· Travis Rodgers · Reviews · 8 min read
10 Must-Have Udemy Courses for Every Developer in 2024
- 10 Udemy Courses Every Developer Should Own
- Watch the video?
- Udemy Coupons
- 1. A JavaScript Course
- 2. A Cloud Certification Course
- 3. A 100 Days of X Course
- 4. A Linux Course
- 5. An Algorithm/Coding Interview Course
- 6. An API Design Course
- 7. A SQL Course
- 8. A Clean Code Course
- 9. A “I Want To Be a Senior Dev” Course
- 10. A “I Didn’t Get a Computer Science Degree” Course
- Conclusion
In this article, I want to share 10 Udemy Courses that I think every developer should have in their toolbox.
I owe so much of my success to Udemy and have a pretty large collection of courses myself, most of all of them being very beneficial to me in my career development.
If you are a developer, a DevOps engineer, a Site Reliability Engineer, or any other IT Professional in a similar field, beginner or advanced, be sure to read through this list of skills, and supplement the gaps you may have in your engineering career. These are my recommended, top Udemy courses, most of which I own myself and can personally vouch for.
These are not to be taken all at once or in any particular sequence. They are to be reference tools to supplement the skills needed as you advance through your software engineering career.
Watch the Video?
Before we get started, if you prefer video, check out the full tutorial here on YouTube.
Otherwise, continue reading…
Current Udemy Coupons for This Month
I seek out working Udemy coupons each month. The most current can be found on my Udemy page.
10 Udemy Courses Every Developer Should Own
1. A JavaScript Course
First, every developer needs a JavaScript course. JavaScript is everywhere and I guarantee you will use it at some point in your career. So take the time to get familiar with it upfront.
The course I recommend is Jonas Schmedtmann’s course called, “The Complete JavaScript Course 2024: From Zero to Expert!
It literally covers ALL you need to know, though I would recommend digesting it a bite at a time or nailing down the basics and then referencing the later, more advanced parts as needed.
Recommended Options:
2. A Cloud Certification Course
Next, every IT professional needs to have familiarity with cloud computing, especially with one of the major three (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). Most companies are, if not already in the cloud, planning their migration to it.
In addition, most job applications these days will require knowledge of one of these cloud providers.
If you are a go-getter, then take it a step further and get certified. If you are unsure where to start, just go with AWS.
If you are brand new to cloud computing, then start with the AWS Cloud Practitioner course and certification. It will give you the foundational knowledge of cloud computing.
If you have a bit more experience, then shoot for the AWS Solutions Architect course and certification (this is the route that I took, and here’s how I passed it).
If you want to go with Azure or Google Cloud, my recommendations are below as well.
Recommended Options:
3. A 100 Days of X Course
Every developer should own a “100 Days of X Course” with X being the language of their choice. These “100 Days” Courses introduce a large number of projects and concepts into 100 days and, in my opinion, really help to show you the power and practicality of a language.
One of my favorite courses for this is Angela Yu’s “100 Days of Python” course, which I have personally taken myself. Many of the projects opened my eyes to the vast things Python can do. I highly recommend it.
There are recommendations for JavaScript and Data Science below as well.
Recommended Options:
4. A Linux Course
All IT professionals should have a working knowledge of Linux. And just because you are good with the command line on a mac, doesn’t mean that transfers 1-to-1 to a Linux terminal.
In addition, you need to understand the Linux file system, file permissions, networking, etc. as you will spend most of your time in Linux.
This course will bring you up to speed.
Recommended Options:
5. An Algorithm/Coding Interview Course
One of the fastest ways to boost your salary as a developer is by changing jobs. And when you change jobs, you will inevitably face another “coding test.” And these programming tests require skills in data structures and algorithms (DSA).
So you should have a DSA course in your toolbelt to reference. When you’re planning to apply for jobs, break out this course and go through it. Get refreshed in the algorithm challenges of a language of your choice.
My recommendations for JavaScript and Python are below.
Recommended Options:
6. An API Design Course
As a developer, you will, at some point, work on an API. And you’ll need to understand not only routes and basics like that but will need to know about authentication and authorization with your API as well as more complex topics like data sanitization, throttling, and error handling.
As many APIs are with Node.js I recommend a course by Ghulam Abbas called Node.js - The Complete RESTful API Masterclass.
If you are using .NET, as my experience has been working with .NET APIs, then I have a course recommended for you as well below.
Recommended Options:
7. A SQL Course
Even though you may not be a data analyst or do anything specific with data, you are still handling data transfer AND you’re programming code that saves or updates data into a database. This kind of work will inevitably lead you to have to use SQL or SQL-related commands at some point in your career.
Thus, every developer should have a SQL course on hand to garner the basics.
I once got assigned to an API project and the user application that the API was pulling from used actual SQL scripts to pull data via React. I was familiar with basic SQL commands, but this project required me to write pretty intensive SQL Server scripts.
You may find yourself in the same situation at some point. In fact, I would lean toward you most definitely finding yourself bumping up against a SQL database of some sort in your career.
So I’ve recommended below a course that will get you up to speed.
Recommended Options:
8. A Clean Code Course
As you progress as a developer, you want to transition to cleaner and more “mature” code. We all start out with chicken scratch, wishing our code could look like senior dev code. And that is fine. We all start somewhere.
But the best way to make your code cleaner, more reliable, and readable over time, is to actively learn about clean code principles like SOLID.
I’ve included two courses below for your choosing. B
ut be sure to add this to your arsenal as it will really help you to level up…and other devs will start looking up to you!
Recommended Options:
9. A “I Want To Be a Senior Dev” Course
We all aspire to be a senior dev one day.
But what does it actually take to become one?
Sure, it takes time and experience as the most important factors, but can we speed this up by learning “how a senior dev thinks,” or “how a senior dev interacts with customers,” or “how he/she explains tough concepts and manages stressful situations?”
Sure we can. There is actually a lot that goes into a senior dev role other than the actual coding itself.
Below I’ve sought out the best two courses that I think can help you achieve this feat, faster.
Recommended Options:
10. A “I Didn’t Get a Computer Science Degree” Course
For us self-taught developers, though we have been able to land the job and have a successful career so far, the fact still lingers that we didn’t get formally trained for this. Things like:
- The parts of a computer and how it all works
- Networking concepts
- Data structures and algorithms
- Complex math
- etc
…weren’t taught to us.
Therefore, I think it a good idea to, over time, learn about this. Sure it’s not required, but I think it would be a helpful pursuit.
And one of the best companies to get you up to speed is CompTIA and their useful courses (or certifications if you wanted to take it that far).
Here are the three courses (A+ is two parts) I would plan to work through over the next few years.
Recommended Options:
Conclusion
So there you have it, 10 Udemy courses that every developer should own. From JavaScript to project courses, to APIs, to SQL, to leveling up to a senior dev, I think these encapsulate many of the technologies a software engineer will be required to interact within their career.
What courses, or types of courses, would you add to this list? Let’s discuss below.
