My teenage son wants to learn coding. Recommendations on where to start please?

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking in this sub for a while and finally decided I want to actually dive in and learn how to code. The problem is, every time I try to figure out where to start, I get hit with a million ads for expensive bootcamps, conflicting advice on which language to pick, and fifty different apps that all claim to make you a pro in a week. Honestly, it is pretty overwhelming.

For those of you who were once in my shoes, or for anyone who helps mentor beginners, what are actually the best apps and online courses right now?

I am looking for something that does not just rely on endless matching games or flashcards, but actually teaches you how to think like a programmer and build real things.

I am leaning a bit toward web development (starting with the usual HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) because I really like the idea of seeing visual results quickly, but I am open to whatever gives you the most solid foundation.

Free resources are awesome, but I am also willing to pay for a genuinely good, well-structured course if it is actually worth the money.

Would love to hear what worked for you, and just as importantly, what I should probably avoid wasting my time on.

Appreciate any advice you can share!

I recently learned the basics of html and css, but I don't know what to do now, I still don't have the skills to make a wikipedia page, that's for sure I've tried. but what do I do now to learn what's left, I am in position where I don't know what I should do.

pls help me thx

Does anyone know of and coding courses I can take for CCS with any coding experience? Looking for classes or training to take as a beginner. Not interested in CPC, CCS only!

hi everyone,

I’ve been studying computer science for about 5 years now (currently in engineering school). Over the years, I’ve touched a bit of everything: web dev (HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, SQL), and more recently Java, C, and Python for data science.

The problem is, I feel like nothing truly sticks.

Whenever I try to build something on my own, I hit a wall. I inevitably get lost in the docs, end up turning to AI to understand what I'm doing, and still feel like I'm not really learning. I know the basic syntax, but even in Python, I would struggle to design and build a moderately complex project from scratch.

I feel like I'm just skimming the surface of different languages without ever developing genuine problem-solving intuition.

How do you actually retain syntax, built-ins, and core concepts without constantly relying on external help? How do you break down a problem and structure your code from scratch on your own? Did you go through this phase, and what was the turning point that made things finally click for you?

Thanks in advance !

Hello, Im a student currently going into 11th grade and over the summer ive done a lot of research on what I plan to do later on and eventually landed on computer science/engineering, i find the concept interesting and really want to pursue it. The problem is it feels extremely overwhelming, theres just so much on the internet and everyone seems to have their own opinion on it, I dont know what to install or where to learn from or in what order to learn. So i was wondering if I could get some help on how i should start, stuff like what sort of stuff i should download, what to learn first etc etc. It would really help me out as I honestly do enjoy it a lot (I used to dabble a lot in scratch, albeit i was pretty bad at it).
(Its late at night so i may not respond to a lot of comments lmao)

I'm trying to learn new technologies, but the documentations are very lengthy and boring to read... I've tried to go through Unity docs and MDN but everything on there is so complex and hard to understand and grasp.

I'm not sure how to go forward. I feel like I just keep reading but I don't learn much out of it.

How do you guys deal with Documentations?

For the past two weeks, I’ve been completely obsessed with the idea of making my own incremental game. I’m not trying to build the next hyperstylized 3D masterpiece, just a clean game with an addicting core loop, insanely rewarding mechanics (prestige, and many more) and deep progression systems.

Basically, I want to craft my own dream game. Something I can sink hundreds of hours into playing and tweaking over the next few years. Starting simple and expanding it over time. I couldn't care less about marketing, sales, or whether anyone else even plays it. This is purely a passion project and a hobby I want to pour myself into.

Here’s the catch: I have absolute zero coding background. Never written a single line of code in my life, and the whole domain is complete alien territory to me. But I want to learn. Badly. I’m thinking of something in the spirit of Zero Stress King or Fracture Field, but packed with way deeper, more rewarding systems. The gameplay loop will probably be something in between those two and much more to them. I have experience with website design, but zero background in 2D graphic asset creation or modeling, so I'll be starting from scratch there too. My plan is to dive headfirst into Godot for the engine and use a free Photoshop alternative (not sure which yet).

