Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.
Helen Keller
It’s true – when you lend someone a helping hand, you feel a lot better about yourself, and you will likely learn something new.
Helping others feels so rewarding because you know that you have contributed something very important to humanity. And what better way to help your fellow developers than to join one of the many developer communities out there?
What are Developer Communities?
Over the past few years lots of developer communities have come together with different goals and missions. But you'll probably agree with me that they all have several things in common:
- They help you learn,
- They share ideas
- They offer support to newbies, and
- You can freely interact with them and within them.
There are many different types of developer communities out there – front-end focused, back-end focused, and specific language-based. We also have general communities which include all of the above under one platform.
What are the benefits of developer communities?
The benefits offered by these communities are 'on another level' as I would say. They have helped people start from scratch and eventually land jobs in big tech companies like Google and Microsoft. They have also developed mentors and have helped improve their code writing and reviewing skills.
In other words, being part of a developer community can really help you learn how to code.
How Do You Pick a Developer Community to Join?
I want to help those of you who are looking for a good community to join according to your interests and skills. So I've gathered a few of the top communities that focus on the front-end, back-end, blogging, and more to help you get started and meet your fellow developers.
I may have not included all the communities out there because we have a ton of them. So feel free to message me with any others that you feel are really helpful and important.
Web Development & Design Communities
The freeCodeCamp Forum
The good thing about this community is that you can not only ask questions and get programming tips, but you also get career advice and learn how to get started coding.
The forum is divided into different sub-forums, where you can participate according to your interests – HTML & CSS, Career Advice, Motivation, a general group where you meet other developers to have a chat, and so on.
The community does not require any membership fee. All you need to do is sign up using your email and you can be part of the community.
Web Developer Forum
The Web Developer Forum is a simple site focused on learning web development and programming. It's categorized into sections where web developers and designers learn and share how to design websites, build mobile applications, create WordPress themes, write HTML and JavaScript, and more.
It is easy to use, and it covers almost all questions you might have about the sections. It is a great place for developers starting out with web development.
To start a discussion all you need to do is sign up and you are good to go.
The SitePoint community
On SitePoint, you can find answers to questions about CSS, HTML, marketing, PHP, JavaScript, design and UX, databases, web hosting and more.
The good thing about this community is that it does not only talk about finding solutions, it also has books on web development, articles on these topics, and more (but some of these features are only available under the premium subscription).
The community has two plans, free and the premium. With the free plan you get limited resources in the community, but with the premium you get unlimited access to courses, books, featured tech talks, and more.
To be part of the community all you need is to sign up by either your email, GitHub, or Facebook.
Talk Grapics
Just as the name says, this is a community of graphic designers and 3D artists.
The forum is divided into different sub-forums to make it easy for new members to find their category of design, whether it's web or graphic.
Here you will find the latest and trending topics at the top of the list for modern web designers and graphic artists.
In order to be part of the community you will have to register with your email and it's absolutely free of charge.
CoffeeCup
CoffeeCup was started back in 1996 with a simple HTML editor inside a coffee shop.
This community helps designers create better sites. Their main goal is to make life easier by providing customers with great yet affordable software.
Just like most communities, it's in the forum where you get to post different questions and find solutions to other questions.
To join an ongoing conversation or be part of the community all you need to do is to create an account by signing up with your email.
Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a popular HTML, CSS, and JS framework for UI components and interactions. The community focuses on and discusses the latest trends and tips ragarding development using Bootstrap.
This framework is good for building responsive sites with the help of popular front-end component libraries.
To join, use the slack channel or subscribe to their official blog.
IndieHackers
IndieHackers is an emerging online community of developers. It's a platform where the founders of successful startups share their stories and experience with others.
It's main aim is to help those who want to begin their tech startups and side projects by providing guidance and outlines on how to. You get advice from successful tech entrepreneurs.
It is an open forum where each member is able to share experience, explore ideas, and offer support to upcoming developers.
It is an invite-only platform for now, meaning to join you have to have a invite code for signup.
Daily UI
If you want to be a UI & UX Designer, this platform is for you. Daily UI is a series of UI challenges that, as the name suggests, are posted every day to help designers improve and perfect their skills.
You'll find design inspiration and when you complete projects you get rewards. All this is to help you become a better designer within a period of 100 days. The amazing support from the community will motivate you to keep learning.
It is absolutely free, all you need to get started is to sign up with your email.
Blogging Communities
Dev.to
If you are trying to start writing and publishing tech-related articles and do not have your own domain, this is where to get started. You'll also get to meet a community of passionate writers starting out.
It is an open source community of more than 600k developers who share, learn, and stay updated with latest technology trends. It has resources like podcasts, articles, videos, real-world examples, hackathons, and more.
To get started join by either signing up with email or GitHub account. You will get your own dashboard to post your article, like this https://dev.to/larymak
freeCodeCamp
freeCodeCamp is a non-profit platform where you can learn and practice coding for free – and they also have a blogging platform where developers contribute by sharing knowledge through writing articles.
The community also has a forum where you can meet other developers and share ideas, ask questions, solve problems and figure out errors, and enhance your knowledge.
The freeCodeCamp publication is not an open publishing platform. But if you are accepted as a writer, the editorial team will carefully review and edit your articles, and then publish and publicize them to a large audience.
