Build your free web developer path

We skipped Codecademy's Learn HTML: Fundamentals. Its free tier is lessons and exercises only, with the projects and career paths behind Pro, and it teaches HTML without the CSS half of the job. freeCodeCamp's Responsive Web Design teaches both together across 20 projects, including the flexbox and grid layouts a portfolio needs to stop looking like a first attempt.

We skipped Scrimba's Learn JavaScript for Free (30 hours). Editing code right inside the video player is the nicest way to meet syntax, functions, arrays, and the DOM, and 30 hours gets you that far and stops. freeCodeCamp's 300 hours keep going into data structures, OOP, functional programming, and algorithm scripting, which is the material a junior screen actually tests.

We skipped Khan Academy's Intro to JavaScript: Drawing & Animation (10 hours). Learning loops by drawing shapes on screen gives you feedback in seconds, which is a real advantage when you are brand new. It does not leave you with anything deployed though, and this step exists to produce work you can send someone. The Odin Project's Foundations path has you build real pages from the start.

We skipped the Meta Front-End Developer Certificate (Coursera, 180 hours). It is free to audit and the material is strong, but the certificate itself requires payment, and the credential is the main reason most people choose a certificate track at all. Scrimba's React course gives you components, state, props, hooks, effects, and routing with nothing held back. It awards no certificate either, so take it for the three projects you finish rather than for a line on your CV.