So, devs - am I setting myself up for a one-way trip to hell? Is it an absolute pipe dream to think I can solo-learn coding and asset creation from scratch without giving up, or is an incremental game actually a reasonable sandbox for a total novice to learn the ropes? Be real with me. Should I say screw it before I sink ten years into a project that goes nowhere, or is this crazy enough to actually work?

AI Disclosure: I don't want to vibe code, but only use it as a tool to help me understand and learn. Not make the decisions for me. For graphics I'll probably use it only for placeholders and maybe not even that. I don't want my end result look like an AI slop.

I've taken many courses, but I still feel like I'm missing a lot before I can start creating software... What should I do? What do you advise?

I can't code, I have been trying to learn but this is a skill set that I have surrendered too. That being said I have a solid idea for an application that isn't new in concept but new in the area I stay and I 100% believe that if marketed right it's going to do well.

The only thing holding me back is I don't have $1000 to pay a coder to build the app for me.

I was thinking if there's anyone interested in teaching me how to code or if you are interested in partnering up for a chance into the unknown let's talk.

The idea is simple, ridiculous even but I believe in it.

Hi all,
I am from non coding background and I am interested in learning Python. I would like to know what are the best available courses to learn python for a person with no coding background. Thankyou

My 12 year old son wants to start learning c# so he can make games in unity as his dream was always to make games, but he's not sure where to start, he doesn't have any experience at all with coding except with scratch

I'm unsure if my ambition is too high or not.
I want to try and make a website from scratch or somewhere of the sort to try and make a puzzle. That mostly is irrelevant at this moment though.
What matters is, I have no idea where to look. I have looked around many posts, and I've seen many tips I'm sure would help a confused soul, but to not really sugar code it. I can't read it. All the acronyms' I don't understand as I have absolutely zero experience.
I have a whole couple years I want to spend working on this project just too give me a hobby. I'm happy to learn a whole new world to do so.
I just need someone to point me in the right direction or give me some words that could help a person out.
Truly anything that is baby steps in this situation, even like a coders vocabulary would be a good help.

So I'm done with the basics of python and even know data structures but I struggle to write code on my own what I mean is I'm fine while writing a leetcode problem in python because it's like answering a math problem (and I quite enjoy it) ,but when it comes to coding up actual stuff,I feel like I can't make anything productive out of it without using chatgpt or any ai. I'm stuck in this endless loop . Many say just Google things but I just don't get the code (or remember what I am copy pasting) and just forget it . I wanna do stuff like pre ai era just raw coding . When people say build stuff , how does one do it. I mean in project videos/tutorials they follow sequential but for me I don't know where to start when building a project.

How does one get past this phase . Many of my "friends" say coding will be done with ai mostly in the future so no use actually learning, to do "your learning" and just try understand the code ai gives. What should I do ?

I know the answer is obvious and I should be writing more code without ai but its still difficult for me and I feel like coding isn't for me sometimes.

(Thankyou for your advice I hope I can implement them and get good :) )

To be honest, I tried to learn Python for over two years right now. But I hate learning to code. I tried finding YouTube tutorials that tell you how it can be more fun, but to be honest, it didn't really work. Any recommendations?

hey! im a 16 yo beginner web developer, ive been learning web dev for the past 5 months now, i studied:
Node.js
Express
JavaScript then TypeScript later on
Postgres/ a bit of SQL in general
Html
Tailwind CSS
React

but ive never really worked on big/complete projects, ive only ever done practice/exercises in courses im following or did some projects on the side but similarly to the exercises they were also mainly focused on whatever i was learning at the time, not using everything at once.

ive been wanting to start building decent projects that i can actually have in my protfolio but im having so much trouble with figuring out how to make my code clean and readable and how to structure my files, just overall how to make it more like how a professional would do it and how it would be if i were to actually work in a team in a real company

what should i be doing? and where can i actually learn this stuff? or does it just boil down to personal prefrence?

anyways thanks in advance to anyone who helps! (also sorry if i made any mistakes english isnt my first language)