Web Development resources for developers

REST, GraphQL, gRPC and event driven interfaces compared on the criteria that actually decide between them: coupling, versioning, latency and who pays the cost of a change. API design rounds are increasingly common and rarely prepared for.

Schema design, normalisation, indexing and the modelling decisions that determine whether a system is pleasant or painful three years in. The data model outlives every other decision in a codebase.

A directory of free APIs sorted by category, with authentication and CORS support noted for each. The fastest cure for not knowing what to build: pick an API that interests you and make something small with real data instead of another to do list.

The reference for HTML, CSS, JavaScript and the browser APIs, with accurate compatibility data on every page. When an answer from a tutorial and an answer from MDN disagree, MDN is right.

A complete free full stack curriculum that makes you build real projects and set up your own environment rather than coding in a sandbox. Demanding, unpaid, and it produces people who can actually work.

A university course on modern JavaScript development, free and open, covering React, Node, GraphQL, TypeScript, testing and continuous integration through substantial exercises. University quality material with no fees and no admissions.

Thousands of hours of free interactive curriculum with certifications, covering responsive design, JavaScript, data structures, backend work, Python and data analysis. The lowest barrier entry point in the field.

A visual map of front end skills with the essentials marked separately from the optional branches, which is what stops it becoming an anxiety generator. Use it as an audit, not a syllabus.

The backend counterpart, covering languages, databases, caching, APIs, authentication, testing and deployment, with the required parts marked. A useful map of the territory between writing endpoints and running a service.

The modern JavaScript tutorial, covering the language from basics through prototypes, closures, promises and modules, with exercises and solutions throughout. The clearest free explanation of the parts of JavaScript that confuse people.

A book that teaches programming through JavaScript rather than JavaScript through examples, with real projects and exercises you can run in the page. Free online, and better written than most paid material.

A book series that goes deliberately deep on the mechanics of JavaScript, including scope, closures, coercion, the object system and asynchrony. Read it when you are tired of language behaviour surprising you.

The rewritten React docs, which are now a genuinely good course with interactive examples and a strong section on thinking in components and state. Read these before any paid React course.

The official free course, building a working application with routing, server rendering, data fetching, authentication and deployment. The most efficient way to understand where server and client code split in a modern React app.

Google's guidance on performance, accessibility and modern browser capability, including the full Learn CSS and Learn Accessibility courses. The reference for the metrics your site is actually measured against.

TypeScript taught through exercises you have to solve rather than lectures, from the beginner tutorial up to generics and type level programming. The free tiers alone cover more than most developers ever learn.

Teaches CSS as a system with rules you can reason about, aimed at developers who are strong in JavaScript and treat CSS as guesswork. Expensive, and it fixes a problem a lot of competent engineers quietly have.

A deep library of recorded workshops taught by well known practitioners, covering JavaScript internals, frameworks, TypeScript, testing and computer science for developers. Depth rather than breadth, and consistently well taught.

Real design files and a brief, then you build it and get community feedback. It solves the specific problem of not knowing what to build once tutorials run out.

The documentation for hundreds of languages and libraries in one fast searchable interface, available offline. Replaces a browser full of documentation tabs with a single keystroke.

Browser support tables for every web platform feature, with real usage percentages rather than a simple yes or no. The answer to whether you can ship a feature yet, in about five seconds.

Thirty small projects in thirty days, built in plain JavaScript with no frameworks, libraries or build tools. The fastest cure for framework dependence.

Design advice written for developers, as a set of specific rules you can apply rather than principles you have to interpret. It will visibly improve your interfaces within a day, without making you a designer.

An open publishing community where developers write about what they are building, and a low friction place to start writing yourself. Publishing regularly does more for a career than most people expect.