This is the roadmap I wish I’d had when I first started learning to code. I keep it updated regularly so be sure to bookmark it and check back.

The original question was How do I get into coding and how much do I need to know for you to hire me?

I am not the author of any of the courses I link to below, nor do I get anything if you sign up for them.

Last Edit: August, 2022

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Hi, I’m a Software Engineering Manager at a tech company and a self-taught developer. I would love to tell you exactly what you need to know to be a professional developer and to be hired by someone like me.

THINGS TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE WE BEGIN

1. Learning to code is hard. It can be fun, too, but it is never easy

2. As you’re about to see, there is a lot to learn. Software development is a complex field and there is a lot you need to know. Learning a programming language is just the beginning.

3. You should follow this roadmap from start to finish. Don’t skip any steps and don’t listen to those who tell you to learn other languages or frameworks. Bounding from topic to topic while you’re learning will only extend the time it takes you to reach a professional level. Go deep before you go wide.

4. The roadmap below will guide you on a path toward web development. That’s not the only type of development out there, of course. There are software engineers working in machine learning, mobile development, robotics, and many other fields. I recommend using web development as your entry point, however. There are a lot of jobs available in that specialty, and the barrier to entry is relatively low.

HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE?

It will take between 1000 and 2000 hours to learn to code at a professional level, depending on your aptitude. The amount of time you can invest per week will determine the number of calendar days between you and your new career.

10 hours per week: 2 - 4 years

15 hours per week: 1.25 - 2.5 years

20 hours per week: 1 - 2 years

It’s probably not realistic to study and practice more than 20 hours per week.

Basically, settle in and try to enjoy the journey. You’ll get there, but it’s going to take some time.

WILL I BE ABLE TO GET A JOB AS A SOFTWARE ENGINEER IF I COMPLETE THIS CURRICULUM?

You will certainly be qualified for one. If you complete every course in this roadmap you will have a skill set that exceeds most code camp graduates and a better web development skillset than many new CS graduates.

It can be tough to get that first job, though. You’ll have to work to get your name out there. Be creative and lean on your network. I have more job-hunting tips later in this answer.

Now, without further ado…

THE ROADMAP

Learn How the Web Works

The first thing you’ll need to understand is how the web works from a technical perspective. The video below has a lot of information in a short period of time. Take notes, but you don’t need to memorize the whole thing. The most important thing to pick up is vocabulary. These concepts will come up a lot as you learn.

Learn How to Use Your Computer Like a Developer

Next, you’re going to need to understand how to use your computer as a professional tool. That means knowing your file system and your command line. I’m a Linux user, personally, but I’ll assume that if you’re into Linux you already know those topics. The videos below are for Windows and MacOS, respectively. The MacOS command line is more properly called the Terminal.

Windows:

MacOS:

Learn Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2).

If you’re using a Windows computer as a developer, you’ll need to learn about WSL2. A lot of the tools you’ll need as a professional developer will require you to work with a Linux command line. Luckily, WSL2 integrates the Ubuntu terminal into Windows very well. This has had the effect of making Windows a legit platform for web development.

While not strictly necessary when you first start to learn, if your intention is to do serious web development on a Windows machine, you might as well start using WSL2 now.

Learn to Use a Code Editor

You’re going to need several tools as a developer but the courses I link to later in this answer will introduce most of them as needed. For now, the main tool you need to know is a code editor or IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

There are a lot of these available but I’m going to recommend starting with a full-featured code editor called Visual Studio Code. This is not the same as the Visual Studio IDE.

VS Code is a professional-grade tool and it is 100% free. It’s worth taking a little time to learn your way around.

You can download a copy of VS Code at the link below.

Visual Studio Code - Code Editing. RedefinedVisual Studio Code is a code editor redefined and optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications.  Visual Studio Code is free and available on your favorite platform - Linux, macOS, and Windows.https://code.visualstudio.com

And you can learn how to use it right here:

LEARN THE BASICS: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the core technologies of web development and you’ll need to spend a few months getting good at them. You can do that at Free Code Camp, which is a 100% free service.

In order to complete this step you will need to earn both the Responsive Web Design and JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms certificates.

This is where you really start learning to code. Make sure you do ALL the projects and challenges. Those are the most difficult part but also the most important. Don’t skip anything!

This step isn’t easy to complete. In fact, my guess is that 95% of the people who start this road map will never get past this point. Not because it is too hard, but because it takes time and consistency.

You can help yourself be successful by setting up a study schedule. Block out time several days a week for study and practice. Make a commitment to yourself that you will use that time productively. Don’t let anything distract you from your goals.

Free Code Camp has a lot of in-browser exercises but you should also try out what you’re learning in VS Code. There’s no better way to learn than by actually building things in your code editor.

https://www.freecodecamp.comhttps://www.freecodecamp.com

MORE ABOUT JAVASCRIPT

When you get to your JavaScript lessons in Free Code Camp, it might be good to supplement your online classes with some reading. Here is a link to Eloquent JavaScript***,*** which is an excellent book for beginners. You can read it for free online or you can pick up a print copy at Amazon. The link below is for the free resource.

