Beyond Resources: People, Community, and Tools for Learning Web Development

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4 min read

Summary: I use this opportunity to talk about how people and community shape the learning path in web development as a profession. Also, I list some resources that I’ve found useful.

People and Communities.

Practicing (working on projects) is the most important thing. Resources will be there for when you need help and want to learn about what you are working on or plan to work on.

Before I list some of the resources I found useful, some resources that have been recommended to me, I’d like to mention that people and communities are a key part of the growing journey as a web developer. Having people that you are able to talk to about certain technologies, their daily grind, and ask them questions from time to time is significant. Also, it is great if you have someone who is close to you, or a colleague that you see often.

Joining communities is an alternative. It is also another way to be able to get feedback, ask some questions, or ask for help if you get stuck on a problem. Also, the communities can help you when the tool is new or a new version has come up. Some of these tools have their own community (sometimes a Discord community), and that is a place that can help you with solving some problems. Some examples that I can list:

  • I’ve asked for recommendations about a CMS that has great usability. Local PHP community
  • I’ve asked for the languages and frameworks that are predominant in the local market. Local PHP community.
  • I’ve answered a question about whether the Astro Netlify adapter is needed for full SSG websites made with Astro. Astro community on Discord.

Mentorship could be another way, but the free ones can be hard to find, and it will depend on whether you are learning on a budget. Either way, it is significant that you feel you are growing while being a mentee.

AI as a learning tool:

AI is a tool that can help you a lot in your learning journey, since it can help you in many ways, and it’s available on demand.

Some use cases:

  • Using it to explain to me some concepts in a simple way, using analogies, metaphors, etc.
  • Debugging the code. When using AI inside the code editor, it can be a great option to help you debug the code.
  • Reading the documentation: It can help you read documentation faster, or at least summarize the topic. Also, it can provide other examples and answer questions having that documentation page as the context for your question.
  • If you are working with new versions or tools that are not so popular, you might need to watch out for incorrect information. It is a good practice to provide context in some ways. For example, ask it to search the web or if you are using the code editor, use some kind of MCP tool (Model Context Protocol).

Resource List:

Tools:

  • Roadmap.sh: This tool provides a list of learning roadmaps for different roles or skills.
  • The odin project: This tool provides a learning roadmap for becoming a full-stack developer.

Tutorials:

  • Freecodecamp: It is a great channel to start, you will find information about almost everything in web development and more.
  • Midudev: You will find information about different skills, tools, frontend, backend, etc. (This one is in spanish).
  • Programming with Gio: I’ve used to learn about php, and it also provides tutorials to learn about Laravel.
  • The codeHolic: I’ve used it mostly for learning about php. Moreover, it covers topic such as Laravel, React and Vue.
  • Coding in public: I’ve used it for learning about Astro, and Tailwind.
  • Syntax: It has tutorials about different tools and skills. Moreover, it also has the podcast format so you can listen to it and learn about different topics.
  • KevinPowell: I’ve used it mostly for learning CSS and designing.

Talks (Podcast)

Blogs:

These are the resources that I’ve been using the most lately. I will revisit this post and add any others that can provide value.