Whether you've played about with your MySpace page back in the early noughties or you don't know your Ruby from your Python, everyone who codes started somewhere. So we've put together some resources that can help you get going.

freeCodeCamp

This website is great for complete beginners. We encourage everyone who's interested in our courses to do at least the first 20 JavaScript lessons on it. If coding is right for you, you'll want to do more. If it isn't for you, then at least you've found out for free! If you're a visual learner, they have loads of videos on their YouTube channel. On top of all that, they have a huge online community with over 350,000 active users helping each other out.

This is great for: quickly determining whether a career in coding is for you.

Treehouse

If you like user friendly, image and video based learning, Treehouse might be the platform for you. Their vision is to diversify the tech industry by making education accessible. For a price of £20 a month, they offer over 300 tech based courses with flexible learning at its core. With over 50,000 current students the online community for support is vast.

This is great for: people who benefit from visual guides and are used to learning through tutors.

DEV.to Beginners

Includes loads of helpful tips on everything from interview study guides to inspirational Chinese proverbs ("A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.") DEV provides a continuous stream of guides and resources from other beginners who are also learning how to code. It has a familiar social media feed format and the content spans anything from helping the absolute beginner to getting people into work.

This is great for: sharing problems and finding solutions to sticking points you might come across while learning.

Get to a workshop

Workshops and community get-togethers are ideal for getting beginners started. They're fantastic for asking questions, learning new things and meeting new people who are already in the industry. Here are a couple that we think are great:
Code Up host meetings with people from all levels of their coding careers, from novices to experts. Through learner led tuition, it allows people to learn from their peers and discuss ideas. They also have meet-ups all over the country, so if you're not based near Manchester or Leeds, have a look to see where else they'll be.
Code And Stuff host weekly events in Manchester focused on elevating diversity in tech through learning, empowerment and creating a community. Aimed at women and non-binary people, Code and Stuff work to give their groups the support and confidence they might need to thrive in their career in tech.
If you're not in Manchester, Meetup is a great website to find your nearest coding community.

This is great for: talking to other beginners and people already in the industry about their experiences.

Northcoders Ultimate Guide to Surviving First 4 Weeks of Code

This is our guideline on how to structure your learning when getting to grips with the basics. It includes a timeframe for how frequently you should be coding, links to instructional YouTube videos and an easy workflow to follow when you're just starting out. At the beginning of the 4 weeks you'll be learning about Javascript, by the end you'll be building a stylised website.

This is great for: getting familiar with the type of work you'll be doing before starting the course at Northcoders.