Best Web & Mobile Development courses
The 131 Web & Mobile Development courses programmers recommend to each other on Hacker News, ranked by how many people recommended each one, how strongly, in how many separate threads and over how many years (226 recommendations, 2006 to October 2026). 44 of them are free. How ranking works.
CS193P Developing Applications for iOS using SwiftUI
Stanford University · beginner · free
Commenters repeatedly call the Stanford iOS lectures excellent and free, saying they give a structured, conceptual foundation that tutorials and sample code do not.
CS253 Web Development
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters call it an excellent, high-quality course that explains the theory and reasoning behind web development rather than just tools, and say it made the broader picture of how web parts fit together clear.
Web Development
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters call it a fantastic, well-paced introduction to web infrastructure that gives a solid mental model before adding frameworks and tooling.
CSS for JavaScript Developers
Josh Comeau · intermediate · paid
Commenters say it goes beyond property reference to show real usage patterns and common pitfalls, and that it is fun and builds real confidence in CSS.
The Web Developer Bootcamp
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it the best value for price and say it explains enough to go out and build things on your own, with one saying it is how they learned to code.
JavaScript and jQuery
Codecademy · beginner · free
Commenters cite its hands-on format, where you see the results of each exercise right away, as a practical way to learn JavaScript and jQuery for web work.
AngularJS
egghead.io · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a good set of short video tutorials for getting a hands-on grasp of basic AngularJS concepts.
The Complete Elixir and Phoenix Bootcamp
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a great course and one of the best they have taken in any language, and one says it is very good for beginner-level programmers.
React and Redux (Stephen Grider)
Udemy · intermediate · paid
Commenters call Stephen Grider's React and Redux course awesome and say it is a good starting point for understanding Redux after React.
Getting Started with Redux
egghead.io · beginner · free
Commenters recommend it as a good way to learn Redux from its creator, and one says it teaches you how to think about React, JavaScript, and GUI development.
CS75 Web Development
Harvard University · beginner · free
Commenters call it a good follow-up to CS50 and a solid crash course in web development, praising Professor Malan's engaging teaching and the freely available materials.
CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript
edX · intermediate · free
Commenters recommend it as the natural follow-up to CS50 for learning full-stack web development through assignments and projects.
Shaping up with AngularJS
Code School · beginner · free
One commenter points to it as a free, hands-on AngularJS starter tutorial for beginners.
Android Developer Nanodegree
Udacity · intermediate · paid
Commenters point to it as a Google-developed, well-structured way to fill Android skill gaps with project-based learning.
Rails for Zombies
Code School · beginner · free
Commenters call it absolutely fantastic and say they highly recommend it as a free way to learn Rails.
Phoenix LiveView Course
Pragmatic Studio · intermediate · paid
Commenters call Pragmatic Studio's Elixir and LiveView courses outstanding and worth the cost, and one says they highly recommend the LiveView course.
CS50's Introduction to Game Development
Harvard University · beginner · free
Commenters call it an excellent, much-recommended course that is practical, hands-on, and accessible to beginners.
Practical JavaScript
Watch and Code · beginner
Commenters say it is the best intro to JavaScript for complete beginners and that it changed how they think about programming, since it teaches the reasoning behind each step rather than skipping it.
Hack Yourself First
Pluralsight · beginner · paid
Commenters recommend it as a hands-on introduction to web security that covers the basics from the attack angle first.
6.170 Software Studio
MIT OpenCourseWare · intermediate · free
Commenters point to its video lectures as a strong primer on UI/UX heuristics and as a source on software abstractions from Professor Jackson.
Unity Programming Intro Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it excellent and say it covers the tips and tricks of the trade, and one enjoyed it enough to recommend Udemy's Unity intro courses.
React for Beginners
Wes Bos · beginner · paid
Commenters describe it as instrumental for understanding React and say it was fantastic, with one calling it a top-notch course.
Front End Web Developer Nanodegree
Udacity · beginner · paid
Commenters say Udacity's nanodegrees are built with employment in mind and that the Front-End Dev course helped one returning developer land a job.
Interactive 3D Graphics
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a practical way to learn WebGL, and one says they have read great things about it from its instructor Eric Haines.
