dataframe Concatenation, Data Visualization, and even some basic Machine Learning. (17 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-python-for-data-science-full-course

2. freeCodeCamp also published a full-length handbook that you can read right in your browser on the emerging field of Agentic AI Systems. Agents can go out and attempt tasks in the real world for you. Think of a shopping agent that knows your shoe size and preferences, and tries to find you the best deal on bowling shoes. You'll also learn how these systems use planning and goal setting rather than predefined actions. You can code along at home with the handbook and by the end of it, you'll have your own simple Python and LangChain-powered agent. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-agentic-ai-handbook/

3. On this week's podcast I interview a senior dev who was just laid off last week at Microsoft, and he walks us through everything. He has nerves of steel and seems totally unfazed by his coming job search. He talks about the role that both long-term planning and daily trail running have played in giving him resilience. It's clear to me that he's taken the time to prepare himself and his family for just about anything. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/laid-off-but-not-afraid-with-x-senior-microsoft-dev-mackevin-fey-podcast-173/

4. If you're traveling this summer, you might benefit from reading this guide on how attackers most commonly use technology to exploit travelers. You'll learn how to defend yourself against fake wi-fi networks, phony travel sites, shady SIM card vendors, ATM skimming, and more. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-attackers-target-travelers-and-how-to-defend-yourself/

5. Learn how to run an inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer in “Headless Mode”. Instead of functioning like a traditional computer with a keyboard, mouse, and screen, you can set up your Pi to perform tasks in the background, then access it remotely through a network protocol like Secure Shell (SSH). This way you can have a dedicated home automation server or a surveillance system. This tutorial will walk you through everything you need to know to get your headless server online. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-your-raspberry-pi-headlessly-with-vs-code-and-ssh/

Quote of the Week: *"One of the things I love about computers is there are so many different rungs on the ladder of abstraction. And each layer has its own interesting challenges. When I moved from Intel to Microsoft, I went from very low-level hardware-adjacent development to cloud development at internet scale. But everything I had learned earlier helped me ramp up quickly at that higher level of abstraction."* —  MacKevin Fey on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: May 23, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a course on building AI agents using the open source LangChain LangGraph Python framework. This course will teach you fundamental Agentic AI concepts like Elements, Type Annotations, and Retrieval Augmented Generation. You can code along at home, and by the end of the course you'll have built 5 different agents you can show to your friends. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-langgraph-and-build-conversational-ai-with-python/

2. freeCodeCamp also published this comprehensive guide to Relational Database Management Systems. You'll learn key database architecture concepts and how to diagram them. You'll also learn about Relational Algebra, Data Normalization, Schema Design, SQL Queries, and more. (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/master-database-management-systems/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview a developer from Iraq about her journey into tech. She has managed to build out her professional reputation through live-streaming herself participating in online coding and data science competitions. She shares tips for making friends with other developers – even when you're living far away from tech hubs like Silicon Valley. (90 minute watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-make-developer-friends-when-you-dont-live-in-silicon-valley-with-iraqi-engineer-codelife-podcast-172/

4. Learn what JavaScript Linting is and how it helps you write better code. This tutorial will also teach you about Abstract Syntax Trees and why they're so useful for representing code. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-javascript-lint-rules-work-and-why-abstract-syntax-trees-matter/

5. I'm thrilled to announce that freeCodeCamp just published our first-ever course on a world language. This full-length Spanish for Beginners course will teach you basic grammar and vocabulary so you can speak at a CEFR A1 Level. The instructor has more than 17 years of experience teaching Spanish to beginners. ¡Vámonos! (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-a1-level-spanish/

Quote of the Week: *"I had never coded before I started my Computer Science degree. I felt behind compared to my peers. But I started searching online. I found freeCodeCamp. Just being able to write code in the browser and see the output – that was what made coding feel practical and doable."* — Iraqi Software Engineer Code;Life on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: May 16, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course that will help you learn modern Android app development. You'll learn how to use Android Studio alongside the Kotlin language, a popular alternative to coding in Java. The final project involves building a clone of the Uber app – complete with map integration and real-time location tracking. (60 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/master-kotlin-and-android-60-hour-course/

2. And after you're done with that 60 hour course, try this other 60 hour course ;) It's a full-length Generative AI bootcamp led by CTO and AI enthusiast Andrew Brown. You'll learn powerful tools like Juptyer Notebook and Ollama. You'll also get exposure to the latest applied machine learning techniques. This course is designed to be reasonably accessible to non-developers as well, so any curious person can learn how to harness the power of these new tools. (65 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/free-genai-65-hour-bootcamp/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast I interview software engineer and prolific freeCodeCamp contributor Sam Crombie about life in San Francisco startup purgatory. Sam left his job at Microsoft to go through Y Combinator, and is currently trying to find product-market fit as a lone-wolf developer. We discuss how useful AI coding tools really are, tips for getting people to care about your apps, and how parents can help their kids get scholarships for Ivy League schools. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ditching-a-microsoft-job-to-enter-startup-hell-with-lonewolf-engineer-sam-crombie-podcast-171/

4. Learn how to build web apps faster with Vite, a new JavaScript front end build tool. Vite means quick in French. And this quick course wastes no time in showing you the ropes. You'll learn about Hot Module Replacement, Optimized Dependency Prebundling, Intelligent Caching, and more. (1 hour crash course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-vite-for-a-better-web-development-workflow/

5. Learn how to become a better analytical programmer by analyzing five different JavaScript implementations of the classic Rock-Paper-Scissors game. Along the way, you'll learn how to use visual tools for code comparison, and learn how to diagram codebases using Mermaid.js. I hope this helps you broaden your horizons as a dev and appreciate the many ways you can accomplish simple tasks with code. (2 hour read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-become-an-analytical-programmer-compare-five-projects/

Quote of the Week: *"You can do all the user research you want. But at some point, you just need to put your project out there. My biggest false starts came from not launching. I've learned that you can’t just theory-craft forever. You have to actually ship."* — Sam Crombie on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, sharing lessons from startup “pivot purgatory"


Question: How to: May 9, 2025

Answer:
1. Learn Next.js by building your own Dropbox-style file storage app. This beginner-accessible course will help you learn full stack JavaScript using modern tools like React and PostgreSQL. You'll also learn how to design intuitive user interfaces, database schemas, file hierarchies, and more. (5 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/code-a-dropbox-clone-with-nextjs/

2. Kubernetes (often shortened to k8s) is a powerful open source tool for deploying services to the web, then monitoring them and scaling them as needed. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive handbook that will teach you key k8s concepts like Pods, DaemonSets, StatefulSets, and more. If you code along at home, by the end of this handbook you'll deploy an app to a k8s cluster in the cloud. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-kubernetes-handbook-devs-startups-businesses/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Shashi Lo. He's a software engineer at Microsoft who grew up the child of refugees. He dropped out of art school and taught himself programming by building projects for local businesses. He shares techniques he uses to continue to learn skills even while he's busy raising his 4 kids. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-art-school-drop-out-to-microsoft-engineer-with-shashi-lo-podcast-170/

4. Improve your C++ programming skills by building your own audio plugin. freeCodeCamp is proud to publish this intermediate course by a developer and 3x Grammy-nominated producer and saxophone player. You'll learn native app development with the open source JUCE library, which is used in a lot of Digital Audio Workstation apps. (8 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/improve-you-c-skills-by-coding-an-audio-plugin/

5. Finally, freeCodeCamp also published this Front-End Performance Optimization Handbook this week. You'll learn JavaScript tricks to ensure your web apps load quickly. You'll learn how to minimize file size, make fewer server requests, optimize images, and more. There are tons of techniques in here that I hadn't even heard of. This is well worth reading if you're serious about improving your web development skills. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-front-end-performance-optimization-handbook/

Quote of the Week: *"An ideal code review would be a small set of code changes that are easy to understand. You can pretty much read the code like a paragraph and understand what’s happening. Smaller pull requests help you avoid regressions, and save time for both the code author and the code reviewer."* — Shashi Lo on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, talking about best practices he's learned while working as a dev at Microsoft


Question: How to: May 2, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive Calculus course that will not only teach you math concepts, but will also show you how to implement them in Python code. Math professor Ed Pratowski will teach you college-level calc concepts like Limits, Integrals, Derivatives, Parametric Equations, and more. You can code along at home using Jupyter Notebook to implement these mathematical expressions and interact with them visually. This will help you solidify your understanding of these abstract concepts. (7 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-college-calculus-and-implement-with-python/

