Whether you already have programming experience or are preparing for a career change, NYC-area residents interested in learning how to code or sharpening up their programming skills have a lot of options. New York is a growing tech hub, and a number of New York City organizations offer free in-person courses and programming exchange opportunities.
1. New York Public Library: Project Code
The Tech Connect program at the New York Public Library offers more than 80 technology classes throughout the year at locations in virtually every borough. You can register for free Project Code workshops to learn Python, HTML, and other core programming skills.
For those interested in more in-depth training, the library offers a free 10-week program every spring and fall that teaches the basics of front-end web design. The core of the curriculum focuses on HTML and CSS, but students will also learn about layout principles and the best practices for user experience design.
The course culminates with the creation of a website as part of a group project. All students who complete the course will receive a Project Code certificate and will be armed with a new addition to their web development portfolio.
3. Noble Desktop Seminars
Noble Desktop has over 25 years of experience teaching programming and offers coding bootcamps on web development basics, mobile and responsive design, WordPress, and much more. Although its bootcamps cost money, Noble Desktop offers free seminars both at their NYC campus and online. Check out its free events and resources here!
4. NYC Codecademy Meetup
Run by the good folks at the popular (and free) learn-to-code site Codecademy, this group gives Codecademy users the opportunity to meet in person to discuss their progress, address questions, and work on supplementary projects in groups. Check its Meetup page for upcoming dates.
5. N-Languages Meetup
6. Women Who Code Meetup
Women Who Code seeks to empower women to succeed and be better represented in the tech industry.
According to its NYC chapter Meetup page, “Women Who Code is the largest and most active community of engineers dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers.” This organization is an excellent resource for women looking to hone their programming skills.
From tech talks to lectures and study groups, it offers myriad learning opportunities. The group frequently hosts Meetups on algorithms, game development, and how to land software engineering jobs.
7. Hacker Hours Meetup
The Hacker Hours group is a great resource for beginner and intermediate-level programmers. They host informal “office hours” events at multiple locations around the city on various days of the week. Simply attend one of its events, bring your projects or lessons along with you, and ask for help from an organizer if you get stuck. It’s the perfect place to be productive, discover new dev resources, and make coding friends!
8. League of Women Coders
League of Women Coders is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting female software developers. It likens itself to “a book club for superhero women coders,” and hosts “cupcakes and code” events where you can hack the night away or get help with the new language you’re learning.
Whether you are working with Python, Java, C, Perl, Haskell, Bash, PHP, or Coq, you can expect to find a supportive community and tasty snacks to help you get that next line of code down.
9. Learn Python NYC
Python is one of the most popular programming languages out there and is a great tool for both beginners and experienced programmers. Learn Python NYC is an ultra-committed Meetup group that holds office hours on everything related to Python. Activities include informal talks, technical discussions, dev sharing, and Q&A sessions.
Participants are welcome to suggest topics or sign up to be a featured presenter. While the focus is Python, it also conducts useful non-Python info sessions on occasion, like a tutorial on the basics of setting up and using Git + Github.
10. Operation Code: NYC
Operation Code is a nonprofit devoted to helping the military community learn software development and enter the tech industry. It offers monthly meetups focusing on whiteboard challenges, technical interview prep, project management, and more.
With all these cost-effective learning options, what are you waiting for? Start coding and see where your journey takes you. You never know: One of these days, you just might become a full-time web developer.
Interested in taking your coding skills to the next level? Register for one of our upcoming Bootcamp Prep courses.