We are living challenging times. All over the world people are voluntarily or bounded to stay at home. Some countries are in social isolation for quite some time now and others are just starting their isolation.
As an instant response to this temporary way of living, a bunch of initiatives started to flourish. Social media networks are full of live concerts, online workout plans, podcasts and so on. Technology has shown to be a great asset during isolation by connecting people and, most importantly, bringing some feeling of normality to this crazy period.
If you are looking for something to occupy your time while at home and are interested in learning new things and improving your coding skills, we have prepared a list with some courses of our choice to help you.
But before we go to the list, we feel it is also important to say that it's okay if you are feeling stressed right now and if you don't feel like you are ready to commit to a new activity. You can and should also take this as an opportunity to relax, do nothing, play games, watch movies and series and just chill.
Having said this, the list below is a mix of lessons and courses to help you learn new frameworks and tricks. Some of them are free and others are paid. We've also decided to include a few basic courses to give everyone a chance.
Here is the list with a selection of 10 online lessons and courses:
1. JAMstack Tutorial – How to Build Fast, Secure Websites
Naturally, our first suggestion is related to JAMstack. We are big fans of this new way of building websites and in this tutorial you will learn what JAMstack is and how it compares to other tech stacks. Prepare to be amazed!
2. The Beginner's Guide to React
This JavaScript library is a great option for building user interfaces. We use it to build all kinds of web applications. This paid course is for anyone that wants to start using React. It will give you a strong foundation to build pretty things.
3. Modern JavaScript Tooling with React
Get ready to debug React! We selected this course since it 's clear and direct in explaining the several tools needed to build React applications. More than that, it explains some of the problems/bugs that may appear while developing an application or making changes to an existent one.
4. Build a Blog with React and Markdown using Gatsby
Another JAMstackie suggestion (we can't help it). This is a simple workshop for anyone that wants to try out Gatsby, a Static Site Generator for React.
Go Static and kick start your theme on Gatsby. This course takes you from zero to a publish Gatsby theme. The course is very well structured and it will take you less than 1 hour.
6. Build Content Rich Progressive Web Apps with Gatsby and Contentful
Yes, I know, enough with Gatsby! But our intention here is to show options for a decoupled approach to build a Content Management System or a Progressive Web App, in this case. Hope you enjoy!
7. Introduction to AWS Database Services
This is a small introduction on Amazon Web Services Databases engines. It can be a powerful tool for you to build highly scalable and distributed applications.
We have a big project that is built on GO. We thought it would be interesting to share this course so others can learn the basics of this open-source programming language.
9. Build Complex Layouts with CSS Grid Layout
Front-end Alert!! On this course, you will learn all the features CSS Grid has to offer. This will empower your skills for building complex web platforms.
10. Smart Interface Design Patterns, 2020 Edition
Master class from Smashing Magazine. The workshop is composed of 5 lessons of 2 hours each, from April 2nd to the 17th. The focus of the workshop is on UI components and design patterns.