Khan Academy JavaScript Programming
Khan Academy · beginner · free
Commenters call the Khan Academy programming courses great and very hands-on, and recommend them for kids starting around age 7 or middle school and up.
Flutter Course (Andrew Mead)
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters recommend it for beginners and praise Mead for pausing so learners can try steps themselves rather than just watching.
React Course (Tyler McGinnis)
egghead.io · beginner · paid
Commenters describe it as a strong course they took and recommend, though one asks whether the videos have aged as React has changed.
React
Frontend Masters · intermediate · paid
The one commenter who names it calls it an excellent course and praises how it builds a pet adoption app around hooks.
Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree
Udacity · intermediate · paid
Commenters value its structure, feedback, and portfolio-building focus, describing it as designed for employment rather than academics.
Vue.js 2 - The Complete Guide
Udemy · mixed · paid
Commenters call it super helpful and say Max teaches well, and they note Udemy's frequent $10 promotions make it affordable.
Learn to Code (HTML/CSS, Ruby)
Codecademy · beginner · free
Commenters call it a great intro for people who want to get started, and one says it is where to begin with coding.
iPhone Programming
iTunes U · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as a good starting point for learning iOS development, with one saying to begin with it and fill gaps as you go.
Docker Course
Udemy · paid
Commenters describe it as one of the best courses they have taken and say they still revisit it years later.
Three.js Journey (Bruno Simon)
Bruno Simon · beginner · paid
One commenter, still about two-thirds through, calls it great and highly recommends it for its organization and documentation.
Raycasting Engine Programming
Pikuma · intermediate
Commenters call it one of the best courses they have taken and describe it as a joyful, enjoyable build in C.
Vampire Survivors Clone in Godot 4
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters say they typed out the code following along and learned a lot, with one calling it highly recommended and enjoyable.
JavaScript: The Hard Parts
Frontend Masters · intermediate · paid
Commenters say it really changed how they think about how JavaScript actually works, and they describe it as useful even for a beginner.
Bootstrap
edX · beginner
One commenter says they learned Bootstrap through Microsoft's edX courses and calls them among the best MOOCs they have taken.
Front-End Frameworks (ud894)
Udacity · intermediate
Commenters call it an amazing walkthrough of what a framework does and how major frameworks are coded.
CS50G: Introduction to Game Development
edX · beginner · free
Commenters call the lectures an amazing series and credit the course with teaching them game design principles along with Lua and Love2D.
React tutorial
Wes Bos · beginner · paid
Commenters single it out as their favorite of Wes Bos's courses for learning React.
CS169: Software Engineering
UC Berkeley · intermediate
Commenters single it out as one of the most influential courses in their undergraduate experience, taught by Armando Fox.
Build Web Apps with React JS and Flux
Udemy · intermediate · paid
Commenters call it probably the best coding course they have taken, praising the instructor's responsiveness through the course chat and email support.
iOS 7 Programming
Unknown
A commenter says they completed it and found it fantastic, and that the instructor, Eliot, is very accessible for questions.
Web Application Development
Udacity · beginner · free
A commenter credits it with giving a solid grounding in web concepts that transferred to other frameworks and led to a career change into full-time programming.
iOS Development
Lynda.com · beginner · paid
One commenter, who went from a general programming background to an App Store app, says they highly recommend it as a video course option.
Core Data
Stanford University · intermediate · free
One commenter highly recommends it as the way to learn Core Data, calling the framework awesome once you learn to tame it and better than rolling your own data storage.
Model-View-Controller lecture series
Stanford University · intermediate · free
A commenter calls it awesome and says the MVC explanation was very well done and offered a fresh perspective even for someone already familiar with the pattern.
Developing Android Apps with Kotlin
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a free, Google-made starting point for learning Android development, especially for beginners.
Build A SaaS App
Udemy · intermediate · paid
One commenter says they took it on Udemy years ago and found it really good, and notes it has been kept up to date.
Create a Complete 2D Arena Survival Game in Godot
Udemy · beginner · paid
One commenter calls it an excellent way to learn Godot and was impressed by the design and consistency of the development experience it showed.
Neovim for Newbs
YouTube · beginner · free
A commenter calls it an excellent, really great course that turns vanilla Neovim into an IDE and organizes config into separate Lua scripts.
