10 YouTube Channels For Self-Taught Developers
By: Chad Murobayashi
Tags: Self Taught, YouTube, Learning To Code, Programming, Learning

Traversy Media

For me, Traversy Media is the G.O.A.T. This channel was one of the first that I came across when starting to learn and I am so glad that I did. Brad Traversy teaches everything you need to know about web development. His most popular videos are his crash courses on different languages and technologies, where you can learn the basics in an hour. He even creates full projects in some videos and recently has been featuring different creators on his channel.

One of my favorite videos is his Build a Netflix Landing Page Clone with HTML, CSS & JS. You can see my version of the finished product here.

The Net Ninja

The Net Ninja has to be one of the most organized YouTube channels that I have come across. His videos are all organized into Playlists, where you can learn almost anything. This channel especially helped me out when I started learning about Firebase. There are playlists with projects dedicated to helping you learn about Firebase Firestore, Auth, Cloud Functions, and Hosting. Almost every playlist is project-based, where you will have something to show for at the end of your work. If you are looking to learn a new language, framework, or library, this is another good place to start.

mayuko

This channel is focused on lifestyle content for the tech industry. Mayuko creates videos on everything from daily vlogs, career advice, health tips, and she is one of the first to make the day in the life of a software engineer videos. Overall this channel has great vibes and her videos have helped me to stay motivated and given me a lot of good advice on becoming and working as a software engineer.

Coding Garden

I came across this channel a little later in my learning journey, because I remember reading about twitch streamers who code. I sometimes hop on to twitch to watch Fortnite or NBA2K, but I have never heard of watching someone code. That’s when I found Coding Garden’s channel. The host, C.J., live streams on twitch, where he builds apps, solves algorithms or does Q&A. While I have not viewed his live stream before, his YouTube channel is full of educational content. The thing that makes this channel great is the personality of C.J. He is one of the most positive and happy people I have seen, and his videos just make you happy.

One of his most popular videos on YouTube is Build a Full Stack Travel Log App with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, React + Hooks and Mapbox. I have not had a chance to finish this video yet, but it is definitely saved in my watch later list.

Dev Ed

Like the previous channel, what makes Dev Ed great is his personality. This channel has helped me to think about design and also introduced me to Figma. He has a video featured on Traversy Media, Figma in 40 Minutes, where he goes through the basics and getting started with using Figma. One of my favorite videos on his channel is I Design a Website in 20 Minutes. Overall, this channel provides a nice mix of tutorials and advice, wrapped with the sense of humor of Ed.

The Come Up

This is another lifestyle channel, where Bukola talks about her journey of working as a software engineer. What really attracted me to this channel is the fact that she is a self-taught developer with no computer science degree and no boot camp. You can see her talk about how she achieved this in her video, How I Became a Software Engineer Without a Computer Science Degree. This channel has helped to keep me motivated and to keep pushing forward in my journey.

freeCodeCamp.org

freeCodeCamp.org is an amazing resource to learn to code. If you are just starting out, I highly recommend checking out their website and taking some of their free certification courses. Regarding their YouTube channel, they feature content from other YouTube creators. It is such a positive community of learning.

Joshua Fluke

What I like about this channel is that Joshua Fluke is straight forward and keeps it real. He gives tips for building your portfolio and resume, reviews job postings, and even posted a full interview in his What a REAL web developer interview is like (Front End) video. This channel has given me a realistic goal and practical advice. If you are applying for your first role as a junior developer, I highly recommend watching his videos where he reviews viewers’ portfolios and resumes. I received a lot of good tips from him on how to structure my resume and what to include in my portfolio, especially as a self-taught developer.

Chris Sean

Chris Sean is another self-taught developer who I look to for inspiration. This is a lifestyle blog, where he talks about his life as a developer and his journey to get there. One of my favorite videos is How I Would Become a Web Developer in 6 Months | Legit Step By Step Tutorial. Like the previous channel, Chris Sean keeps it real and vlogs at the highest and lowest points in his career. His channel is helping me to understand what life is like as a Web Developer.

Anthony Sistilli

I searched all over the web when I started to learn Material UI and that’s when I came across this channel. If you are looking to learn Material UI, this is a good place to start. Anthony has a playlist that is dedicated to going over different components and features. What I like about the tutorials is that he also goes through the documentation with you and shows you how to use it. In the playlist, there is a section on Creating a Pokedex using React, Material UI, and the PokeAPI. You can see my version of the finished product here.