I started coding in 2015, and over the years, I’ve been following a lot of programming channels on YouTube. The best thing about these YouTube channels is that they give free information in a fun and entertaining way. Also, they will let you know what exactly is happening around the technology field, which you might not get from typical computer science classes in college.
I’ve learned a lot from many talented software developers. Today, I want to put together a list of the top-notch YouTube channels out there for learning programming, and the non-technical stuff related to programming. If you’re interested in programming and you want to go deep into it, these YouTube channels will help you to do so.
1. Simple Programmer
I would start the list with my favorite software development YouTube channel of all time, Simple Programmer. Over the years, this channel has provided me great solid advice in terms of the technical stuff, as well as the non-technical soft skills.
This channel was created by John Sonmez more than a decade ago. But recently, John renamed the channel “Bulldog Mindset”, where he talks about the mindset of real men. But, after a few months, John created a new channel for Simple Programmer. Now, when you go to the Simple Programmer channel, you won’t see thousands of videos. But, all those old Simple Programmer content is still there in the Bulldog Mindset channel.
Simple Programmer was created based on a mission, to make the complex simple. John Sonmez, the main attraction of the channel, has a ton of experience when it comes to all the aspects of software development. He has written two great books, Soft Skills: The Software Developer’s Life Manual and The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide. He has created 55 courses for Pluralsight and some other courses on his own website.
The advice that you get from the channel is top-quality. Apart from John Sonmez, the channel now has some other software developers as well to produce content related to different areas in software development. Simple Programmer will help you to improve the soft skills that you need to become a superstar in the software development industry.
I will warn you about one thing. You’ll see a lot of f words in this channel, especially from John Sonmez. That’s how he likes to talk. Also, you’ll see a lot of promotional emails if you sign up for the newsletter. I would suggest you avoid the newsletter.
However, the content and advice are pretty solid. If you need a kick in the ass to get started in your career, then definitely check out his channel.
2. Clever Programmer
Clever Programmer is yet another exciting software development channel. Rafeh Qazi is the founder of this YouTube channel. His way of presentation and talking is pretty entertaining. This channel was created by Qazi after he got inspiration from John Sonmez.
The main topic of the channel is Python. Most of the videos that they produce are related to Python, particularly Django. After that, a large portion of his content is based on soft skills for software developers. However, they occasionally produce videos on HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flask, etc.
Qazi built this channel from scratch into a big player in the programming field. Now, there is a full team around him to produce a lot of content.
Clever programmer and Simple programmer are my favorite YouTube channels because they talk a lot about the essential non-technical skills of programming. Soft skills are such a vital part of our career, maybe much more important than technical skills, yet very few people talk about them.
A problem with this channel is that you’ll see a lot of promotional videos. Qazi has a few online courses and he creates some crazy videos to promote them. So be aware of that.
If you want to become a web developer with Python, this channel is a great resource. Go check out this channel and subscribe.
3. FreeCodeCamp
FreeCodeCamp is a great platform founded by Quincy Larson to teach programming for free. They have a huge YouTube channel with plenty of videos on areas of software development.
They do not just provide free videos. Almost all the videos on their YouTube channel are pretty long online courses. They provide free courses on all sorts of technologies. What they do is, collaborate with other content creators, and publish their courses for free on FreeCodeCamp. We’re so lucky that we can learn about the hot technologies in the industry, without even paying a buck.
Free courses don’t mean that those are low-quality. All of their videos are pretty good content created by top-quality software developers. They also provide 5000+ tutorials, certifications, and other learning materials on their website, all for free.
I do not watch their channel all the time since I don’t get time to see all of their long-form video courses. But, if you want to learn a particular technology, you can definitely find an online course about that on their YouTube channel.
So, if you want a library of online courses related to programming for free, check out their YouTube channel and learn your favorite technology.
4. CS Dojo
As the name indicates, CS Dojo is a YouTube channel that is all about computer science. This channel is run by a Japanese guy called YK Sugi. But don’t worry, he can speak English perfectly.
YK Sugi is a former software developer at Google. And hence, he also has some pretty good videos on getting a software developer job at Google. The channel has over a million subscribers, and hence, I don’t need to tell you about the quality of videos.
A high percentage of videos on this channel are related to computer science, specifically algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving. When it comes to programming, a lot of videos are based on Python language. He has videos on data science, machine learning, web development with Django, etc.
I started watching his videos when I was in college, doing my computer science degree. If you’re a computer science student, or if you want to learn computer science, this channel is a great resource for you.
It is very tough to get a job in a top tech company like Google or Facebook. Especially, the whiteboard interviews are a big hurdle to pass. Since Sugi was a former developer at Google, he has some pretty solid tips and tactics to crack a coding interview. Go and check out CS Dojo and improve your computer science knowledge.
5. Hitesh Choudhary
Hitesh Choudhary is an Indian YouTuber who creates content on a bunch of programming languages and technologies. He is the founder of LearnCodeOnline, Inc, a company that provides a wide range of online courses as well as offline bootcamps.
