You decided to study web development. Whether you are doing it as a passion or because you want to turn it into a career, finding a good course can make the difference between succeeding and failing. Udemy is probably the biggest platform for online courses. It has everything from courses on copywriting, personal development, photography, to IT & software. In short, it has all the courses you could wish for. Still not convinced? Let’s dive a bit deeper and see what courses Udemy has specifically for web development and how to find the right ones for you.
[wpsm_toplist]
What exactly is Udemy
It is an online learning platform, with courses in almost every domain you could imagine. Some of the main learning areas include:
[wpsm_list type=”arrow”]
- Software development: web development, software testing, programming languages;
- Finance and accounting: economics, cryptocurrency & blockchain (link to an article on ‘how to learn Blockchain programming’), taxes, money management tools;
- Office productivity: Microsoft, Google, SAP, Oracle;
- Marketing: public relations, advertising;
- Health & fitness;
- Music: music fundamentals and techniques, instruments, production.
[/wpsm_list]
And these are not even half of the topics you can find on Udemy. There are courses for beginners as well as for the more advanced learners. There’s also a certificate of completion offered by the platform. And some courses issue their official certificates, depending on the instructors.
Most instructors are also available for their students and will answer any questions you have in the Q&A area of the course. This gives you a nice classroom feeling and you’ll be able to not only get answers to your questions but also view questions from other students.
Why you should consider studying on Udemy
The biggest advantage of Udemy has is the number of courses available. The first impression when you go to their website is that you can find a course for anything. And it is certainly true for web development: PHP (Symfony or Laravel), React, Angular, MEAN stack, ASP.NET MVC/WebAPI, you can find several courses for each of these technologies.
Choosing your course
Search for the technology you want to learn, as you normally would. Udemy will list all available courses ordered by relevancy. The best ones will always be at the top. Each course has a rating given by students and you can also view student reviews before purchasing.
Most instructors layout their curriculum, which you’ll learn through each lesson, to help you decide if their course is right for you. And because each person has their own style, Udemy offers you the possibility to view the introductory class for free. That way you can see if you like the person’s way of teaching.
The content
The exact structure will depend on the course, on how many lessons there are, whether or not there are tests to pass, and more. However, all Udemy courses have video lessons. Most of them are short, ranging anywhere from 3 minutes to about an hour. Some courses also offer additional materials such as PDFs, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, and more. And if you take a course but realize you are already familiar with some of the topics, you won’t be forced to sit through them just to get to the ones that interest you. You can simply skip directly to the lesson that interests you. Also, if you know you don’t need to watch a certain lesson at all, but still want your certificate of completion, you can mark those lessons as watched.
Pricing
Prices range from free courses up to $200+, but they run many sales where most courses can be bought for only $9.99. Money should never stand in the way of learning, and Udemy makes sure this is true, regardless of what course you want to take. Something I can tell you from experience is that regardless of the price you pay, you will quickly see what an investment these courses are!
Accessibility
One of the great things about courses on Udemy is how accessible they are. You can access the platform on your computer, on your phone either on a browser or through their app, and you can even watch them on your TV. Most courses are also captioned, some in multiple languages. And they also offer transcripts, so in case you prefer to read your lessons, you won’t encounter any issues.
How to learn web development on Udemy
When wanting to learn web development, people will usually go for technologies like PHP – either Laravel or Symphony, React, ASP.NET, Angular or others. And guess what? Whichever you choose, there’s at least one course on Udemy for you.
Web development bootcamp
If you want to become a pro at web development and even consider it as a career, you might want to consider one of the “bootcamp” courses available on Udemy.
For example, The Web Developer Bootcamp and The Complete 2020 Web Development Bootcamp are two of the best selling courses in this area and they will be the first to pop up in your search. They both have over 45 hours of classes, downloadable resources, and exercises. Both have fantastic reviews from hundreds of students. They are perfect for beginners with zero coding experience and will teach everything about technologies such as HTML, Javascript, NodeJS, and more.
If you already have good coding knowledge and are familiar with most of the technologies covered in the other courses, Udemy has something for you too. The Advanced Web Developer Bootcamp is made for this exact purpose, taking web development to the next level. By the end of the course, you will not only be proficient in several technologies, but you’ll also create some real applications, guided step by step by the instructors. The students’ reviews speak for themselves.
Another great thing about all these courses is that they are updated continuously so that you’ll never purchase a course that uses outdated technology.
Courses for specific technologies
If you know you only want to learn a specific technology or want to take your knowledge to the next level, the bootcamps are probably not ideal for you.
