Modern technology is producing a demand for web developers. As most businesses worldwide now have an online presence, and tens of thousands of technology startups emerge every year, web developers are needed more than ever.
Businesses, organizations, or enterprises all need web developers to maintain and optimize the website, put forth new features for web apps, solve technical issues, etc. Hence, unsurprisingly, demand for web developers is not going to be saturated anytime soon.
In terms of salary, a career in web development is lucrative. According to Indeed, web developers in the US earn $72,000 per year on average.
Furthermore, if you are a full-stack developer who can perform tasks on both the front-end and back-end, you could make as much as $105,000 per year on average.
Hence, taking web development as a profession is 100% reasonable. Another great thing about this field is you don’t need to get a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science to get a job in this field.
Many web developers are self-taught, while others develop all web development skills by taking online courses or joining live, online boot camps.
Although there are many web development courses and tutorials on the internet that will get you started as a web developer, finding the one that fits your learning style can be challenging.
This post will provide the top nine best web development courses that you can learn online. You can then find the course that suits you most and begin your journey as a full-stack web developer.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post from Victory Tale contains affiliate links. We will receive a small commission if you purchase online courses through our links.
Still, we always value integrity and prioritize our audience’s interests, so you can rest assured that all web development courses we recommend are high-quality.
Things You Should Know
FAQs
Q1: What will I learn in web development courses?
A: You will undoubtedly learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Apart from these, you will learn how to use libraries and frameworks, such as React, Angular, or Vue, and back-end stuff, including Node and MongoDB.
Q2: I have learned some HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Should I take these web development courses?
A: It depends. If you are confident in using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, you don’t need to take any of these courses.
Instead, you can start taking specialty courses on JavaScript libraries and frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue directly.
Web Development Course vs. Specialty Course
Some might wonder how content in the web development course fares against that of a specialty course (the online course that teaches only JavaScript, Python, etc.)
I would say the content in the specialty course will be more detailed. It will cover more aspects of a programming language or specific web development frameworks. The instructor will also drill deep into each concept for students to understand it thoroughly.
Nevertheless, the web development course will summarize most concepts and teach more about integrations. You will learn how to put everything together and create a polished real-world website or web app. This process is essential for one to become a successful web developer.
In my opinion, you should start with a web development course to learn all skills necessary for creating a web app.
If you are having a problem or want to know more about a specific concept, such as object-oriented programming in JavaScript, you could then take a specialty course to improve your understanding of it.
Prerequisites
All courses will start from the very beginning. Hence, you do not need prior coding or programming experience. However, if you do, that will smoothen your learning process.
Criteria
Below are the criteria for the best web development courses:
- Taught by expert web/software developers or bootcamp instructors with years of industry experience
- Available on a user-friendly platform
- Offer high-quality course materials
- Most of its course content is up-to-date.
- Provide excellent value for money
- Receive mostly positive reviews from actual students
- My personal experience with the course, instructor, or learning platform must be positive.
1. The Complete 2022 Web Development Bootcamp
This Udemy course was created by Angela Yu, lead instructor at London App Brewery, one of the leading Bootcamps in the UK. As Angela’s student myself, I am always confident to recommend her to you.
You don’t need any background knowledge to start learning, as the course will teach you all the basics.
Course Content
Within this single course, you will learn all skills necessary for becoming a full-stack web developer. Below is a summary of what you will learn from the course.
- Introducing front-end web development (Basic web development technologies such as how the internet and websites work)
- HTML (Tags, Lists, Image Elements, Links, Tables, Forms)
- Basic CSS (Inline, Internal, External CSS, CSS Syntax, CSS Selectors, Debugging CSS Code)
- Intermediate CSS (Static/Relative positioning, Font Styling, Sizing, and many more)
- Bootstrap 4 (Grid Layout System, Containers, Font Awesome, Carousel)
- Basic web design concepts
- JavaScript (Variables, Functions, Conditional Statements)
- Introduction to DOM, DOM Manipulation, jQuery
- Back-end development (Node.js, Express.js)
- Deep dive into APIs
- EJS
- Introduction to Git and Github
- Databases (SQL, MongoDB, Mongoose)
- Putting everything together and deploying your web app
- Authentication and Security for your web app
- React.js
The course is literally massive. It is more than 54.5 hours long. Each section has many quizzes, exercises, or even real-world projects for learners to complete
This course receives highly positive reviews. It scores 4.7/5.0 from more than 377,000 students.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Angela is an exceptional instructor. Her teaching style is brilliant. I would say her explanations are always crystal-clear, so I believe this course is unarguably one of the best web development courses for absolute beginners.