CSS Animations
Frontend Masters · advanced · paid
One commenter calls it really good for those interested in advanced animations, recommending it after praising Josh Comeau's CSS course.
WebAssembly
Frontend Masters · paid
One commenter calls it "really good" as a more current alternative to outdated WebAssembly books.
Neovim for Laravel
Jess Archer · intermediate · paid
Commenters recommend it for setting up Neovim specifically for Laravel, with one saying they enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone working with PHP and JS.
Godot 4 Course
YouTube · free
Commenters recommend it as a Godot 4 course from Heartbeast, whose earlier courses one commenter has already taken and recommends.
React Native v2
Frontend Masters · intermediate · paid
The commenter recommends it as a good option for a backend developer learning React Native, citing the quality of Frontend Masters courses.
Intermediate React
Frontend Masters · intermediate · paid
A commenter says they took Intermediate React by Brian Holt and found it very good, and praises the quality of Frontend Masters courses generally.
Unreal Engine C++ Course
Tom Looman · beginner
Commenters suggest it as a practical way to start game development on the side, since it teaches both C++ and Unreal Engine together.
The Complete Web Developer Zero to Mastery
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters point to it as one of two helpful courses for catching up on modern web development trends, and note that Udemy's frequent sales make it cheap.
Full Stack Open
University of Helsinki · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as a resource that shows how the different components of a web app fit together, though one notes it is less beginner-friendly than CS50.
Introduction to Accessibility on the Web
Unknown · beginner
One commenter says they took it after a designer suggested it, learned a lot, and still refers to their notes.
Intro 3D Game Dev on Unity
GameDev.tv · beginner · paid
Commenters describe GameDev.tv as decent educators and note the course's 30 hours of content and five guided mini-game builds.
Modern HTML & CSS from the Beginning
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters describe Brad Traversy as a great teacher who takes learners from nothing to competency with multiple projects, and say he updates his Udemy courses periodically.
Modern Javascript from the Beginning
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters describe Brad Traversy as a great teacher who takes learners from nothing to competency while building multiple projects, and note he updates his Udemy courses periodically.
React Front to Back
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters point to Brad Traversy's Udemy tutorials as a clear path from nothing to competency, with multiple projects built along the way.
HTML / CSS From Scratch
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters recommend it as a low-cost option from Brad Traversy, whom they call a great teacher with awesome tutorial videos.
Containerized Applications on AWS
Coursera · beginner · free
Commenters suggest it as a quick, free taste of containers on AWS, noting it takes only about 12 hours.
Procedural Terrain Generation (Unity)
Udemy · beginner · paid
A commenter recommends it as a basic introduction to terrain generation in Unity, for people who are not yet game developers.
React JS Crash Course (Traversy Media)
YouTube · beginner · free
A commenter recommends it as a fast way to get your feet wet with ReactJS, noting it runs about an hour and is updated each year.
Google Professional Cloud Architect
A Cloud Guru · intermediate · paid
One commenter says it helps you dive into the GCP ecosystem and gives a very short overview of each service, even if you do not pursue the certification.
CSS Essential Training
LinkedIn Learning · beginner · paid
Commenters point to it as a good way to learn CSS fundamentals before building a personal website for hands-on practice.
Unity Course (Penny DeByl)
Udemy · beginner · paid
A commenter suggests it as a way to get started with game development alongside a free copy of Unity.
The Net Ninja Web Development Tutorials
YouTube · beginner · free
Commenters describe the Net Ninja courses as great and easy to follow.
CSS Grid and Flexbox
Frontend Masters · paid
One commenter points to it as one of the courses covering responsive layout concepts, after saying they like Frontend Masters overall.
CS 6457 Video Game Design
Georgia Tech · intermediate
One commenter calls it a pretty awesome class and points to it as a similar option for learning game development through a team project.
Responsive Web Design
freeCodeCamp · beginner · free
A commenter recommends it as a pretty great way to learn the basics of web development when getting started with programming.
Hacking with macOS
Hacking with Swift · beginner · paid
Commenters recommend it as a strong, Swift-focused resource for learning Mac app development.
iOS Development Course (Hegarthy)
Hegarthy · beginner
One commenter says that after taking the course and understanding it, they could build a real iOS app for a researcher by reasoning through problems without referring back to it.