PHP (with Laravel or Symfony)
For instance, one of the most common programming languages required for proficient web development is PHP. You can find courses that will teach you everything about PHP frameworks Laravel or Symfony or object-oriented programming. And if you want to skip the theory and learn how to create a website like Netflix, or your own social network, Udemy has the right courses for that as well.
For example, this course promises to teach you how to create a Netflix clone all during 11.5 hours of lessons. It is one of the highest-rated courses on Udemy in the PHP category, so it is safe to say it delivers! The downside of such a course is that it does not spend a lot of time explaining how the various technologies work. So if you are a complete beginner who’s never done any coding, you should probably start with something that will help you learn the basics.
React
Another common technology to learn when it comes to web development is React. Udemy has a lot of courses in this area as well, such as their bestseller – React – The Complete Guide, which will help you learn everything about React.JS from scratch. The course has 44.5 hours of on-demand videos and 258 downloadable resources!
MEAN stack
Mean stands for four technologies:
[wpsm_list type=”arrow”]
- MongoDB which is the database of the application
- ExpressJS which is a framework for NodeJS
- Angular which is the client-side of the framework
- NodeJS which will be on the server-side
[/wpsm_list]
So whether you search specifically for one of these four technologies, like Angular which is the best known – or directly for the MEAN stack, most courses will contain discussion about all of them. For instance, the current bestselling course in this area provides a complete introduction to MEAN stack in only 12.5 hours of on-demand classes.
ASP.NET MVC/Web API
ASP.NET is one of the most common technologies for web development. Whether you want to learn ASP.NET MVC or Web API, Udemy’s got you covered. Just like with all other technologies, you will find courses for complete beginners, to courses for advanced people who are maybe switching from another technology or simply looking to learn something new.
The bestselling course for ASP.NET MVC, The Complete ASP.NET MVC 5 Course, comes with 7.5 hours on-demand videos and 18 downloadable sources. And with over 21 thousand positive student reviews, it definitely looks like a good investment for anyone looking to learn this technology. What’s even better is that the entire first chapter, “Getting started”, containing 6 videos can be viewed for free before purchasing.
Combining courses to learn more
A great feature offered by Udemy are suggestions on how you can combine courses if you want to learn even more. If you are unsure about what to learn next to become more proficient in web development, these suggestions will make your life easier.
How to make the most of Udemy
Udemy’s greatest advantage is that it has hundreds if not thousands of online courses. As a new student, this can also become the biggest disadvantage for you. Why? Because it is very hard to choose one. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best course for your needs
[wpsm_list type=”arrow”]
- Be clear on what you want to learn. There are so many technologies out there so knowing you want to learn “web development” might not be enough. Do you really need to enroll in a 50+ hours bootcamp? Or is it enough to learn just one technology? Be clear on your intentions, even if that means spending a little more time researching before purchasing a course.
- Know your why. Knowing why you want to learn a new skill will help you decide what you want to learn, and vice-versa. Are you learning a new skill just for yourself, because it’s a passion? Do you hope to turn it into a career? Will it help you at school? Do you want to build something specific with your new skills? Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve.
- Read the entire description and curriculum, not just the summary. Udemy usually provides a summary, highlighting the main points you’ll learn in the course. But to really understand everything that course is about, make sure you read all the description and go through the structure of the course.
- Read the reviews, but don’t rely solely on them. Reading course reviews gives you a better idea of what people thought about it. It might also help you realize if you’ll like the course or not. But be mindful to not rely only on those reviews. Why? Because everyone is different. The fact that 100 people like something, doesn’t mean you will. If you want to base your chose on reviews, then look for those that go into detail about what they liked and what they didn’t like.
- Watch intro videos. The great thing about this platform is the free intro videos available with every course. Watch them, to make sure you like the instructor’s style.
[/wpsm_list]
Conclusion
Udemy is the perfect place for anyone looking to learn a new skill. The platform has something for everyone, from complete beginners to advanced users. It is also a great choice for those who like to learn at their own pace. Once you enroll in a course you have lifetime access to it. And most of them are updated when new technologies come up, so you won’t be learning about a technology nobody uses anymore.
Most videos are short enough, that even the busiest people can do at least one lesson per day. The bite-sized videos are also highly motivational because you constantly see yourself making progress, as you watch lesson after lesson. And if you like longer lessons and courses that teach you a specific technology in-depth, you will definitely find it on this platform.
So to answer our initial question – is Udemy a good place to learn web development? Absolutely! All you need to do is decide what exactly you want to learn, select the course you like, and start learning right away!