- Comprehensive (front-end, back-end, database, integration)
- Excellent course materials (numerous exercises, challenges, and projects to complete throughout the course)
- Lifetime access (with updates) and a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive (You can get the course as low as $20 or even cheaper)
- Motivational speech at section ending
Cons
- Some parts of the course may be too concise for some students.
- No advanced JavaScript content
2. The Web Developer Bootcamp 2022
Those who value comprehensiveness would appreciate this Udemy course by Colt Steele. Colt is the lead instructor and curriculum director at Galvanize, a leading Bootcamp in San Francisco.
With many years of teaching experience in his pocket, he is ready to help you become a web developer.
You don’t need to learn anything before taking this course.
Course Content
Colt’s course is even longer than Angela’s. The total length of video lectures is 63 hours, covering all the essential concepts you need in developing real-world web applications.
What you will learn from this course is as follows.
- Basics of Web Development/Web Technologies
- HTML (Basics, Semantics, Forms, Tables)
- CSS (Colors, Font Styling, CSS Selectors, Box Model, Flexbox)
- Bootstrap
- Basic JavaScript (Variables, Strings, Conditionals, Arrays, Object Literals, Loops, Functions)
- New JavaScript features
- DOM and DOM Events
- Async JavaScript
- AJAX and API
- Classes and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
- Node.js and Express.js (Server-side technology)
- MongoDB and Mongoose (Database)
- Authentication & Security
- Adding features to a web application and deploying it
Besides the main content, there are exercises, interactive quizzes, and projects to complete. In the end, there will be a massive project where you will learn how to build a real-world, huge application named YelpCamp.
These excellent course materials will help you develop your web development skills gradually.
The course is well-received. It scores 4.7/5.0 from 655,000 students.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Unarguably one of the best video courses to learn web development online.
- Comprehensive
- Excellent explanations of concepts, especially theories
- High-quality and sufficient course materials. Colt provides tons of quizzes and exercises for students to practice and enhance their skills.
- Build complex web applications from scratch using cutting edge technologies
- Lifetime access and money-back guarantee
- Inexpensive (Approximately $20 or even cheaper when on discount)
Cons
- Some parts of the course could be a bit outdated.
- Few reviewers note that some sections are too challenging for those with no knowledge of programming languages.
3. The Complete Web Developer in 2022: Zero to Mastery
If you are looking for a complete but concise web developer course, this one by Andrei Neagoie, a senior software developer, might be worth your consideration.
Andrei is a self-taught programmer who now works for a leading company in Silicon Valley. Apart from the knowledge, he has dozens of tips and tricks to learn web development successfully.
The instructor notes that no background knowledge is necessary for this course, but I suggest otherwise (see Pros and Cons for more details.)
Course Content
Compared to other web development courses, this one is much more concise. The total length is 35.5 hours long.
The summary of all course content in the course is as follows.
- Basic concepts of web technologies
- Introducing web developer careers
- HTML5 (Tags and Forms)
- Essential CSS (Properties, Selectors, Typography, Images, Box Model, Flexbox, Responsive UI)
- CSS Grid, Layout, Navigation Bar
- JavaScript (Variables, Control Flow, Functions, Arrays, Loops)
- Advanced JavaScript (ES6, 7,8, 9, 10, 2020 features)
- Asynchronous JavaScript
- DOM Manipulation (Selectors, Callback functions, DOM Events)
- Git and Github
- NPM and NPM Scripts
- React, React Hooks and Redux
- Node and Express
- PostgreSQL (Databases)
Andrei provides many learning resources that you could use along with video lectures. These are hundreds of articles, exercises, and projects. You should be prepared to get your hand’s dirty building complex websites and web apps.
The course obtains high ratings (4.7/5.0) from 155,000 students.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- This course is one of the best online web development courses for fast learners or those who already have some programming experience.
- Cumulative but concise
- Most content is well-explained with an understandable voice.
- The course teaches the latest web development technologies like ES6 to ES2020, so you will build web applications using cutting-edge technology.
- Many exercises and challenges for practicing
- Inexpensive (You can get it as low as $13.)
Cons
- Some sections are very brief, especially the server-side and database. I don’t think they are enough for absolute beginners to understand the concepts thoroughly.
- The second half of the course is a bit unorganized.
- Few reviewers note that the course is too project-based. Thus, some sections lack proper explanations of concepts.
4. The Result-Oriented Web Developer Course – BOOTCAMP 2022
If you are looking for a project-based web development course, here you go. This online course by Vertex Academy will lead you to complete as many as 9 web development projects.
You do not need any background knowledge for the course.
Course Content
The course centralizes on creating 9 projects. Each project will be part of a theoretical section.