Eloquent JavaScriptEloquent JavaScript 3rd edition (2018) This is a book about JavaScript, programming, and the wonders of the digital. You can read it online here, or buy your own paperback copy . Written by Marijn Haverbeke.https://eloquentjavascript.net/

ABOUT UDEMY

From here on out, we’ll rely on Udemy courses to expand our skillset. We do this instead of continuing on with Free Code Camp because all of the following topics go deep and its worth taking a structured course in each. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself!

Udemy is an excellent service, but its pricing structure is a little strange. What you want to do is to buy the courses on sale, when they are about $12 - $25 each. When you first register at Udemy the courses will be on sale and I recommend buying at least the first few courses below if you can. Those will keep you busy for several months.

After that, just keep an eye out for sales. Udemy holds them a few times per year.

Let’s keep going!

LEARN REACT

Once you understand the basics, it’s time to move into more intermediate-level development. React is the most popular front-end library in the world and an absolutely vital skill for a new web developer.

React projects are a LOT more complex than the simple three-file apps you’ve been building up till now. Just keep at it, things will make more sense as you continue in this curriculum. Don’t worry if things seem confusing at first, you’re exactly where you need to be.

The course below teaches React using functional, rather than class-based, components. This is the modern way to develop React applications.

**React 16: The Complete Course (incl. React Router 4 & Redux)**Dive in and learn React.js from scratch! Learn Reactjs, Hooks, Redux, React Routing, Animations, Next.js and way more!https://www.udemy.com/course/react-the-complete-guide-incl-redux/

LEARN TESTING WITH JEST AND REACT-TESTING-LIBRARY

Good unit tests can make the difference between a maintainable application and one that devolves into an unusable mess. This is another critical topic to master.

**Testing React with Jest and React Testing Library (RTL)**Learn best practices for testing your apps with Jest and React Testing Library!https://www.udemy.com/course/react-testing-library/

LEARN NODE

By this point in the curriculum, you’ll have a very solid understanding of front-end development. Learning Node will teach you the back-end and enable you to make full-stack applications that involve interaction with a server and database.

The course below is a big one, but it will teach you what you need to know.

**NodeJS - The Complete Guide (MVC, REST APIs, GraphQL, Deno)**Master Node JS & Deno.js, build REST APIs with Node.js, GraphQL APIs, add Authentication, use MongoDB, SQL & much more!https://www.udemy.com/share/1013ho/

LEARN SQL and PostgreSQL

The course above touches on SQL but it's a deep topic and an important one to understand. SQL is a database language and there are many flavors of it, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MSSQL. PostgreSQL is probably the most popular of them but once you learn one picking up any of the others is fairly easy.

SQL and PostgreSQL: The Complete Developer's GuideBecome an expert with SQL and PostgreSQL! Store and fetch data, tune queries, and design efficient database structures!https://www.udemy.com/course/sql-and-postgresql/

BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO PROJECT

This next step is critical. By now, you’ve learned enough to build your own full-stack web application and you need to cement that knowledge by, well, actually building one.

This project will be your primary portfolio project and will be the first thing potential employers will want to look at, so put your best effort into it. Pay attention to design, including responsive design, and assume someone will be looking at the code. Write good tests and use the best design patterns you’ve learned over the last several months.

If you don’t know what to build, try one of the following:

• A Blog Engine

  • This is a simple CMS or content management system that will allow you to create a blog online. You should be able to create and edit blog posts from an admin panel and users should be able to comment on those posts. You should be able to moderate those comments as necessary

• A Fake Dating Site

  • Create a Tinder-like dating site for superheroes, muppets, or whatever. A character looking for love should be able to log in, see potential matches, and communicate with them. You should create several of these profiles to demonstrate site functionality

• An eCommerce Site

  • Create an eCommerce site for a mock product. Users should be able to log in, add items to their cart, and check out. The app should deduct items from inventory as necessary and you should be able to open an admin panel that allows you to control the whole operation

Any one of those projects will teach you a ton about full-stack development. Once you start planning features and dealing with things like authentication and authorization you will run into a lot of the same pain points that professionals deal with every day. Expect long periods of “stuckness”. Use Stack Overflow as necessary and stay the course. You can do this!

Don’t continue on until you’ve completed this step.

DEPLOY YOUR PORTFOLIO PROJECT

Now that you’ve built your portfolio project, you’ll want to deploy it in a professional way. One way to do that is to use AWS. AWS is a vital skill for developers but many people outside the field aren’t even sure what the heck AWS even is. That’s okay! Well, it WAS okay. Now it is time for you to start learning about it.

Here’s an introduction video to the topic

And here is a video about how you can deploy a NodeJS application to AWS using a service called Elastic Beanstalk. Note, this isn’t the only way to deploy your app but it will get you some experience with the core AWS services developers need to know about.

GOING PRO

When you reach this point you will be very close to job ready. You could probably do freelance work already. If your goal is to work at a software development company, however, you will need to get past the dreaded technical interview.

Interviews at software companies basically have three parts. The first is the “behavioral” interview, which is just your standard job interview stuff. They’ll ask you about yourself and what you like to do, and just try to get a sense for cultural fit.