2. Python has its own Node.js-style web development framework called Django. And freeCodeCamp just published a crash course that will help you get up and running with it. You'll learn about Django's Model-View-Template design pattern, its admin dashboard, and its “batteries included” design philosophy that makes building web apps relatively straightforward. By the end of this crash course, you will have built your own first Django app. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/django-crash-course-for-beginners

3. freeCodeCamp just published yet another comprehensive handbook by CTO Omer Rosenbaum on how Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) works. Note that even though IPv6 came out 13 years ago, IPv4 still handles a majority of web traffic. This handbook will teach you the basics of how IP addresses work. You'll also learn about Network Addressing Schemes, Packet Fragmentation Handling, Header Fields, Subnet Masks, and more. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-ipv4-works-a-handbook-for-developers/

4. Learn how to build your own DevOps pipeline using 100% freely available open source tools. This intermediate tutorial will show you step-by-step how to configure your cloud environment, set up Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment, and orchestrate your containers. You'll also learn how to secure and monitor everything. (45 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-a-production-ready-devops-pipeline-with-free-tools/

5. Learn how to run multiple virtual machines on a single Linux computer using a tool called a hypervisor. This is helpful for running multiple servers or doing cross-platform testing of your apps. This tutorial will introduce you to Network Bridges, Guest VMs, and the Cockpit VM manager. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/turn-ubuntu-2404-into-a-kvm-hypervisor/

Quote of the Week: *“If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.”* — technology writer Robert X. Cringely in an old issue of InfoWorld magazine


Question: How to: Apr 25, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive Python course that will walk you through building your own Llama 4-style Large Language Model. You'll learn about the inner workings of LLMs: Transformer Block Architecture, Feedforward Networks, Rotary Positional Embeddings, and the attention mechanism itself. Then you'll build a tokenizer and train a model to generate text. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/code-your-own-llama-4-llm-from-scratch/

2. If all these machine learning terms you keep hearing are confusing or intimidating, no worries. freeCodeCamp just published this crash course that will explain these terms simply with the help of animations. You'll learn about Gradient Descent, Regularization, Decision Trees, and the Transformer model itself. (30 minute YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/essential-machine-learning-concepts-animated/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Tae'lur Alexis about her journey from working at McDonald's to working as a software engineer. She taught herself programming using freeCodeCamp. After 5 years of working as a developer, she started to specialize in information security. And last year she moved overseas to work remotely from Thailand. She has a ton of actionable tips for people who want to start a career in software development, and for experienced devs who want to transition into security. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-fast-food-worker-to-cybersecurity-engineer-with-taelur-alexis-podcast-169/

4. freeCodeCamp just published a JavaScript Array course that covers everything you need to know about the Array data structure. You'll learn methods like push, pop, slice, map, filter, and reduce. You'll even learn about more advanced techniques like flatMap and findLastIndex. This course also includes tons of code examples and comprehension check questions to help you retain everything as you learn it. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/all-about-javascript-arrays/

5. Learn REST API Architecture by building your own movie database app using back-end JavaScript. Representational State Transfer (REST) is the most common architecture for building APIs these days because it allows your server to be stateless. That is, it can serve new requests without any memory of its previous requests. This beginner tutorial will walk you through installing Express, setting up your webserver, configuring routes, and writing to your database. (25 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-rest-api-principles-by-building-an-express-app/

Quote of the Week: *“As a developer, you can’t just jump straight to learning security. You have to start with Linux and networking. I had to go back and study how to build servers from scratch, set up a tech stack, and then learn how to break those systems. Building and breaking – it’s a constant cycle. That’s how I really started to understand security.”* — Tae'lur Alexis on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, talking about her journey from web developer to security engineer


Question: How to: Apr 18, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on how to train your own GPT-like Large Language Model from scratch. You'll learn how to use Python libraries to load text data, train a tokenizer, and implement the Transformer architecture. Then you'll pre-train your model and use supervised learning to fine-tune it. By the end of the course, you'll have built your own AI assistant that you can chat with. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/train-your-own-llm/

2. And if you want to go even deeper with Python, we also published a course on data engineering fundamentals. You'll adopt the mindset and best practices of the two senior platform engineers who teach this course. Some of the techniques you'll learn include extracting data from APIs, automatic schema management, incremental loading, and how to orchestrate scalable workflows. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/data-loading-with-python-and-ai

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Alyson La who used freeCodeCamp to teach herself how to program while working as an accountant. She was able to transition to a data analyst role and ultimately became a data engineer at GitHub. After one of her kids was diagnosed with Autism, she stepped away from her career for 3 years. She now teaches other women how to re-enter the workforce through a charity called Tech Moms. She shares a ton of practical advice for anyone interested in building more technical skills. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-accountant-to-data-engineer-with-alyson-la-podcast-168/

4. Laravel is the most popular PHP framework for building web apps. And freeCodeCamp just published an in-depth course on how to learn it. You can code along at home and build your own clone of the Medium blogging website. Along the way, you'll learn Tinker, Breeze, Blade Directives, and more. (7 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-laravel-by-building-a-medium-clone

5. Finally, freeCodeCamp just published this full-length handbook that will teach you all about Serverless Architecture, which simplifies development by letting you focus purely on application code. Psst – serverless is a marketing term and does still involve servers. You'll learn how to set up a Docker image that you can then use with AWS Lambda functions to handle your server requests. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/serverless-architecture-with-aws-lambda/

Quote of the Week: *“I worked in spreadsheets. But as a data analyst, I had to learn SQL for the first time. The big transition was going from Excel to accessing a database, writing SQL, and then analyzing the data in a spreadsheet. Understanding how the tables connected, how joins worked – that was the bridge that helped me move further into engineering roles.”* — Alyson La on her transition from accountant to data analyst and ultimately data engineer, on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Apr 11, 2025

Answer:
1. One of the hardest aspects of building apps in C and C++ is just getting your development environment properly configured. This course will walk you through how to set up key tools like CMake, vcpkg, Git, and Docker. From there, you'll be able to build high-performance apps with granular memory management. This course will put you in a strong position to take full advantage of freeCodeCamp's many other C and C++ for beginners courses. (6 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/c-setup-and-installation-tools-cmake-vcpkg-docker-and-copilot/

2. Lynx is a cross-platform development framework that just became open source a few weeks ago. You can use Lynx to build JavaScript apps that run on all kinds of devices, including Apple and Android phones. It's similar to frameworks like React Native and Flutter. This comprehensive freeCodeCamp course will guide you through setting up your first Lynx project, integrating with APIs, and leveraging its unique dual-thread architecture. You'll code your own game review app while learning to use Lynx's UI components, state management, and navigation implementation. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-lynx-to-create-javascript-mobile-apps/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Jason Lengstorf, who learned to code by building websites for emo bands. Jason dropped out of college but went on to work as a software architect at IBM and other tech companies. He shares his tips for teaching yourself programming by chasing your curiosity. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-drop-out-to-software-architect-with-jason-lengstorf-podcast-167/

4. Wireshark is a popular open source tool that security engineers use to analyze network traffic. This in-depth tutorial will show you how to harness Wireshark's power by filtering packet data so you can understand what's happening in a network and catch bad actors. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/use-wireshark-filters-to-analyze-network-traffic/

5. If you've already learned languages like Python, JavaScript, and C++, and are looking for a new adventure, consider Clojure. It's a functional language based off of Lisp that can also leverage the Java Virtual Machine to run code in parallel. freeCodeCamp just published this comprehensive Clojure primer with interactive challenges that you can solve as you read. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-clojure-programming-basics/

Quote of the Week: *“You can't just hang out with other developers – but never build anything – and expect to become a developer. At the same time, you can't just build things – but never deliver them to anybody – and expect to become a developer. You have to do both.”* — Jason Lengstorf, self-taught engineer and software architect, on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Apr 4, 2025

Answer:
1. Learn how Large Language Models like GPT 4 work – one layer at a time. This freeCodeCamp course will walk you through the new DeepSeek-V3 technical report so you can learn about Multi-Head Latent Attention, Query-Key-Value mechanisms, Mixture of Experts Architecture, Rotary Positional Embeddings, and more. It will help you bridge the gap from understanding the theory to writing the Python code. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/understand-and-code-deepseek-v3/