You will switch back and forth between learning web development theories and working on the projects until you complete the entire curriculum. These projects will help you apply the knowledge you learn from the video lectures into practical usage.
Below is a summary of concepts you will learn in the course.
- HTML5 (Headings, Paragraphs, Lists, Links, Images, Tables)
- CSS3 (Styling, Classes, Box Model, Background, Position, Selectors, Flexbox)
- Responsive Design
- Bootstrap (Grid System, Containers, Carousel)
- JavaScript (Variables, Logical Operators, Loops, Functions, Arrays, Objects, JS Selectors)
- jQuery
- Git and Github
- Node.js (NPM, Routing, Modules)
- Asynchronous JavaScript
- REST API and AJAX
- MongoDB
- Deploying your web application
Besides the video lectures and huge projects, this online course provides tons of minor exercises with solutions that students can review and practice what they have learned from the theoretical part.
The course receives mostly positive reviews. It scores 4.6/5.0 from 8,000 students.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- One of the best project-based web development courses with 9 projects in total
- The course explains programming concepts through visuals and animations; thus, students are less likely to be bored.
- Well-structured
- Include advanced and modern JavaScript content
- Build real-world websites and web applications from scratch
- Responsive instructor
Cons
- Not Include popular JavaScript libraries such as React
- Some reviewers note that the pace is too slow, especially at the beginning.
5. The Complete Junior to Senior Web Developer Roadmap (2022)
If you want to learn advanced web development, you don’t need to look further than this online course by Andrei Neagoie.
Unlike his beginner course (the 4th on this list), this one will teach advanced concepts and usages of cutting-edge technologies. This curriculum will equip you with the essential skills required for senior positions in the web development industry.
As an advanced course, a good understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is required, while experience in building websites and web applications will be beneficial.
Course Content
As expected, the course will skip all basics of web development, assuming that learners have a good understanding of those.
The summary of the course content is as follows.
- SSH Command, Symmetric/Asymmetric Encryption
- Performance optimization of web applications
- React, Redux (Building a React app)
- Testing (Unit/Integration/Automated/Asynchronous Tests)
- TypeScript
- SPA vs. Server Side Rendering (Using Next.js)
- Web Apps Security
- Docker and container technologies
- Redis
- Cookies, Tokens, JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
- Utilizing AWS to build serverless applications
- CI/CD
- and many more
The video lectures are 35.5 hours long. As usual, Andrei has provided a tremendous amount of learning resources, including readings, exercises, and projects.
After course completion, your skills will be far higher than most junior developers. If you apply for a new job, you will be one of the hottest candidates in this highly competitive industry.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Best web development courses for advanced learners and experienced web developers
- Learn how to build high-performance web applications using cutting edge technologies
- Develop all advanced web developer skillsets
- Clear Explanations
- Interesting real-world projects with a storyline
- You can get it as low as $16 on Udemy sale.
Cons
- The pace may be too slow on some parts.
- Andrei’s frequent slapping notes on videos can be annoying for some.
6. Full-Stack Web Development with React Specialization
This Coursera specialization was created by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Under the guidance of a faculty member from the university, you will build a complete, real-world web application like a web developer.
Unlike other options above, this full-stack course is not for absolute beginners. You will need an excellent working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (ES5+).
Course Content
This specialization comprises three minor courses as follows
Front-End Web UI Frameworks and Tools: Bootstrap 4 – You will learn how to create an outstanding web UI by utilizing different frameworks and tools, most notably Bootstrap 4 and its CSS and JavaScript components.
After you finish this course, you will be able to create responsive websites on your own.
Front End Development with React – This second course teaches students to use JavaScript ES6 and the React library to build a front-end web application. The instructor will explain the usage of React, Redux, and other components in-depth.
Thus, when you complete all course content, you will build a single-page application (SPA), and responsive React web apps with ease.
Server-Side Development with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB – This final course will deal with everything server-side. You will learn how to use Node.js and Express to build web servers.
Subsequently, you will use NoSQL databases, particularly MongoDB and Mongoose, and connect them with Node.js. When everything is ready, you will build a RESTful API for the front-end to access backend services.
The university suggests completing the entire specialization in three months. However, the workload will be pretty intense as they recommend students spend as many as 10 hours per week on the course.
This specialization is entirely free to audit. Nonetheless, if you want feedback on your projects and receive a certificate, you will need to pay $49 per month for the full experience.
Those interested in the full experience can start a free trial to try it for free for seven days.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Learn web development from a faculty member of a leading university
- Clear explanations of specific concepts
- Send your work and receive feedback
- Free to audit
Cons
- Some parts could be a bit outdated.
- No updates
Best Front-End Web Development Courses
Unlike the above options covering every aspect of web development, including the front-end, the back-end, and database, all courses below will focus only on the front-end.
