Alex BookerThe global web development community is flourishing. From Quora to Discord, Twitter to in-person meet-ups; there’s a growing number of places code newbies can go to develop their knowledge and make invaluable connections.
Joining these communities as a beginner can be overwhelming, especially when you’re thrust in with prolific industry experts and specialist developers. You know these communities exist to uplift, and support each other — but that doesn’t make it any less intimidating to put yourself out there!
To help you along your way, we’ve put together our roundup of the best web developer communities to join — featuring a mix of larger, more established communities, and smaller platforms with content curated for specific audiences. We’ve also included how beginner friendly they are, and some handy tips on how to get the most out of your new networks.
These are the communities we’ll look at:
- 🧑💻 Scrimba
- 🧑💻 Code Newbie
- 🧑💻 Hashnode
- 🧑💻 Dev.to
- 🧑💻 EddieHub
- 🧑💻 Commit Your Code
- 🧑💻 Programmers Palace
- 🧑💻 #100DaysOfCode
- 🧑💻 Black Girls Code
Let’s get into it!
Scrimba
🤔 What’s the deal? Scrimba offers a collection of curated courses to help motivated students become job-ready developers — and for a fraction of the cost of a coding bootcamp. Community is one of our fundamental pillars, with our courses based around peer-to-peer learning (meaning students help and support each other) rather than teacher-to-student.
At any given time, you’ll find over 1,000 Scrimba students online in our community chat; a friendly and inclusive space where you can socialize with like-minded developers, share the projects you’re working on, and get career advice from people who’ve been in the same boat. The Scrimba Discord community is completely geared at beginners, so you’ll never feel intimidated to ask a question — or seek help.
🔑 How do I get involved? To access the amazing Scrimba community, you’ll need to sign up and enroll in one of our many free beginner-friendly web development courses — or our industry-recognized Frontend Developer Career Path. Once you’re in, you’ll be able to sign up for our Discord and get access to endless uber-relevant tips, tricks, support, insights, and social connection.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 10/10
Code Newbie
🤔 What’s the deal? Created by Saron Yitbarek, Code Newbie started as a weekly Twitter chat to encourage beginner coders to connect. Since then, it's snowballed into an active community made up of over 11,700 members based all over the world.
Code Newbie brands itself as ‘the most supportive community’ for people who are learning to code. A compelling tagline — and it can certainly be backed up. Whether you’re on the lookout for a mentor, you’re a new bootcamp graduate, or you’re looking for support and encouragement on your coding journey — Code Newbie is truly the place to be. In addition to the forum, Code Newbie offers podcasts, blog posts, twitter chats, hackathons, and an annual CodeLand conference. In other words, everything beginner coders need to develop their skills and build confidence.
🔑 How do I get involved? Head to the Code Newbie website, click on the community link, and create an account. Yep, it’s that easy!
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 10/10
Hashnode
🤔 What’s the deal? Ever thought about writing, but weren’t sure how to get started? Hashnode is a hybrid community and blogging platform that empowers developers to share their ideas, thoughts, and experiences with the world. While there’s been some discussion around whether Hashnode is technically a community, it’s still a popular destination for connection and problem-solving among some of the world’s best developers. You can build an audience, interact with posts, and follow trending tags. Every time you publish an article on your custom tech blog, a markdown version of the post is pushed to your private GitHub repo as a backup.
Overall, Hashnode is a great place to get exclusive insights, learn from industry-leaders, and even develop your writing skills (which happen to be in high demand).
🔑 How do I get involved? Starting your own tech blog might seem like an overwhelming feat, but Hashnode makes the process as smooth as butter. All you have to do is sign up, and you can map your custom domain in a mere few seconds. In under five minutes, you’ll have a high performing and fully optimized blog — which you can start posting on to grow your audience.
Quick note: Don’t think you have to be an amazing writer or experienced developer to start blogging! Whether you want to document your journey, or simply write about something you're interested in, Hashnode is a great place to flex your writing muscle.
💜Beginner-friendly score: 6/10
Dev.to
🤔 What’s the deal? Owned by Forem, the same software company as Code Newbie, Dev.to community is one of the biggest and most well-established forums for developers on the internet — home to almost a million amazing developers at every level. On the Dev.to forum, coders share their experiences and support each other to develop their careers.
Community managers on the platform will post weekly prompts and questions to get the conversation going, and will promote any particularly interesting posts for visibility — from relatable memes, to quick-fire how-to guides. There’s also a weekly email digest you can sign up to, where you'll get top posts delivered straight to your inbox.
