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How to get started with web development

If you’re new to web development (or you know someone who is), I wanted to share a few resources to help you (or them) get started.

This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list. This is a collection of my “best recommendations” so that you don’t have to scour the web for hours doing your own research.

A Primer

  • If you’re completely knew and not sure where to start, I very much enjoy Don’t Fear the Internet, from Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer. It’s a bit dated, but still super useful and a very approachable primer.

HTML & Layout

  • Every Layout, from my friends Heydon Pickering and Andy Bell, is a one-stop-shop for modern CSS layouts. They make this stuff way less painful than when I was learning.
  • If you’re more into video learning, Layout Land from my friend Jen Simmons digs into modern approaches like Grid and Flexbox. Jen knows this stuff better than anyone!

CSS

  • Once you get down some layout basics, the extraordinary Rachel Andrew’s How to learn CSS is the most comprehensive and best written guide I’ve ever come across.
  • If you learn better from videos, you also can’t go wrong with the wonderful Steve Griffith’s Learning CSS YouTube series.

JavaScript

  • When you’re ready to dig into JavaScript (and honestly, this shouldn’t happen until after you feel comfortable with HTML and CSS), my go-to resource for people are my Vanilla JS Pocket Guides.
  • If you learn better from hacking away at things until you figure it out, you might also enjoy my Vanilla JS Toolkit.

Accessibility

  • Hands down the best resource for learning accessibility is the A11Y Project, started by Dave Rupert and built with the generous help of many, many volunteers.
  • For a short-and-sweet reference manual, I also very much enjoy Dave’s A11Y Nutrition Cards.

Happy learning!