2. Laravel is the most popular PHP web development framework. And freeCodeCamp just published a crash course where you can code along at home and build your own Instagram clone using Laravel. This course is taught by Beau Carnes, one of freeCodeCamp's most popular instructors. You'll learn some PHP basics and how to harness the power of Laravel's Model-View-Controller architecture. You'll also learn how to configure your development environment, create your data models, set up routing, and test your app. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/code-a-full-stack-instagram-clone-with-laravel-and-mongodb/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Ryan Furrer about his journey from broke musician to software engineer. As you may know, not every guest on my podcast has a PhD from Stanford. Case in point, Ryan dropped out of college and worked as a violin instructor. He spent 5 years teaching himself how to program while working odd jobs and paying down his student debt. He ultimately ramped up with freelance gigs before landing developer jobs. He shares tons of practical insights for mid-career folks who want to break into tech. (90 minute listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-broke-musician-to-working-dev-ryan-furrer-podcast-166/

4. The freeCodeCamp community is on a roll with another awesome handbook – this time on cryptography. You'll learn the history of the RSA cryptosystem and the math that underpins it. You'll also learn about various attacks on the encryption scheme such as Håstad’s Broadcast Attack, the Bleichenbacher Attack, the Malleability Exploit, and the many additions to RSA that have hardened it over the decades. Strong recommend. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-cryptography-handbook-rsa-algorithm/

5. Finally, did you know you could run your own home VPN off of a cheap Raspberry Pi computer? This freeCodeCamp tutorial will walk you through setting up a Tailscale open source mesh VPN for all your internet-connected devices, using the WireGuard protocol. (12 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/set-up-a-home-vpn-using-tailscale-on-a-raspberry-pi/

Quote of the Week: *“You don't have to push yourself if you're not comfortable. But there are rewards to be reaped should you figure out a way to put yourself slightly past the threshold of comfort.”* — Ryan Furrer, self-taught developer, on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Mar 28, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published this comprehensive tutorial that will teach you all about Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and how computers use them to talk to one another. You'll get a full rundown of Clients, Servers, Requests, and Responses. You'll learn about various architectures like REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC. We've also included tons of diagrams and code examples to help you understand and retain the key concepts. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-api-fundamentals-and-architecture/

2. Lots of people know how to use spreadsheets, but few people know how to use them well. freeCodeCamp just published an Excel crash course that will help you learn the key formulas and functions. It covers Conditional Logic, VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP for searching data, data cleaning methods, common time functions, and more. This is perfect for refreshing your Excel knowledge and learning a few new techniques that you'll inevitably use in the future. (75 minute YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-the-top-excel-formulas-and-functions/

3. On this week's podcast, I interview a developer who didn't get serious about coding until he was 32 years old. Francesco Ciulla says he hated coding and preferred working as a volleyball coach. But he eventually knuckled down and got good at it, and today his code runs on Europe's Copernicus satellites. We talk about his long journey into software engineering, and how even though he's a proud introvert, he's managed to give conference talks and teach fellow developers. (90 minute watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/programming-satellites-at-age-37-with-francesco-ciulla-podcast-165/

4. When you're building Python apps, you don't necessarily need a third-party tool to find performance bottlenecks within your codebase. The Python Standard Library already includes some pretty powerful built-in profiling modules. And this quick freeCodeCamp tutorial will show you how to leverage them. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-pythons-built-in-profiling-tools-examples-and-best-practices/

5. And if you're looking for a fun project idea to practice your Python skills, you can code along at home with this tutorial and do some data analysis on your own YouTube metrics. Even if you just have a single cat video uploaded, that's enough data to play with. You'll learn how to use Jupyter Notebook, Pandas, Seaborn, and Matplotlib. First you'll export your data and run a correlation analysis on it. Then you'll visualize your data using a scatter plot chart. Finally, you'll be able to analyze your audience retention. (15 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/extract-youtube-analytics-data-and-analyze-in-python/

Quote of the Week:
*“I tried so hard
and got so far
but in the end
git push --force origin master”* — Francesco Ciulla, software engineer and guest on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast (In case you didn't get the reference, it's a Linkin Park joke)


Question: How to: Mar 22, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published this project-based course that will help you learn modern web development tools like Next.js, Supabase, and shadcn. You can code along at home and build your own note taking app that integrates with the OpenAI API, so you can have conversations with GPT about your notes. By the end of the course, you'll have deployed your own working app to the cloud that you and your friends can use for taking notes. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-full-stack-ai-note-taking-app-with-nextjs-and-supabase/

2. freeCodeCamp also published a full-length handbook that will teach you the fundamentals of web accessibility. This way you'll be able to make your projects more usable by people who are living with disabilities. You'll learn about Semantic HTML and ARIA attributes. You'll then learn how to apply these tools to help people who have color blindness, or even full blindness. You'll also learn how to make your sites more accessible to people who navigate with a keyboard or a voice interface rather than a mouse. As I like to say, good accessibility is just good usability for everybody. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-web-accessibility-handbook/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Jesse Hall. He's a software engineer who taught himself how to code while raising kids and working on the Best Buy Geek Squad fixing people's computers. He grew up in a trailer park in a one-stoplight town. He didn't get serious about coding until his 30s, when freeCodeCamp's curriculum helped him ultimately get a job at a big tech company. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-become-a-self-taught-developer-while-supporting-a-family-podcast-164/

4. As you may know, I spend a lot of time learning world languages. And Large Language Models have been a great tool for me to improve my grammar, usage, and vocabulary. freeCodeCamp just published a course on how to fully leverage LLMs to practice world languages and even prepare for standardized exams. You'll learn AI prompting techniques, memory tricks like the 2-7-30 rule of spaced repetition, and other approaches to turbocharge your progress. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-any-language-with-ai

5. Learn about microcontrollers and how they process sensor data. This beginner's guide will teach you about Software Architecture and Sensor Pipelines. You'll also learn about Analog-to-Digital Converters, Scaling, and how device drivers work. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/connect-read-process-sensor-data-on-microcontrollers-for-beginners/

Quote of the Week: *"I always thought that software development was like rocket science. You had to be super smart for that kind of thing. But of course, one day I just went to Google and did a quick search and found Python. I could write a little script, and it would do these things for me. And it shaved an hour off my day every day. And that's what hooked me on software development."* — Jesse Hall, self-taught software engineer and guest on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Mar 15, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published this comprehensive introduction to the JavaScript programming language. JavaScript is the main language used for web development, and you can even use it to build mobile apps. This course will teach you Object Oriented Programming, Functional Programming, and Asynchronous Programming. You'll also learn how to use Node.js and its massive ecosystem of libraries through Node Package Manager. (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/javascript-essentials/

2. freeCodeCamp also just published this in-depth handbook on how to become a full stack developer in 2025. Author Prankur Pandey breaks down the key tools that web developers use these days, including DevOps tools. He also shares tips on preparing for coding interviews and the developer job search. He even has a section on how he leverages AI tools to help him get more done as a dev. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/become-a-full-stack-developer-and-get-a-job/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview prolific computer science educator Caleb Curry about his recent experience getting laid off as a developer, and how he succeeded in quickly landing a new role. Caleb recently started mentoring a few dozen people who are getting into the field, and he shares that same advice he's been giving them about focusing on a few key skills and going really deep. Caleb has a ton of tips for how to manage your information diet so you can gradually amass knowledge. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-fewer-skills-but-go-deeper-the-caleb-curry-interview-podcast-163/

4. If you're interested in learning more about how software projects are managed, this tutorial may strike your fancy. You don't need a code editor for this – you can just read along and look at the Python code examples. You'll learn key software design concepts: Problem Statements, Use Cases, Requirements, High Level System Architecture, and how the entire process flows together. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-software-design-basics/

5. One of the most common ways teams build software is through Agile development sprints. This tutorial will give you a quick tour of Sprint Retrospectives, where teams look back on the work they've done over the past few weeks. You'll learn the mechanics of the Start - Stop - Continue approach, and how it can result in better decision making for what to prioritize in subsequent sprints. (12 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-run-a-sprint-retrospective-start-stop-continue-method/

