Best free resources to learn scripting?

[thomp111]

Hi all,
There are so many resources online that it’s a bit overwhelming to choose where to start.
I’m looking for:
Beginner friendly platforms
Practical learning (not just theory)
Free or affordable options
What resources helped you the most when you were starting?
Would really appreciate your suggestions.
Thanks!

 

[SeoMaster12376]

Start with beginner-friendly platforms like freeCodeCamp, Coursera, or Khan Academy for simple, practical learning. YouTube is also great for hands-on tutorials, and Udemy can be a budget-friendly option when discounted. Most importantly, choose one path and stay consistent instead of switching between too many resources.

 

[yukieliot]

Best way to learn is to pick one thing and just start doing it.
Here’s the best "no-fluff" list:
Google Digital Garage: Best for the basics. It’s free and covers everything.
HubSpot Academy: Great for practical stuff like social media and email marketing.
YouTube: Search for "Ahrefs" (for SEO) or "Miles Beckler." Better than most paid courses.
Udemy: Good, but only buy when courses are on sale for $10–$15.
Advice: Pick one course, finish it, and then go build a basic site or social page to test what you learned.

 

[ungurnet]

The courses didn't work for me. I just don't have the patience to listen to someone explain one simple thing for 10 minutes. I just started working on the project I needed, and at every step I googled or asked the gpt how to do it. When he gave me the code, I asked him to explain it. When I could already do simple projects and understood all the simple logic, I just started learning more complex functions. Sometimes I look at similar projects on GitHub.

 

[JohnSmithCPA]

First you should select language. python is very popular and powerful. go to youtube and find courses for that language. you can also find courses on udemy either buy or get from torrent. Build simple project first that you want to use.

 

[JaxonWP]

yeah totally agree with @ungurnet on this one. most courses just drag things out to look professional but they are mostly outdated theory anyway. i wasted weeks on hubspot and google certifications back when i started and honestly none of it stuck.

the real learning starts when you spend $10 on a cheap domain and try to get actual human beings to visit it. try setting up a basic wordpress site and try to get some traffic from reddit or search. you'll break things, get frustrated, and that's when you actually learn... youtube is only good when you get stuck on a specific problem, don't just watch videos for the sake of it.

 

[Daniel 1111]

Start with beginner-friendly platforms like freeCodeCamp, Coursera, or Khan Academy for simple, practical learning. YouTube is also great for hands-on tutorials, and Udemy can be a budget-friendly option when discounted. Most importantly, choose one path and stay consistent instead of switching between too many resources.

Thanks for the recommendations. I appreciate it. I’ll check out these platforms and focus on one path to stay consistent. Really helpful advice.

 

[Adsmith2026]

Honestly the split in this thread is kinda the whole answer. Courses give you a map, projects teach you the terrain. @ungurnet and @JaxonWP are right that nothing sticks until you've got something live and you're trying to fix why it won't rank or won't load. But going pure project-first with zero foundation usually means you don't even know what to google.

What worked for me... do one short free thing first, Google Digital Garage or a HubSpot module like @yukieliot said, just enough to learn the vocabulary. Then buy a cheap domain and break stuff. The course isn't the learning, it's just so you know what questions to ask when things go sideways.

One thing nobody mentioned, set yourself a real tiny goal not just "learn marketing". Like get 100 actual visitors to a page, or rank for one dumb long tail keyword. Vague learning goals are where people stall out and end up collecting certificates that do nothing.

 

[Daniel 1111]

Honestly the split in this thread is kinda the whole answer. Courses give you a map, projects teach you the terrain. @ungurnet and @JaxonWP are right that nothing sticks until you've got something live and you're trying to fix why it won't rank or won't load. But going pure project-first with zero foundation usually means you don't even know what to google.

What worked for me... do one short free thing first, Google Digital Garage or a HubSpot module like @yukieliot said, just enough to learn the vocabulary. Then buy a cheap domain and break stuff. The course isn't the learning, it's just so you know what questions to ask when things go sideways.

One thing nobody mentioned, set yourself a real tiny goal not just "learn marketing". Like get 100 actual visitors to a page, or rank for one dumb long tail keyword. Vague learning goals are where people stall out and end up collecting certificates that do nothing.

Good points. I agree that balancing both works best a bit of structured learning to understand the basics, then real hands on practice to build actual skills. Setting small measurable goals like getting traffic or ranking for a keyword is also solid advice, because it keeps progress practical instead of just theoretical.