The best thing about the channel is that it is pretty up-to-date. This guy will let you know about the upcoming technologies and trends and even provides an hour-long live session every Saturday. LearnCodeOnline is a great platform that consists of a plethora of courses, both free and paid.
The paid courses are pretty cheap as well, but the quality of the courses is top-notch. I’ve taken many courses from LCO, and my favorite of them is The Complete Front-end Web Developer Bootcamp with 14 Projects. That course gave me a lot of knowledge to get started with web development. He has a lot of free videos and courses on his YouTube channel as well.
For me, he’s one of the best online programming tutors I could find in my country. I have a desire to go to his offline Coding Bootcamp in Jaipur one day. Hopefully, I’ll do it when I get some free time.
As of now, I’ll be watching his online videos and courses. You can also check out his YouTube channel to learn some pretty cool programming stuff.
6. The New Boston
I was not sure about adding this channel to my list of top YouTube channels in 2020 since this channel hasn’t uploaded any new videos in 3 years. But, I’m going to recommend this because of its good old tutorials.
This channel was created by Bucky Roberts, a funny and down-to-earth guy. He created a lot of engaging screencast tutorials to teach programming. I remember when I was in college, I wasn’t able to understand what my C programming teacher taught. Then, I looked around YouTube and found Bucky’s channel, which was pretty helpful.
I don’t know why he stopped making video tutorials. Still, he has more than 2 million subscribers and thousands of top-quality tutorials. That’s why I included this channel on this list.
Bucky doesn’t show his face in his videos, but his fun and engaging voice do maintain a connection with the audience. The New Boston is a library of helpful programming tutorials. So, I would still recommend you to check out his channel, even though it’s not active now.
7. Clement Mihailescu
This channel would not have been there on this list if it was a YouTube video (because I don’t know how to pronounce this name). Thankfully, this is a blog post, and I can include this channel on this list.
Clement is a former software developer in both Google and Facebook. This channel is pretty new, and I’ve been watching his videos for only three months. But, he has got some pretty good knowledge to share.
The main content of this channel is obviously about how to get a job at Google or Facebook. But, Clement is pretty good at computer science and algorithms. He has a company called AlgoExpert, where he trains people to prepare for coding interviews.
One cool thing about this channel is that he does some magic tricks with cards at the start of almost every videos. The meat of the content following the cards trick is even greater. If you are looking to get a software development job at a top tech company like Google, you must subscribe to this channel.
8. Python Programmer
You can expect what the content is from the name of the channel itself. The founder of this channel is Giles or something. His full name is pretty complicated, and I’m lazy enough to avoid typing in that name here. I know you are also a bit lazy, so let’s skip his full name and talk about the content of his channel.
His way of presentation is the thing I like the most. He explains everything in pretty good clarity. He teaches Python-related things on this channel, especially data science and machine learning stuff. He has tutorials on a wide range of python-related subjects, and the content is growing daily.
He has a bunch of book review videos on data science, machine learning, and python programming. Most of his videos are short, where he throws in some tips and tricks about Python. If you want to check out more of his work, go to his YouTube channel. You’ll really like his videos if you’re a Python nerd.
9. Traversy Media
Traversy Media is a pretty good YouTube channel that makes tutorials and tips on web development and programming. I like Brad Traversy, and his videos because he is straight to the point without doing any crazy things on his channel.
He doesn’t use any insane marketing strategies to grow his channel. Instead, he focuses on giving his experience and knowledge to other people. That’s why you’ll see more informational content on this channel rather than controversial videos. Check out the Traversy Media YouTube channel to learn new technology.
10. Programming with Mosh
This channel doesn’t have a lot of videos. Still, Mosh Hamedani has a lot of subscribers and views. The reason is that he often creates long-form videos. His videos are pretty long, in-depth video courses, just like FreeCodeCamp.
Nowadays, longer videos are getting more popular on YouTube, and that’s how this channel grew. He has full courses in Python, Javascript, Csharp, and a lot more technologies. I really like the branding, especially the colors of his channel. The videos he creates are of high quality. You can check out his channel to learn software development in the best way.
Some Bonus YouTube Channels
I know this list is not perfect. This list might not have your favorite YouTube channel. This list was created only based on my experience. I learned a lot from YouTube, and I’m thankful to all the content creators out there. You guys make our lives less boring.
I want to mention some more channels that I couldn’t include in this list. CodingEntrepreneurs, Stefan Mischook, WhatsDev, Telusko, ForestKnight, etc., are a few channels that I can remember which have helped me to learn to code.
Which is your favorite YouTube channel to learn software development? If you know some great channels that I haven’t mentioned in this article, let me know in the comments section.
We are so lucky to have a lot of great programmers out there who create top-quality content for us. Now, you don’t need to go to college to learn software development. You can learn from wherever you want, whenever you want. All you need is an internet connection.
If you’re planning to learn to code, check out these amazing YouTube channels, and start learning.
I hope this article was helpful. I would appreciate it if you would be willing to share this article. It will encourage me to create more useful content like this.