Quote of the Week: *"If you're a beginner and you're learning, I would not use AI – at least not right now. I wouldn't use Copilot or any of these tools that basically help you write solutions while you're coding. It's just going to allow you to not learn those things for yourself."* — Caleb Curry, software engineer and guest on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Mar 8, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a new Python Machine Learning course that will teach you the fundamentals of how generative AI systems work. You'll walk away with a grasp of key ML concepts. You'll also understand how working with these types of models is different from writing traditional rule-based software. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-machine-learning-concepts-plus-generative-ai/

2. Learn how to build your own Massively Multiplayer Online game using the same Unity development framework used to build Genshin Impact, Hearthstone, Cuphead, and other games. Beau Carnes is a prolific teacher within the freeCodeCamp community, and he'll show you the moves. You'll start by learning some basic C# programming. Then you'll dive into server and client architecture, game mechanics, and more. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/create-a-simple-mmo-game-in-unity/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Anjana Vakil. After studying computational linguistics and working as a teacher, she started teaching herself how to code in her 30s. She has since worked as a software engineer at tech companies and for freelance clients. She shares her experience as an American developer who lives and works in Europe. She also argues that her skills from her previous career have given her a big edge over her peers. She thinks that career changers often underestimate how much of a boost they'll get from their non-tech domain expertise. I learned a lot from Anjana and I think you will, too. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-become-a-developer-in-your-30s-anjana-vakil-podcast-162/

4. If you want to go even deeper with Python machine learning, consider learning the popular Pytorch library. freeCodeCamp just published this comprehensive intro that will teach you how to use pre-trained models to perform Tabular Data Classification, Image Classification, Audio Classification, and more. This is an excellent primer for aspiring data scientists or machine learning engineers. (6 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-pytorch-in-five-projects

5. The MERN Stack is a pretty standard set of web development tools for building full-stack JavaScript apps. MERN stands for MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.js. This tutorial will show you how to set up your development environment by installing Node and its package manager. Then you'll set up your app's front end, back end, and database. By the end of the tutorial, you'll have your own simple To-Do app deployed and running in the cloud. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-a-mern-stack-to-do-app/

Quote of the Week: *"The more we can keep ourselves nimble, the better. It's very unlikely that you'll start your software career working in the exact same technology that you'll be working in even a year later — let alone 20 years later."* — Anjana Vakil, software engineer and guest on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Mar 2, 2025

Answer:
1. Linear Algebra is one of the most important fields of mathematics if you want to build AI systems using modern machine learning techniques. And freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course to help you learn it. You'll review foundational concepts from high school like Cartesian Coordinates and the Pythagorean Theorem. Then you'll dive into more advanced topics like Vectors in High Dimensions, Linear Independence, Normalization, Projections, and more. Don't be daunted by advanced math – you CAN learn it and harness its power for your projects. (10 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-linear-algebra-for-machine-learning/

2. Learn how to build a vision transformer from scratch using Python. Transformers are not just the coolest aliens in cartoon history – they're also the key breakthrough that has allowed engineers to create powerful Large Language Models these past few years. And Transformers are useful for computer vision as well. This course will teach you techniques like Image Pre-processing, Multi-head Attention, Patch Embeddings, and more. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-vision-transformer-from-scratch/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview modern-day renaissance man Vaughn Gene. After struggling with high school, Vaughn joined the US Navy and spent 10 years in Japan. He became fluent in the Japanese language and worked as a personal trainer for locals. He wanted more flexibility in his work, so he used freeCodeCamp to learn to code, then started lining up freelance clients. Along the way, Vaughn has also taught himself guitar, piano, Spanish, and advanced Mixed Martial Arts techniques. He shares his self-teaching heuristics, and how he's able to cultivate so many skills in tandem. I loved learning from him, and I think you will, too. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-go-full-on-renaissance-man-mode-in-2025-with-vaughn-gene-podcast-161/

4. One of the most powerful innovations of the past 30 years – for better or for worse – has been algorithmic recommendation feeds. And as a developer, if you want to build such a Recommender System for your app, you'll first need to overcome what are called Cold Start Problems. This tutorial will explain these challenges and give you conceptual tools for pushing through them. You'll learn about Contextual Data, Preference Collection, Hybrid Filtering, and more. (15 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/cold-start-problem-in-recommender-systems/

5. LaTeX is an open source typesetting tool used to represent mathematical expressions in academic papers. You can also use it to jazz up the typography of your documents. This step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to leverage the power of LaTeX right on your local Windows machine. You'll even learn how to load it into VS Code. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-run-latex-projects-locally-for-free-on-windows/

Quote of the Week: *"The more intelligent you are, the more likely you'll worry: what if I learn it the wrong way or the slow way or the suboptimal way? But in worrying like that – all that time we spend worrying - someone else is just going to spend learning the thing. In learning a new skill, the only bad choice you can make is really just doing nothing."* — Vaughn Gene, on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Feb 23, 2025

Answer:
1. If you want to expand your coding skills, consider learning Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). In this freeCodeCamp handbook, you'll learn about Inheritance, Prototypes, Object Blueprints, and other OOP concepts. Along the way you'll see tons of straightforward JavaScript code examples that you can implement yourself for practice. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-classes-in-javascript-handbook/

2. Learn how to code your own 3D browser games using the popular Three.JS JavaScript library. This step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to build your own browser-playable clone of the Frogger-like game Crossy Road. You'll learn how to render a polygonal map, animate cars, move the player character, detect collisions, and more. (1 hour read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-code-a-crossy-road-game-clone-with-threejs/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview a self-taught software engineer who learned to code in her 30s without spending a single penny. Julia Undeutsch is an accessibility expert who works at a large European company. She talks about how she used freeCodeCamp to learn while working full time. She also shares her adventures in Japan, where she has given many tech talks in Japanese. She's a super warm person and I think you'll enjoy learning from her journey. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/she-taught-herself-coding-at-age-30-for-zero-dollars-podcast-160/

4. Learn Kubernetes for beginners. freeCodeCamp instructor Beau Carnes will teach you how to deploy your own microservice architecture-based apps to the cloud using Kubernetes and Amazon's Elastic Kubernetes Service. You'll learn Kubernetes deployment patterns and how to manage real-world production environments. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-kubernetes-and-eks-for-deployment/

5. Learn user management in Linux. This tutorial covers user privilege tiers and permission scope, which dictate who can access which system operations and background processes. Not only does this tutorial teach you broader concepts – it solidifies those through tons of command line interface examples. You can bookmark this handy reference for the next time you're assigning roles on a Linux server. (15 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-user-management-in-rhel-a-comprehensive-guide/

Quote of the Week: *"I was in my early thirties, and I never thought about coding in the sense that I could do it. Of course, I always found coding cool. I always thought it's cool when I see it in the movies, like, 'How can people be so smart and program this?' But not me. I mean, I'm old. I'm a woman. Never, ever. But my younger brother told me, 'You still have to work at least 30 to 40 years. You can still do everything you want.'"* — Julia Undeutsch, Software Engineer, Accessibility expert, and freeCodeCamp alumna


Question: How to: Feb 15, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a full-length handbook that will teach you how to code in TypeScript. It's a type-safe superset of JavaScript. That means you'll be using the same JavaScript syntax and techniques you've already learned from freeCodeCamp, but with fewer errors thanks to static type checking. This book also teaches some front-end development concepts with React and Vite. Worth a read. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-typescript-with-react-handbook/

2. freeCodeCamp also published a comprehensive course to prepare you (or your kids) for the Cambridge A-Level Computer Science exam. This exam is similar to Advanced Placement exams in the US or International Baccalaureate exams in other countries. So this course should be helpful for students regardless of where they live. It covers foundational CS concepts, algorithms, data structures, and other topics you'll encounter on the exam. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-a-level-computer-science-concepts

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Peggy Wang. She's a robotics engineer who grew up in Milwaukee, used freeCodeCamp to learn to code, and ultimately got into Stanford. She's worked on augmented reality at Oculus, self-driving cars at Google Waymo, and is now building AI agents. During our conversation, she helps separate AI hype from reality, and delves deep into her hopes for humanoid robots. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-freecodecamp-to-cto-with-robotics-engineer-peggy-wang-podcast-159/

4. If you've ever wondered how GitHub's command line SSH authentication works, this quick read will walk you through the technical details. You'll learn about Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption, Cryptographic Hash Functions, and other infosec concepts. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ssh-authentication-with-github-under-the-hood/

5. One tool developers often use to catch errors in their code is logging. This tutorial will give you a brief intro to logging best practices in Python. You'll learn about logging levels like DEBUG and CRITICAL, and how to monitor the flow of your apps. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-are-logs-in-programming/

Quote of the Week: *"The gap between simulation and reality is getting narrower. Grand Theft Auto is just one example. Graphics level. Fidelity. If you're able to rig up all the controls a robot would use in a 3D video game, and you train it with scenarios that the robot would encounter in real life, you should be able to generalize that to the real world."* — Robotics Engineer and freeCodeCamp alum Peggy Wang on how developers now use simulated environments supercharge the AI training process. You can hear my full interview with her on this week's podcast.


