I Have No Idea What to Learn First And Here's How I'm Deciding

Iris Khan — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 07:45:09 +0000

So I've decided I want to learn web development. Cool. Great. Except then I actually sat down to start and realized... I don't even know what to start with.

HTML? CSS? JavaScript? Python? React? Back-end stuff? People keep saying different things and every video has a different "you should start with THIS" opinion. It's honestly kind of overwhelming for someone who hasn't written a single line of real code yet.

So instead of learning anything, what I actually did was open like 15 tabs, watch parts of a bunch of videos, and close my laptop feeling more confused than when I started lol.

what I've looked at so far

Not much tbh. A couple YouTube videos comparing front-end and back-end (still not 100% sure I get the difference). One video tried explaining what JavaScript actually does on a page and I understood maybe half of it. And I've been scrolling posts here on DEV a lot, just reading how other people started. That part actually helped the most, not because anyone gave me THE answer, but because everyone started differently and that made me feel less stressed about "picking wrong."

how I'm picking

No real system, just vibes basically:

HTML/CSS feels the least scary to start with because you can actually see something change on the screen right away, and that feels good when you're this new to everything
if a lot of people keep saying "start here" for beginners, I figure there's probably something to it
and mostly I just need to pick SOMETHING and stop researching forever. I think the real mistake isn't choosing the "wrong" language first, it's never choosing anything at all

I'm not trying to get this decision perfect, I just want to actually start building stuff instead of just watching people build stuff.

so if you've been where I am right now, if you were starting completely over, what would YOU learn first?

not looking for a "correct" answer since i don't know if there even is one, just curious what actually worked for real people instead of another "top 10 languages to learn in 2026" article lol

10 Free Websites Every Web Developer Should Bookmark

Iris Khan — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:17:49 +0000

10 Free Websites Every Web Developer Should Bookmark
Whether you're just starting your web development journey or have been coding for years, the right tools can save you time and make your workflow much smoother.

Here are 10 free websites I think every web developer should know.

1. MDN Web Docs

The best place to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Clear explanations with reliable documentation.

2. CodePen

A great playground for testing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without setting up a project.

3. Can I Use

Check browser compatibility before using modern CSS or JavaScript features.

4. GitHub

Perfect for hosting projects, collaborating with others, and exploring open-source code.

5. Regex101

Makes writing and debugging regular expressions much easier.

6. TinyPNG

Compress images to improve website loading speed while maintaining quality.

7. Excalidraw

A simple online whiteboard for sketching UI ideas and system designs.

8. DevDocs

A fast documentation browser that brings multiple programming docs together.

9. JSON Formatter

Useful when working with APIs and debugging JSON responses.

10. CSS-Tricks

An excellent resource for CSS tips, layout techniques, and front-end development articles.

Final Thoughts

These are some of the free resources I regularly use while learning and building web projects.

Do you have a favorite developer website that isn't on this list? I'd love to discover more—share it in the comments!

DEV Community: Iris Khan