The next part is the coding challenge. In a coding challenge, you’ll be asked to solve challenges like “given an array of n numbers, find all the subsets of three numbers that add up to seven”.

To answer questions like these, you will need to understand data structures and algorithms.

We’ll get to the third part of the technical interview a little later on.

LEARN DATA STRUCTURES AND ALGORITHMS

Here is a good course to get you started on this fascinating topic. You’ll learn about complexity analysis and how to choose the best data structures for a given situation. It isn’t just about interviews. Knowing this stuff will make you a better engineer.

JavaScript (JS) Algorithms and Data Structures MasterclassThe Missing Computer Science and Coding Interview Bootcamphttps://www.udemy.com/course/js-algorithms-and-data-structures-masterclass/

Once you’ve completed the course, you’ll want to practice coding challenges. The go-to place to do that is Leetcode.

LeetCode - The World's Leading Online Programming Learning PlatformLevel up your coding skills and quickly land a job. This is the best place to expand your knowledge and get prepared for your next interview.https://leetcode.com/

LEARN SYSTEM DESIGN

The last part of the technical interview is system design. You don’t always need to understand this at entry-level interviews but you might at larger companies or later in your career.

Here is an example of what a system design interview looks like

That video is made by a company called Exponent, and they have an excellent service for learning system design and really for code interview prep in general. The service even includes an opportunity to engage in peer-reviewed practice interviews. I recommend it.

https://tryexponent.comOur courses help you prepare for an interview or excel at your job with real examples and advice from managers at Google, Facebook, and more.https://tryexponent.com

JOB HUNTING

Congrats! By the time you reach this point in the roadmap you should be well-prepared to go out and land a job as an entry-level developer. Here are some job-hunting tips

1. You need to have three critical things for potential employers:

   1. A professional-looking LinkedIn profile. Make sure you’ve got a picture posted and some activity to show. Follow some people you admire and post updates about things you’re learning or are interested in. Stay away from “Facebook” style garbage posts. Keep posts focused on your career.

   2. Your Github profile. Make sure you’re showing your best work and staying active with your projects. Some employers look at your recent activity to see how passionate you are about code

   3. A link to your deployed portfolio project. It must be deployed! Don’t expect a hiring manager to clone your repo and build it from source because guess what? They won’t.

2. Until you have some experience, build a skills-focused resume. Google that term for details.

3. Get experience any way you can! If you’re doing freelance work, post your big projects on LinkedIn or start your own consultancy and post that as soon as you begin taking work.

4. Network! Join a local coding group and make sure you attend the meets. If there isn’t one in your area, start one. That’s exactly how I got started in my career.

5. If you don’t have a college degree, it might be good to fix that situation. Not all developers have a CS Degree but the vast majority have a four-year degree in something. It’s hard to go wrong with CS but other majors you might consider include MIS, Business Analytics, and UX Design. Some schools even offer web development degrees. Note: You don’t need to finish a degree before looking for your first job, but having one will eventually unlock opportunities for you. Highly recommended.

ADVANCED TOPICS

Once you’ve landed that first job, it’s good to continue learning. The topics below will help you to progress in your career. Note, you don’t need to do all of these. Rather, pick and choose those that interest you. That being said, you really should do the Typescript one at some point.

TypeScript

**Learn TypeScript (Ditch JavaScript)**Boost your JavaScript projects with TypeScript: Learn all about core types, generics, TypeScript + React or Node & more!https://www.udemy.com/course/understanding-typescript/

Data Visualization with D3.js

Learn and Understand D3.js for Data VisualizationDive deep under the hood of D3.js. Learn core concepts and build stunning data visualizations using D3 version 7https://www.udemy.com/share/101OyH3@EbaUu03E894dZ_6A_dGHkfFNW9YRl_8C0nlKTBP34nHBrU5Nm28jhZJhjct3_jQ=/

Websockets and Socket.io

**Socket.IO (with websockets) - the details. (socket io v2)**Socket io. For those who want to learn how to harness real-time communication on the web. With Cluster, redis, & Reacthttps://www.udemy.com/course/socketio-with-websockets-the-details/

React Native

https://www.udemy.com/course/react-native-the-practical-guide/

More About AWS

**Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2022 - NEW!**Full Practice Exam with Explanations included! PASS the Amazon Web Services Certified Developer Certification DVA-C01.https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-developer-associate-dva-c01/

Microservices

Microservices with Node JS and ReactBuild, deploy, and scale an E-Commerce app using Microservices built with Node, React, Docker and Kuberneteshttps://www.udemy.com/course/microservices-with-node-js-and-react/

An Introduction to Docker

Docker for the Absolute Beginner - Hands On - DevOpsLearn Docker with Hands On Coding Exercises. For beginners in DevOpshttps://www.udemy.com/share/101Xlm/

CONCLUSION

I hope this answer is helpful. It is the product of years of being both a self-taught and a professional developer, as well as a team leader and engineering manager.

Please share this answer with your network. The question of "how do I learn to code" comes up on Quora often, and I feel this is one of the best answers to it.

Thank you for reading and welcome to the world of web development.

Good luck!