Question: How to: Feb 8, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on modern web development using powerful tools like Next.js, React, and Strapi. This is an intermediate course, but you can code along at home even if you're a beginner. You'll build a fully-functional summer camp website, complete with event management, pagination, form handling, and more. (6 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-full-stack-app-with-nextjs-and-strapi

2. Learn clustering algorithms in Python. This freeCodeCamp handbook will teach you key techniques for Unsupervised Machine Learning so you can build more sophisticated AI systems. You'll learn about K-Means Clustering, Hierarchical Clustering, DBSCAN Clustering, t-SNE, and more. We've included a ton of code examples and data visualizations to make it easier for you to digest all of these engineering insights. (full length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/clustering-in-python-a-machine-learning-handbook/

3. On this week's podcast, I interview Rishab Kumar about his journey from working at a gas station to working at Google as a software engineer. He couldn't afford to finish university in Canada, so he taught himself DevOps and how to build cloud infrastructure. We talk about how he persisted in applying to jobs at big tech companies despite rejections, and how he earned tons of cloud engineering certifications along the way. He shares actionable advice for anyone who wants to get into the field. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-gas-station-to-google-self-taught-cloud-engineer-rishab-kumar-podcast-158/

4. If you're interested in security – and you should be – then this handbook is for you. You'll build your own scalable access control system for your apps. First you'll start by exploring the open source CASL library, a popular off-the-shelf tool for authorizing user access. Then you'll set to work coding your own permissions validation framework. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-scalable-access-control-for-your-web-app/

5. Learn asynchronous programming with TypeScript. If you already know some JavaScript, you can probably pick up TypeScript pretty easily. It's just JavaScript with statically typed variables, which results in fewer bugs. We recently upgraded our open source freeCodeCamp codebase from JavaScript to TypeScript. Anyway, this handbook will teach you key Async programming concepts like Promises, Callbacks, and Async/Await. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-async-programming-in-typescript-promises-asyncawait-and-callbacks/

Quote of the Week: *"If I was going to start learning programming from zero, where I had zero context, I'd learn IT fundamentals: how networking works, how the internet works, DNS, how packets transfer data, how computers communicate with each other. Because at the end of the day, all these servers in the cloud use networking to talk to each other. The second skill I'd spend my time on is learning how Linux works."* — Rishab Kumar, software engineer and my guest on this week's freeCodeCamp podcast


Question: How to: Feb 1, 2025

Answer:
1. A few days ago a Chinese hedge fund released a surprisingly powerful Large Language Model called DeepSeek. Developers trained this model for a fraction of the cost that GPT-4o and Claude required. The model is open-weight, and you can run it offline on your own hardware. I'm thrilled to say that freeCodeCamp has already published a comprehensive course to help you get up and running with DeepSeek. My friend Andrew Brown is a CTO and AI enthusiast, and he teaches this course, which will help you learn this new tool and its capabilities. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-deepseek-r1/

2. Learn Object Oriented Programming (OOP) with Python. OOP is a classic paradigm for writing maintainable code. You'll learn key concepts like Inheritance, Encapsulation, Abstraction, Polymorphism, and more – all with hands-on Python examples. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/master-object-oriented-programming-in-python/

3. This week on the freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Lane Wagner, a software engineer and prolific freeCodeCamp contributor. He runs a popular website for learning back end development. We talk about his thoughts on computer science degrees, his love of the Go programming language, and his freeCodeCamp course on developer careers that more than 3 million people have watched. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/getting-a-developer-job-lane-wagner-podcast-157/

4. Learn how to code your own book recommendation engine using Python. This course will teach you how to use a Large Language Model to process book titles and descriptions. It will then surface recommendations for books you might like in a dashboard. You'll learn about Data Cleaning, Vector Databases, Langchain, Zero-shot Classification, Sentiment Analysis, and more. And if your resulting project works well, you may never again need to wonder which book you should read next. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-semantic-book-recommender-using-an-llm-and-python/

5. Learn how to write Clean Code. This is a popular approach to building maintainable software. And this handbook will teach you all about code readability, clean project structures, best practices for comments, testing, and more. (full length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-clean-code-handbook/

Quote of the Week: *"AI can't save you if your code is a mess. It's like building a house on sand. Sure, it stands for a while. But one strong gust of wind or one big wave and it collapses. Remember: AI is just a tool. If you don't know how to write clean, scalable applications, you're setting yourself up for failure."* — Shahan Chowdhury, developer and freeCodeCamp contributor


Question: How to: Jan 25, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive guide to the famous "NeetCode 150" – the 150 most important LeetCode algorithm problems. If you're gearing up for technical job interviews, this should be a good use of your time. You'll learn Graphs, Trees, Linked Lists, Dynamic Programming, and more. (38 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/prepare-for-technical-interviews-using-neetcode-150

2. Learn about Webhooks by coding your own Discord bot. This freeCodeCamp tutorial will walk you through setting up a Next.js codebase, configuring your environment variables, and creating a Discord Server Action. You can then use this project as the boilerplate for building future bots to do tasks for you and your friends. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/integrate-discord-webhooks-with-nextjs-15-example-project/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Google Brain Machine Learning Engineer Jiquan Ngiam. We talk about the limits of AI, and separate hype from current capabilities. We discuss how AI agents work, how non-developers can leverage AI, and how skilled developers can REALLY leverage AI to get things done. Plus I perform a song from the 1988 Nintendo Double Dragon II soundtrack. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ai-reality-vs-speculation-jiquan-ngiam-podcast-156/

4. If you're interested in information security, you may enjoy this crash course on Metasploit, a powerful Penetration Testing tool. You'll learn about Exploits, Payloads, Auxiliary Modules, and more. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-metasploit-for-beginners/

5. And if you want a more hands-on infosec project, try building your own Real-Time Intrusion Detection System using Python. You'll learn about Packet Capturing Engines, Network Traffic Analysis, and Alert Systems. Then you'll wire these all together using Python's scapy, numpy, nmap, and scikit-learn libraries. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-real-time-intrusion-detection-system-with-python/

Quote of the Week: *"I used to think that being able to think, code, and communicate simultaneously was an impossible feat, until I realized that most people are just not good at coding interviews when they first start out. Interviewing is a skill that you can get better at by studying, preparing, and practicing for it."* — Yangshun Tay, FAANG Software Engineer and freeCodeCamp contributor


Question: How to: Jan 18, 2025

Answer:
1. Learn how to read academic papers so that you can stay on top of the latest breakthroughs in computer science and software engineering. Yacine is an engineer and researcher, and in this freeCodeCamp course he'll walk you through how he approaches reading papers. You'll learn how to quickly gain context, fill your conceptual gaps, and analyze datasets & codebases. You'll also learn a bit about common mathematical notation, and how to avoid being daunted by academic terminology. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/understanding-deep-learning-research-tutorial-theory-code-and-math/

2. Learn about the emerging field of AI Engineering, which is essentially adding AI to existing websites and apps. 90% of AI Engineering is just good old-fashioned web development with a few new tools and APIs sprinkled in. This handbook will give you an overview of the field, with case studies and helpful career tips for getting started. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-ai-engineering-handbook-how-to-start-a-career-and-excel-as-an-ai-engineer/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview software engineer Elliot Arledge about building new AI systems from scratch. Elliot has taught several popular freeCodeCamp courses, including one on GPU programming with CUDA. He shares his own approach to reading academic papers – an important skill – and tips for assimilating new concepts quickly. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/cuda-gpu-programming-elliot-arledge-podcast-155/