Thus, these courses are primarily for learners who want to be specialized front-end developers. However, if you are not confident in your front-end skills (i.e., JavaScript), you might be interested in taking them as well.
7. HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers
This introductory course from John Hopkins University is an excellent choice for those who want to test the waters of front-end web development.
It will cover essential concepts and common usages of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the three pillars of the client-side.
Absolute beginners can freely take this course.
Course Content
The course structure is relatively simple. The instructor will go through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript one-by-one.
- HTML5 – Tag, Document Structure, Content Models, Heading Elements, Lists, Links, Images
- CSS – Element, Class, Selectors, Styling, Box Model, Responsive Design, CSS Grid
- JavaScript – Variables, Functions, Types, Objects, Arrays
- Using JavaScript to build web applications – DOM Manipulation, HTTP and Ajax basics, Processing JSON, and many more
Besides, you will build a static website for a restaurant after you finish the section on HTML5 and CSS and add more features after you are familiar with JavaScript.
The university suggests spending 40 hours to complete the course. Similar to other Coursera courses, this one is free to audit. A full experience would cost $79 one-time.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent introductory course from a reputable university
- Well-explained
- Numerous high-quality course materials: Readings, Quizzes, Projects
- Free to Audit
- Graded assignments and feedback on projects
Cons
- No advanced or modern JavaScript content
8. Front End Web Development Techdegree
This “techdegree” is comprehensive training for front-end web development from Treehouse, an online Bootcamp company. You will learn from interactive videos, workspaces, quizzes, and many more.
Course Content
The course will teach you how to build websites and web apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, Treehouse utilizes both video lectures and interactive learning, providing users with the best of both worlds.
In other words, you will watch video lectures and practice by coding along in Workspaces, which is a simplified browser-based code editor.
There will be interactive quizzes and code challenges for each lesson, which will help you test your skills and improve them over time.
Once you complete the primary curriculum, you can start completing projects. There are 9 projects in total. You will put all that you have learned into use.
Unlike other online web development courses, you will gain access to peer reviews, which Treehouse intends to simulate real-world web development experience. You will receive feedback on your projects and help review other students’ code as well.
The pricing for the Techdegree is $199 per month. You can start a free trial to try it for free for 7 days. As most students complete the entire curriculum within 3-9 months, you should expect to spend $600-$1,800 on the course.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The teaching style is very beginner-friendly.
- Interactive learning makes learning web development hassle-free.
- Many exercises and real-world projects to enhance skillsets
- Learn both technical and soft skills
- Live Chat Support
- Asking questions to your instructors during weekly office hours
- Join the exclusive community via Slack
Cons
- Much pricier than most peers
Free Online Web Development Courses and Tutorials
Below are online web development courses you can take for free. Although they are not as comprehensive as paid courses, they are beneficial for newcomers who want to test the waters.
freeCodeCamp– freeCodecamp provides free interactive training on responsive web design (HTML and CSS), JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures, front-end development libraries (jQuery, Sass, Bootstrap, React and Redux), and API and Microservices (NPM, Node, Express, and MongoDB.)
The content will include both front-end and back-end aspects of web development. Thus, these courses are a perfect starting point for those who want to learn web development but do not want to invest in courses right now.
Udemy – Besides those featured above, Udemy has several short web development courses everyone can take for free. However, you should expect the content to be as in-depth as paid courses.
Introduction to Web Development – This concise FutureLearn tutorial by the Raspberry Pi Foundation will teach you how to build interactive websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Codecademy – Codecademy has several free courses to learn web development fundamentals such as basic HTML and JavaScript.
They also have a paid learning track for students who are interested in web development. However, I think the track is quite oversimplified, so I choose not to include it in the above list.
Related Courses for Future Web Developers
Though the above web development courses are excellent, you may still not understand all concepts thoroughly. There might be some parts that you need further clarification on.
If that’s the case, you might want to try these “specialty” courses, focusing on the single aspect of web development.
- HTML and CSS – The fundamentals of everything web development
- JavaScript – The most used programming language for web development
- Node.js and Express – JavaScript runtime environment popularly used to develop the backend of a web application
- SQL – Web developers need to understand how to store and manage data on relational databases. Thus, you need robust knowledge of SQL to become one.
- React – One of the most popular JavaScript libraries for building user interfaces
- Angular – A prominent JavaScript framework with millions of users
- Vue – A rising JavaScript framework for building user interfaces and single page applications (SPAs)
- Django – Excellent option to opt for if you want to use Python
- MongoDB
- Serverless framework
This section is incomplete, as I have not yet written articles on all of those. I will update the section after I publish a new article.