Docker and Kubernetes: The Complete Guide
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenter calls it their favorite Docker course and praises the instructor's other Kafka courses as fantastic.
React - The Complete Guide (incl React Router & Redux)
Udemy · mixed · paid
One commenter calls it a great course for anyone interested in React development.
Android Development
Udacity · beginner
One commenter says the Udacity courses are more current than Google's official documentation, which they describe as often outdated.
Advanced Android with Kotlin
Udacity · advanced · free
One commenter recommends it as the second step after the beginner Udacity Android tutorial, noting both are free.
Socket.IO with WebSockets: The Definitive Guide
Udemy · intermediate · paid
A commenter points to it as a practical tutorial for building real-time browser games, citing its roughly 3.5-hour agar.io clone section.
Advanced Android in Kotlin
Google Developers · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as a way for a Java developer to get into Kotlin and Android after the Kotlin bootcamp, with the codelabs linked as a next step.
Kotlin Android Fundamentals
Google Developers · beginner · free
One commenter recommends it as a week-long way for a Java-knowing back-end developer to start building mobile apps with Kotlin, without the frontend mindset of Flutter or React.
Fullstack GraphQL
Frontend Masters · intermediate · paid
One commenter points to it as part of a set of Frontend Masters courses by Scott Moss, saying the training is great even though the platform is fairly expensive.
API Design with Node.js and Mongo
Frontend Masters · paid
One commenter calls Frontend Masters training "super great" and points to the course's public repo as an example of Node.js project work, though they note the platform is fairly expensive.
Canvas and WebGL
Frontend Masters · paid
A commenter calls it a really great course that shows how to use canvas-sketch to make generative art.
Serverless API with API Gateway, Lambda and DynamoDB (NodeJS)
Udemy · beginner · paid
One commenter calls it a cheap, thorough option for learning how to build a serverless API on AWS as part of studying for a developer certification.
Building a SaaS Webapp with Flask
Nick Janetakis
One commenter recommends it as a practical way to get up and running quickly with web app development, citing the author directly.
Intro to Web Development
Frontend Masters · beginner
Commenters recommend it as a solid starting point from an instructor they trust, noting Brian Holt is great and that his courses helped one commenter learn React.
Meteor JS Course (Stephen Grider)
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters point to it as a video-based way to learn full-stack JavaScript by building a complete project, recommended alongside Andrew Mead's course.
Web Development with Go
usegolang.com · intermediate
One commenter describes it as an excellent but thorough course that doesn't hold the learner's hand, useful for combining Go, PostgreSQL, and HTML/CSS in one project.
How to Create a Website
Greater Commons · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a go-to resource for learning HTML and CSS alongside other web skills, with one describing using it for the front-end part of a self-taught stack.
Intro to Backend
Udacity
One commenter says they enjoyed the course, and another comment questions whether it was discontinued while noting it is still listed on Udacity.
Implementing the Store from Scratch (Redux)
egghead.io · intermediate
One commenter calls it an excellent course and says it shows the core of Redux in code simple enough to post in a comment.
Google Cloud Architect
Coursera · intermediate · freemium
One commenter recommends it alongside the data engineering course as a way into Google Cloud for individual learners.
Learn to Code HTML & CSS
Shay Howe · beginner · free
One commenter recommends it for how well it covers the subtleties of HTML and CSS.
Android Development
Coursera
A commenter says they recommend the Coursera course after learning Android from it, while noting it did not turn into much practical use for them.
Master Riot
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters say it was very helpful for pulling together Riot's concepts, and that the instructor Ray makes getting up to speed quick.
Phoenix Elixir (Stephen Grider)
Udemy · paid
One commenter says they have worked through Stephen Grider's Phoenix Elixir course and found his courses very well documented, focused and accurate.
React Fundamentals
egghead.io · beginner · freemium
A commenter says they liked this React course and describes egghead.io's courses as succinct and information-packed.
Vue.js Course
Frontend Masters · beginner · paid
One commenter says it is how they learned Vue and recommends it despite the cost of a Frontend Masters membership.
Web Security Fundamentals
edX · beginner · free
A commenter who just finished it says it taught them how to avoid common security oversights in web apps and that it covers most of the OWASP Top 10.