4. Learn how AI is now being applied to agriculture to increase crop yields. freeCodeCamp just published this book that will give you insight into optimized crop cultivation techniques. You'll learn about Precision Agriculture, pest & disease management, soil moisture monitoring, sustainable land use strategies, harvest automation, and more. (full-length book): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ai-in-agriculture-book/

5. GitHub Actions are a powerful tool for automating aspects of your developer workflow. They can save you and your collaborators a lot of time by listening for certain events, then automatically taking pre-determined actions. freeCodeCamp just published a tutorial that will show you how to get up and running with GitHub Actions on your own Git repositories. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-to-use-github-actions-step-by-step-guide/

Quote of the Week: *"All the wonders of our universe can in effect be captured by simple rules. Yet there can be no way to know all the consequences of these rules, except just to watch and see how they unfold."* – Stephen Wolfram, mathematician and computer scientist


Question: How to: Jan 11, 2025

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course that will teach you fundamental Machine Learning concepts, then show you how to deploy your own Generative AI systems to the cloud. You'll learn about model training, optimization, autonomous agents, and more advanced techniques like Retrieval-Augmented Generation. This course is taught by my friend Andrew Brown – a CTO who has spent years architecting elaborate systems. (23 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-generative-ai-in-23-hours/

2. Learn how to code your own home automation system. This project-oriented “Internet of Things” course will teach you how to write software to monitor the temperature, air quality, and air pressure in your home. You can use inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware like Raspberry Pi and ESP32 microcontrollers. You'll learn about server design, database management, communication protocols, and control interfaces. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-iot-home-automation-by-building-a-project/

3. Many people rely on spreadsheets to do their jobs, but few people actually invest the time to master these powerful tools. This new freeCodeCamp course will teach you tons of useful spreadsheet techniques. You'll build 33 different spreadsheet projects – getting exposure to Visual Basic scripting, advanced formulas, and tons of time-saving keyboard shortcuts. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/master-spreadsheets-by-building-33-projects/

4. This Web Development tutorial will show you how to ramp up the performance of your Next.js and React apps. You'll learn about caching, font optimization, code splitting, lazy loading, and more. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/optimize-nextjs-web-apps-for-better-performance/

5. And this Machine Learning tutorial will teach you how to handle non-linear data using a technique called Support Vector Machine Kernel Functions. This is vital for classification tasks like medical image analysis, speech recognition, or time-series forecasting. Enjoy. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/svm-kernels-how-to-tackle-nonlinear-data-in-machine-learning/

Quote of the Week: *"It is not knowledge, but the act of learning – not possession, but the act of getting there – which generates the greatest satisfaction."* — Carl Friedrich Gauss, 18th century Mathematician and Astronomer


Question: How to: Dec 21, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a new course that will help you prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional exam, and pass it with confidence. Andrew Brown is a CTO who has passed dozens of similar cloud cert exams. He'll teach you all about Virtual Private Clouds, cloud databases, serverless functions, and tons of AWS-specific security and storage tools. (70 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/aws-solutions-architect-professional-sap-c02-certification-course

2. Each week somebody writes asking for me to share some more Java-focused courses. Well, I'm thrilled to say that freeCodeCamp just published a course on the Spring Boot web development framework that will walk you through integrating AI capabilities into your Java apps. You can code along at home and build several projects that incorporate AI APIs like an audio transcription tool, a recipe generator, and a question & answer chatbot. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-smarter-spring-boot-applications-with-spring-ai

3. On this week's podcast, I interview software engineer James Q. Quick about how he approached his job search after a recent layoff. James grew up in Memphis and was an athlete who also played violin. He knew nothing about computer science, but chose it as his college major. Since then, he's not only worked as a dev at Microsoft, FedEx, and many tech startups. He's also given more than 100 talks at developer conferences. He talks about how his Harry Potter Trivia app helped launch his career. And he shares tons of advice for how to make a name for yourself through writing tutorials and giving conference talks. (90 minute watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-get-a-developer-job-even-in-this-economy-james-q-quick-podcast-153/

4. Learn game development fundamentals and code your own 2D platformer game. This course will teach you how to code your own JavaScript game that runs right in a browser, which will make your game extremely easy to share with your friends. You'll learn how to use the Kaplay JS library to load sprite art assets, handle collisions, react to controller inputs from players, and more. You'll even learn how to deploy your game to a publishing platform like itch. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-game-development-with-javascript-and-kaplay

5. You may have heard the term “User Stories.” These are a key concept in Agile software development. User Stories are essentially feature specifications, but they're written from the perspective of what your end users are actually trying to accomplish. This comprehensive tutorial will teach you how to create good user stories that can guide you and your team as you build features for your apps. This tutorial will also show you quite a few examples of well-designed user stories, and share some tips for how to structure them. You'll also learn about some common pitfalls developers encounter when crafting user stories, so that you can avoid them. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-write-user-stories-for-beginners/


Question: How to: Dec 14, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a course by computer science professor Dr. Radu. It will teach you how to use math to simplify your code. You can code along at home and build a musical polyrhythm app that procedurally generates sounds and visualizes them using JavaScript. You’ll learn how to structure your code for readability and maintainability – all while seeing how math underpins these concepts. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-how-math-can-make-your-code-better-by-coding-polyrhythms/

2. Elasticsearch is a powerful open source tool that tons of apps use for their search bars. freeCodeCamp just published a course that will show you how you can deploy your own real-world search engine that you can incorporate into your apps. You'll learn about Index Management, Tokenization, Embedding, Ingest Processors, Data Pipelines, Aggregations, and more. (5 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-elasticsearch-with-a-comprehensive-beginner-friendly-course/

3. On this week's episode of the freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Scott Tolinski. He's the host of the world's most popular web developer podcast, Syntax FM. We talk about how 12 years ago he sustained a serious head injury while breakdancing that sidelined him for 9 months. But he made good use of this downtime and slowly built a programming tutorial empire. He shares insights from his career of working for tiny agencies, giant companies, and everything in between. He also shares some productivity tips that have helped keep him from burning out over the decades. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/scott-tolinski-syntax-podcast-interview/

4. freeCodeCamp also published this CI/CD Handbook. CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. It's an important process in software development, and this handbook will teach you how it works. You'll learn about Docker, GitHub Actions, Branch Management, and a ton of cloud deployment concepts. (90 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-continuous-integration-delivery-and-deployment/

5. R is a popular statistical programming language, and it has its own web development framework called Shiny. This tutorial will show you how to build your own weather data dashboard app using R Shiny. You'll start by setting up the project. Then you'll get keys for your data API, and wire them into your dashboard. Along the way, you'll learn about Geocoding, Error Handling, Reactivity, and more. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-build-a-weather-app-with-r-shiny/

Quote of the Week: *"People who discover the power and beauty of high-level, abstract ideas often make the mistake of believing that concrete ideas at lower levels are worthless and might as well be forgotten. On the contrary, the best computer scientists are thoroughly grounded in basic concepts of how computers actually work. The essence of computer science is an ability to understand many levels of abstraction simultaneously."* — Donald Knuth, programmer and mathematician


Question: How to: Dec 7, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a course that will teach you the fundamentals of React, the most popular front end development JavaScript library. This course will teach you key concepts as you code along at home, building several projects including a meme generator and an AI-powered chef's recipe app. This course teaches emerging best practices, and the newest version of React, React 19. (16 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-react-2024

2. freeCodeCamp also just published a full-length book on how to design your own Microservices and deploy them to the cloud. Microservice Architecture is a software development approach where you build stand-alone apps that only do one specific thing. Then these Microservices call upon one another to get more complicated things done. This differs from the traditional Monolith approach, where everything's part of the same codebase. This intermediate book will teach you about Synchronous versus Async Communication, RESTful APIs, Protocol Buffers, Container Orchestration, CI/CD Pipelines, and more. It also features case studies from companies that have adopted Microservices, such as Amazon and Netflix. (full-length book): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-microservices-book-build-and-manage-services-in-the-cloud/