🔑 How do I get involved? Once you’ve created a Forum account for Dev.to, be sure to follow the ‘beginners’ hashtag to access curated beginner-friendly content.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 8/10
EddieHub
🤔 What’s the deal? EddieHub is an open source community that promotes open communication, best practices, and technical expertise in an inclusive, supportive environment. The community was founded by GitHub star Eddie Jaoude, who happens to be recognized by Microsoft and GitHub for advocating to help people in Open Source. The community magic happens on the EddieHub Discord, which includes channels ranging from databases, to hackathons.
EddieHub is all about networking and professional development in a fun, relaxed setting. It’s no wonder, then, that the community won the GitHub Nova 2021 Community Growth Award 🏆.
🔑 How do I get involved? On the EddieHub homepage, click on the ‘chat’ icon on the top right hand corner and you’ll be taken to an invite link to join the community. Once you’ve created an account (or logged in), you’ll get access to the whole server. In addition to Discord, there’s also a GitHub, newsletter, and LinkedIn network to help you accelerate your dev career even further.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 8/10
Commit Your Code!
🤔 What’s the deal? Continuing with the Discord communities, next up is Commit Your Code! By Danny Thompson. Danny is all about helping people get jobs in tech, and his YouTube channel and LinkedIn are jam-packed with useful tips, tools, and tech career insights. We should know: We hosted him for an awesome podcast episode all about how to become a successful junior developer (well worth a listen!).
scrimba.com
The Commit Your Code! Discord community is a great space and resource for code newbies looking to transition into tech, or supercharge their existing careers. With 11,700 members and counting, you’ll be part of one of the most up and coming communities on the scene.
🔑 How do I get involved? There’s no official Commit Your Code landing page or website, but you can sign up for the Discord community directly. You can also follow Danny Thompson on Twitter, where he posts about community topics regularly (and has useful links to the community and resources in his bio). He also speaks regularly at panels and events, so be sure to catch him!
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 9/10
Programmers Palace
🤔 What’s the deal? Programmers Palace is a one-stop-shop for every topic relating to IT, programming, and mathematics in tech. Founded in 2017, the community has grown into a welcoming and supportive space for developers at every level — from total beginners, to industry leaders. New developers can make new friends, resolve coding issues, and even attend talks and lectures led by more experienced community members. In addition to round the clock live support, Programmers Palace hosts regular events and coding courses for members keen to develop their skills.
Programmers palace currently has over six thousand members, but the community is quickly growing — with developers from all over the world joining every day.
🔑 How do I get involved? If you already have a Discord account and would like to join, you can click here to get the invite link. If you don't have one, you can easily create one for free and conveniently use it on any platform, including web browsers.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 9/10
#100DaysOfCode
🤔 What’s the deal? You might have been motivated to commit yourself to learning to code, but in practice, it’s hard not to fall off the bandwagon. Enter: #100DaysOfCode, a Twitter challenge created to turn coding into a daily habit. #100DaysOfCode is the best of both worlds: Self-directed learning, plus the accountability of the Twitter community.
The challenge is pretty much what it says on the tin: Every day over 100 days, you’ll commit to coding. What you actually work on (and how much time you spend on it each day) is up to you; it could be learning a specific framework, or simply learning to code full stop. By the 100th day, not only will you be a better developer — coding will also feel like second nature.
🔑 How do I get involved? #100DaysOfCode is one of the most open, accessible communities on the scene. To participate, all you have to do is follow the #100DaysOfCode hashtag and tweet your progress every day. Public accountability is a core pillar of the challenge, so you’re encouraged to tweet your commitment to the challenge using a pre-written message. You can also join the 100DaysOfCode room on Gitter, which is open for anyone to join.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 9/10
Black girls code
🤔 What’s the deal? Founded by Kimberly Bryant in 2011, Black Girls Code creates vital access points into tech for young women of color between the ages of 7-17. In addition to coding, BGC teaches web design, game design, mobile and app design, and robotics. BGC does so much more than just educate: It’s a flourishing community made up of young women of color, volunteers, and high-profile partners, working together to change the narrative around diversity in tech. In keeping with their commitment to community, they regularly host industry-leading guest speakers at both in-person and online events, as well as workshops and live coding sessions.
🔑 How do I get involved? BGC has 15 chapters based across the USA. Once you’ve found your local chapter, you can head to the chapter website for the contact details of the chapter leaders, as well as upcoming events and workshops in your city.
💜 Beginner-friendly score: 10/10
The verdict
There is so much value in being part of multiple web developer communities. These web development groups can be a source of support, a place to find mentorship, and great exposure to different perspectives within the field.
Feeling spoiled for choice? If you’re looking for a way to combine community with learning, Scrimba’s built-in student community means you’ll be able to connect with other beginner devs who are learning in the same way you are. You’ll get the chance to sync on similar projects, and get all the support you need to get the most out of your learning experience.
We also have an epic blog, podcast, and YouTube channel for even more ways to immerse yourself in web development 🔥. Check them out!