CSS3 in Depth
Pluralsight · intermediate · paid
A commenter points to it as a roughly six-hour course that gets a reader to a strong working knowledge of CSS, in the context of the front-end developer skill discussion.
HTML5 Path
Pluralsight · beginner · paid
One commenter recommends working through it as a good way to learn modern web design and CSS.
Building React Applications with Idiomatic Redux
egghead.io · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as part of Dan Abramov's free Redux courses, described as great and taught by the creator of Redux.
React Tutorial Playlist (New Boston)
YouTube · beginner · free
Commenters suggest it as a hands-on companion to work through alongside other React material, since it teaches by following along with New Boston's tutorials.
Vue 2 Video Series
YouTube · beginner · free
One commenter calls it a great series on Vue 2 and points to it as a starting point for learning the framework.
PHP courses by Kevin Skoglund and David Powers
Lynda.com · paid
One commenter calls the courses great and says they like the authors' work, though they note the courses are paid.
Modern Windows Development with C++/WinRT
Pluralsight · intermediate · paid
Commenters point to Kenny Kerr's Windows and ISO C++ content as worth watching, and mention the course demonstrates his library in use.
Native React
Udemy · paid
A commenter says they are just starting it, and praises the same instructor's React course for its support, which they compare to 1:1 mentoring.
CSS3 Tricks
Noble Desktop · free
One commenter calls it a great free two hours, noting the live format and that the instructor gave attention to questions.
Modern App Development
freeCodeCamp · free
One commenter names freeCodeCamp as the best course site for learning Modern App Development in an Ask HN thread on favorite online courses.
Full Stack Web Development Specialization
Coursera · beginner · freemium
Commenters point to it as a structured starting point for full stack web development, with the option to take the courses free.
Website Performance Optimization
Udacity · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as a free course from Google engineers on fast page loads, paired with the related Browser Rendering Optimization course.
Browser Rendering Optimization
Udacity · intermediate · free
Commenters point to it as one of several free Udacity courses from Google developers on website performance.
F# Unit Testing
Pluralsight · paid
One commenter points to it as a practical follow-up to Seemann's TDD in F# talk for applying the approach in real projects.
Swift and iOS Course
Lynda.com · beginner · paid
Commenters say they highly recommend it as a video course for learning iOS development and praise the Lynda.com Swift and iOS videos.
Developing Scalable Apps in Java
Udacity · intermediate
Commenters suggest it as a practical way to learn a web backend language in Java, especially for someone who already plans to learn Java.
Creative Programming for Digital Media & Mobile Apps
Coursera · beginner
The commenter calls it beginner friendly and says it strongly encourages learning by making, arguing Processing is a good language for an introductory software course.
6.470 Web Programming Competition
MIT OpenCourseWare · mixed
One commenter points to it as an inspiration for teaching web development, noting its mix of lectures, guest speakers, and a prize-driven final competition.
Essential PHP with MySQL
LinkedIn Learning · beginner · paid
One commenter suggests it as a brief introduction to simple web apps because it shows the inner workings of CRUD operations.
Learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Codecademy · beginner · freemium
Commenters point to it as the starting point for learning basic HTML, CSS and JavaScript before moving on to other web development resources.
Try Git
Code School · beginner
One commenter lists it among Ruby and Rails resources as a git tutorial that is "very important for web development with others."
Grand Central Dispatch
Stanford University · intermediate · free
One commenter points to it as a companion to the Core Data lectures for a beginner iOS developer, recommending it for anyone unfamiliar with GCD.
CS263 Backend of Web Apps
Udacity · beginner
A commenter who just finished it says it helps a lot, so it is listed as a practical backend starting point.
Web Design with Adobe CS5
Lynda.com · beginner · paid
One commenter recommends it as an in-depth overview of web design with CS5, while noting the course is lengthy and the site is subscription-based.
iPhone Development (Objective-C and iPhone SDK)
MIT CSAIL · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a quick dive into Objective-C and the iPhone SDK before moving on to larger projects.
ICS325 PHP Crash Course
Metropolitan State University · beginner · free
Commenters present it as the crash-course step in a sequence of learning PHP after a syntax comparison, before moving on to databases, security, and idioms.