3. One of my favorite podcast interviews I've done was with John Washam, a software engineer at Amazon. John's also the creator of one of the most popular open source projects of all time: Coding Interview University. This is John's first-ever appearance on a podcast, so we go really in-depth. We talk about his years working as an interpreter in the US military. Then we dive into how he taught himself software engineering, and what he's learned from climbing the ranks at a big tech company. If you're learning to code later in life, this should be particularly helpful for you. (3 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-john-washam-crammed-for-8-months-got-a-job-at-amazon-then-taught-1000s-of-other-devs-134/

4. Don't be content merely using spreadsheets – excel with them. Pun intended. Last week I shared my podcast interview with Eamonn Cottrell, who runs a coffee shop chain and learned to code so he could automate back office tasks. Well, Eamonn's back with a new course that will teach you how to fully leverage the power of Google Sheets. You'll learn about data validation, slicers, visualizations, and even building custom functions using App Scripts. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-google-sheets-course-for-beginners/

5. Tell your Spanish-speaking friends: freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on how to build robots using Arduino microcontrollers. It covers electrical engineering concepts like resistance, pin declarations, and analog input/output. You'll learn how to add your own sensors, control motors, LED displays, and more. Note that we have English-language Arduino courses, too. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-arduino-in-spanish-course-for-beginners/

Quote of the Week: *"The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware industry."* — Henry Petroski, Engineer, Author, and Duke University professor, lamenting the sloppy coding practices he'd seen in industry


Question: How to: Nov 29, 2024

Answer:
1. If you already know a little JavaScript and want to learn Python, too, this handbook is for you. It will turbo-charge your learning by teaching you the similarities between these two high level scripting languages. You'll learn how each language approaches Syntax, Data Structures, Modules, Error Handling, and more. You'll even get some side-by-side script comparisons so that you can appreciate the nuanced differences in how these languages get things done. My humble advice is to learn both of these languages, and to learn them well. They will only become more and more central to software development over the next 20 years. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-python-for-javascript-developers-handbook/

2. Learn how to run Large Language Models on your own computer – no cloud servers required. This course will teach you how to use Ollama to run the Llama LLM. You'll be able to access its APIs and Python libraries so you can build AI-powered apps locally. Along the way, you'll apply these new skills to build your own grocery list organizer, Retrieval Augmented Generation system, and recruitment agency app. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/local-ai-development-with-ollama-course/

3. On this week's episode of the freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Eamonn Cottrell. He's a software engineer who taught himself how to code while running a local chain of coffee shops in Knoxville. He has largely automated a lot of the back office tasks for his shops, and is helping other people do the same. He's already published 37 freeCodeCamp tutorials on productivity and automation using spreadsheets. We talk about his love of coffee and latte art, ultra-marathoning, and how he balances being a musician with the practical realities of providing for a family of 6. Super inspiring. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/self-taught-coding-automating-coffee-shop-chain-eamonn-cottrell-interview-151/

4. Learn HTML Canvas by coding your own meme generator website. You can code along at home with this tutorial and build a simple website that creates memes where you can customize the text that appears on top of an image. This is a beginner-level project that will only take a few hours. It will give you hands-on practice with some powerful web development tools. (15 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/create-meme-generator-using-html-canvas/

5. When you run a popular app, you probably don't want to deploy new features to all of your users at the same time. You instead want to test those features out with a small subset of your users. That's where Feature Flags come in handy. This tutorial will teach you how to add Feature Flags to a Golang app, so that you can more safely roll out new code. (25 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-flexible-api-with-feature-flags-using-open-source-tools/

Quote of the Week: *"Language choice is not as important as all the other choices: if you have the right overall architecture, the right team of programmers, the right development process that allows for rapid development with continuous improvement, then many languages will work for you. If you don't have those things you're in trouble regardless of your language choice."* — Peter Norvig, Software Engineer and AI researcher at Stanford


Question: How to: Nov 22, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on Flutter – a popular framework for building Android and iOS apps at the same time. We think Flutter is awesome, and use it to build and maintain freeCodeCamp's own mobile apps. This beginner-level course will teach you Flutter by walking you through step-by-step as you code your own clone of the Spotify app. (10 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/create-a-full-stack-spotify-clone-with-flutter/

2. Reverse Engineering is when you want to build your own version of an app, but don't know how it was implemented – you only have the finished product to serve as your guide. This tutorial will give you a methodology for reverse engineering websites so you can get practice implementing features you see in the wild. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-reverse-engineer-a-website/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I talk with Tim Ruscica, software engineer and host of the popular Tech with Tim YouTube channel. We talk about how Tim learned computer architecture as a kid by playing Minecraft, then managed to land a Microsoft internship when he was just 19. He also shares his insights on learning to code, and why he recommends Python as a first programming language: “It's the least overwhelming thing to get your hands dirty.” (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/tech-with-tim-freecodecamp-podcast-150/

4. Learn how to manage the state of your React apps using Redux and Redux Toolkit. This freeCodeCamp JavaScript course will teach you powerful design patterns you can use to shape the experience of your users. You'll learn about middleware, hooks, async actions, immutable state updates, and more. (8 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-redux-and-redux-toolkit-for-state-management/

5. Whether you're a developer or a semi-technical decision maker on a team, you'll benefit from understanding modern development frameworks and what they bring to the table. This comprehensive guide will break down the many framework categories for you, so that you can choose the right tools for the job. You'll learn about AI frameworks, UI frameworks, testing tools, infrastructure tools, and more. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/understanding-modern-development-frameworks-guide-for-devs/

Quote of the Week: *"If you're 5-10 years old and your main circle isn't frequently discussing: PWA vs Native app, TypeScript vs JavaScript, Flutter vs React Native – and are instead discussing: Playdough, LEGOs, Goldfish... then it's time to elevate your circle."* — Ben Awad, software engineer and freeCodeCamp contributor. And yes, he means this as a joke.


Question: How to: Nov 15, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive full-stack development course that will help you learn modern JavaScript tools by building your own dating app. This course will walk you step-by-step through setting up Next.js, Prisma, and NextAuth. You'll even deploy your app to the web using Vercel. Along the way, you'll add interactive features with Pusher for real-time web socket messaging, and Cloudinary for media uploads. This is an ideal course if you want to expand and solidify your web dev skills. (7 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-deploy-a-full-stack-dating-app/

2. Learn how to harness the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) through this Generative AI course freeCodeCamp just published. You'll learn key concepts like data preprocessing, fine-tuning, and Retrieval Augmented Generation. You'll also learn how to use popular tools like Hugging Face and LangChain. By the end of this project-oriented course, you'll have built your own AI pipeline and vector database, and deployed your app to the cloud. (22 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-generative-ai-for-developers/

3. On this week's podcast I interview Google Machine Learning Engineer turned Stanford Researcher Yifan Mai about the state of AI. He runs the open source HELM project, which benchmarks the capabilities of LLMs like GPT-4 and Llama against one another. We talk about the ragged frontier of LLM use cases, Open Weight models and how they're different from open source software, and his predictions for how AI will impact the job market. I had a blast and learned so much from this conversation. And I think you will, too. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/open-weights-vs-open-source-with-google-engineer-and-stanford-researcher-yifan-mai-podcast-149/

4. Most developers I know use Git constantly. I certainly do. And one tool that helps keep me sane is Git aliases. These are custom shortcuts that dramatically reduce the amount of typing you have to do in your command line. This tutorial will teach you how to create your own custom Git aliases – with custom parameter syntax – and make them globally accessible throughout your developer environment. (15 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-simplify-your-git-commands-with-git-aliases/

5. The Go programming language is growing in popularity among devs who want to write high-performance code. If you want to get into Golang, this tutorial will teach you the foundational concepts. You'll learn about Go's data types, control structures, pointers, error handling, concurrency, standard library, and more. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/key-golang-concepts-for-beginner-go-devs/

Quote of the Week: *"Brainpower is by far our scarcest resource."* — Edsger Dijkstra, programmer and computer scientist


Question: How to: Nov 8, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on AI fundamentals. You'll learn a ton of Machine Learning concepts like regularization, overfitting, and bias-variance trade-off. You'll also learn how to use Python to implement Linear Regression, Neural Networks, and other key algorithms. Then you'll cement your understanding through case studies on recommendation engines and predictive analytics systems. (11 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-the-foundations-of-machine-learning-and-artificial-intelligence/

2. And if you want even more practice implementing AI systems, freeCodeCamp instructor Ania Kubów just published a new course on using Retrieval Augmented Generation to build a chatbot. You'll learn how to take an off-the-shelf foundation model like GPT-4, then embed your own custom datasets. Ania will even guide you through deploying your bot to the cloud, so you can show it off to your friends. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-your-own-rag-chatbot-with-javascript/

3. On this week's podcast, I talk with Jerod and Adam – hosts of the longest-running software podcast on Earth: the Changelog. We talk about how open source is changing, and they share some pretty wild stories. We also discuss how more companies are self-hosting their own infrastructure. And we talk about Open Data and Open AI Models. I hope you enjoy these conversations and their many insights as much as I do. (90 minute watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/open-source-the-changelog-podcast-148/

4. As my friends at The Changelog often say: “Software is eating the world. And open source is eating software.” This new freeCodeCamp course will show you how to navigate Open Source like a pro. You'll learn key open source concepts and terminology. Then you'll learn how to identify good projects to contribute to, and how to navigate their codebases. Finally, you'll learn how to submit good pull requests that maximize the chances of your code getting merged in. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/become-an-open-source-master/

5. Learn how to write Clean Code – a widely-respected approach to building maintainable software. This tutorial will teach you the key Clean Code principles, such as the Single Responsibility Principle, Dependency Minimization, testing best practices, and more. (30 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-write-clean-code-tips-for-developers/

Quote of the Week: *"Every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it."* – John McCarthy, all the way back in 1956. He was a computer scientist who created the Lisp programming language.


Question: How to: Oct 25, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a new course that will teach you how to code your own Sonic the Hedgehog infinite runner game in JavaScript. You'll learn how to implement core gameplay mechanics like enemy logic, parallax scrolling, scoring systems, and more. We also include all the sprite art assets you'll need to build a working game. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/code-a-sonic-infinite-runner-game-in-javascript/

2. Learn AI Engineering where you wrap a foundation model in your own custom code. In this course, we'll use the Claude LLM API to code two projects: a text summarizer app and an image describer app. You'll learn how to incorporate the API into your app, handle errors, engineer prompts, and deploy to the cloud so your friends can try it. (1 hour course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-to-use-claude-ai/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Tadas Petra, a prolific mobile app developer and teacher. When Tadas was just a child, his family immigrated to Chicago from Lithuania. His parents did whatever work they could find while Tadas struggled to learn English in school. He eventually got into university but nearly failed his first programming class. He persisted, and eventually got an internship at a trucking company writing code to control trucks. We talk about his coding journey and his many tips for learning mobile app development. (1 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/tadas-petra-podcast-146/

4. If you want to write solid software, why not learn SOLID Principles? These are S: Single Responsibility Principle. O: Open-closed Principle. L: Liskov Substitution Principle. I: Interface Segregation Principle. And D: Dependency Inversion Principle. Don't be daunted – this tutorial will break all this down with nice code examples to help you grok this popular programming approach. (20 minute read): https://freecodecamp.org/news/what-are-the-solid-principles-in-csharp

5. Up your CSS game by learning how to create elegant curved-edge shapes and rounded-edge shapes. This tutorial will teach you how to use the clip-path and mask properties to create radial gradients. You'll also see some of the cool geometry involved. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/rounded-and-curved-edge-css-shapes/

Quote of the Week: *"I really enjoyed porting games to new systems because I learned a lot that way. For a programmer, it was really challenging to port a game from a high-quality arcade machine to a lower-quality home console. The skills I developed working on ports are what enabled me to create new games."* — Yuji Naka, programmer and creator of Sonic the Hedgehog


Question: How to: Oct 18, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on how to build mobile apps using React Native. In the past, if you wanted to build mobile apps, you needed to learn iOS and Android-specific tools. But over the past decade, the JavaScript tool ecosystem for building mobile apps has improved dramatically. This course will teach you how to code your own ecommerce mobile app using React Native, Expo, Supabase, and the Stripe payment API. You'll also learn how to build an admin panel using Next.js, which you can use to browse inventory, customers, and transactions. (12 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/mobile-app-development-course-with-react-native-supabase-nextjs/

2. My friend Eamonn is a coffee shop owner turned software engineer, and a prolific contributor to freeCodeCamp's open learning resources. He's written this excellent guide to Excel keyboard shortcuts. Learn how to center cell contents, hide gridlines, auto-fit column sizes and more – all with just a few keystrokes. No mouse necessary. I'm somewhat of a shortcut connoisseur myself, so I found these super useful. I think they'll save you a lot of time, too. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/microsoft-excel-keyboard-shortcuts/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I interview Roadmap SH founder Kamran Ahmed about his journey into open source software development. We talk about his early career as a dev in Pakistan, and how he worked abroad in Berlin, Dubai, and now London. He shares his passion for open source and practical tips for how to get involved. This is a perfect conversation to listen to during Hacktoberfest – the month-long celebration of open source – where you can get involved and make your first code contributions. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/roadmapsh-founder-kamran-ahmed-podcast-145/

4. Learn how to build a full-stack MERN stack app. MERN stands for MongoDB, Express, React, and Node. Developers have used this time-tested stack for over a decade now. And now you can, too. This beginner's course will walk you through building a bookstore app. You'll start by coding a Dynamic, Responsive front end using React. You'll learn how to create Reusable Components for your navigation bar and shopping cart system. Then you'll dive into back end development. You'll build an API that can process book orders and store them in your database. You'll also learn about Authentication, State Management, and Deployment. (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/build-a-full-stack-book-store-app-using-react-node-mongodb/

5. Learn how to leverage the powerful Binary Exponentiation Algorithm to calculate large powers of numbers. Developers use this all the time when working on cryptography and computer graphics. The reason Binary Exponentiation is so powerful is that it reduces the amount of multiplications you need to do, and each iteration through the loop re-uses previous calculations. This tutorial will show you how to implement this algorithm step-by-step with a simple Python script, and understand what's happening under the hood. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/binary-exponentiation-algorithm-explained-with-examples/

Quote of the Week: *"The power of Open Source is the power of the people. The people rule."* — Philippe Kahn, software engineer and founder of 4 tech companies


Question: How to: Oct 11, 2024

Answer:
1. freeCodeCamp just published this course that will teach you how databases work from the ground up. You'll learn about Schemas and Indexing. You'll also learn how databases leverage both RAM and disk storage, how they interact with networks, and how they distribute data. Then you'll explore SQLite's architecture and contrast it with MySQL and PostgreSQL. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-databases-in-depth/

2. Learn how to pass AWS's new Certified AI Practitioner certification. Andrew Brown is a CTO who has passed dozens of similar cloud cert exams. He'll teach you all about the cert and the many cloud services it covers: Bedrock, PartyRock, SageMaker, Athena, and more. (15 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/prepare-to-pass-the-aws-certified-ai-practitioner-certification/

3. On this week's freeCodeCamp podcast, I talk with Dennis Ivy about how to become a street-smart developer. Dennis grew up in an immigrant family with 13 kids, and dropped out of school to work in construction. He taught himself to code while working as a janitor at a church. Then he started building websites for local plumbers. He eventually built a software system that he was able to sell to his employer, kicking off a career of entrepreneurship and freelance development. Dennis has tons of practical tips for building your network and finding clients. I had a blast hearing what he had to say. And I think you will, too. (2 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-become-a-street-smart-developer-dennis-ivy-interview-144/

4. Learn how to build your own cross-platform desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux – all using JavaScript. That's right. You can use JS – the native language of the web – to build apps that can leverage that sweet desktop hardware. Imagine people alt-tabbing straight to your app instead of having to navigate to it through a browser. This course will teach you how to use Electron with React and TypeScript. And if you want to learn even more about Electron, I recently did a podcast interview with Jessica Lord, the creator of GitHub's Electron team. Tons of apps now use Electron, including Slack, Figma, and VS Code. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/create-desktop-apps-with-electron-react-and-typescript/

5. What is Hydration? What is Pre-rendering? This tutorial will walk you through these key web development concepts and teach you how Client-side Rendering works. You'll also learn how traditional Server-side Rendering works, and the trade-offs involved. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a much better understanding of how developers build modern Single Page Applications and serve them at scale. (40 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-are-pre-rendering-and-hydration-in-web-dev/

Joke of the Week: *"A couple of relational databases walked into a NoSQL bar. They left because they couldn’t find a table."* — Kenneth Fisher, Database Administrator