If you want to apply to write for freeCodeCamp's publication, this article will show you how: Article
Hashnode
Hashnode is a global community of developers where you can share ongoing projects, ask questions, suggest ideas, and help others solve their problems.
It is a free platform that helps you stay connected with the latest tech trends.
You can publish blogs, get your own sub-domain like this one https://larymak.hashnode.dev/ or add your own, follow your favorite authors, and even back up your blog on your GitHub. You can also participate in hackathons and win prizes.
To join you will need to create an account with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google or GitHub and you get you subdomain for free.
Hackernoon
Hackernoon is a site where you can read, write, and publish articles. It's a community of 15k + writers and over 3 million readers. Top tech companies use this platform to share their expertise.
Code Newbie
Code Newbie started out as a weekly twitter chat providing helpful support to people learning to code.
Since then it has grown into a supportive community of developers where you can publish articles, too.
Blogging for Devs
This is a private community for developers, freelancers, and tech creators who want to grow their audience through writing online.
The only thing is that it's not free – you need to pay a fee to be a part of it.
General Tech Communities
Remember earlier I mentioned that there are some communities that have all these features under one roof? Well, in this section we will have a look at some of them.
Once you're a registered member, you'll just need to choose your category and you will be good to go.
Stack Overflow
For anyone who is into programming, Stack Overflow is a great resource. You can join the community to learn, share, and build your career.
It hosts developers from around the globe who come to seek answers to their coding challenges and ask questions about their errors.
And here is the amazing part: according to their analysis, a question is posted every 12 seconds, and it is always answered by developers who already know how to solve it.
Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange was launched in 2010 by the Stack Exchange network.
It's made up of 173 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow which we just discussed.
Reddit is a global community with a lot of sub-groups or sub-reddits, and there are endless conversations going on.
It has threads about nearly all trending topics, opportunities for meet ups, how to debug your code, and job listings, among many other things.
Now to help you get started on the right path, here are some of the common sub-reddits where you can subscribe and get notified on updates:
WebDev, ReactJS, Python, Javascript and more others.
GitHub
GitHub is a very popular site amongst developers. The Community Forum is the place where you as a developer can share ideas and follow up on discussions.
You can also easily share your code, as well as collaborate with others on their code. This feature makes it both a very useful and interesting programming and coding community.
Digital Ocean
Digital Ocean is a place where developers can find or lend support and contribute to the community. The community provides guides, tutorials, trends for developers, a Q/A section, and much more.
Code Project
Code Project is a community for computer programmers with articles on different topics and programming languages such as web development, software development, C++, Java, and other topics.
DevRant
devRant is a fun community for developers to share and bond over their successes and frustrations with code, tech, and life as a programmer. DevRant has an iOS and Android app for the community.
Discord
Just like Reddit, Discord is organized into groups called servers. These are organized into topic-based channels where you can collaborate, share, and just talk about your day without clogging up a group chat.
Tech Communities Specifically for Women
Over the past few years many organizations have been founded that advocate for women's empowerment in tech. They call for equal opportunities among all genders.
The main aim of these communities is to offer support and create a environment where women can feel comfortable to learn.
Women Who Code
Women Who Code is an international nonprofit organization that provides a global community for women in tech through events, coding resources, jobs, mentorship, and more.
They aim to inspire, support, and help women develop technical skills and excel in their careers.
Women in Technology
Women in Technology is a safe, confidential space for women who work in technology to chat and support each other. They welcome both those who already have significant programming knowledge as well as those just starting out so they can help each other grow as a community.
Girls who Code
Girls Who Code programs work to inspire, educate, and equip girls with the computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities.
The organization helps hundreds of thousands of women get into the education sector of computer science. The goal is to provide computer science education to more than 1 million young women.
DjangoGirls
Django Girls is a non-profit organization and a community that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources, and support.
Rails Girls
The Rails Girls community is similar to that of Django Girls, and strives to provide self-hosted events that can help young and adult women to get into the game of coding, with the knowledge that there is support and advice available at all times. Otherwise, the journey can sometimes seem a little bleak.
Pyladies
The name says it all:
WE ARE…
…a group of women developers worldwide who love the Python programming language. We write code by day or night. Some of us hack on Python projects on the side, while others work full-time on Python development. But it doesn’t matter. We all just like writing Python code, and that’s what brings us together.
PyLadies is a straightforward community of women Python developers.
It aims to provide a friendly support network for women and a bridge to the larger Python world. Anyone with an interest in Python is encouraged to participate!
Language-Specific Communities
Python
This community is run by the Python organization, and its main aim is to help Python developers boost their skills.
Their aim is to be open about how transparency can be improved, provide the community with opportunities to interact with the organization, and be responsive to any suggestions community members ask.
If you want to specialize in Python and stay up with the language's latest features, this is the right community for you to join.
Java
The Java community is millions of members strong, and there are many ways to get involved.
You can join their different sub-forums and get to interact with other developers, or you can share technical articles related to Java (which, by the way, you can get paid for sharing).
C/C++
This community's mission is to make the C++ programming language accessible and useful to anyone who wishes to learn and apply the language.
The community gathers users of C++ from around the world into the same place so they can all learn from each other.
In order to be part of the community you need to have an invite code, which you can request upon signing up for the community.
C#
This is a community of C# and .NET developers, sharing tips on how to get started and how to use the language.
The community is also divided into sub-forums, where you are able to ask questions, follow up on conversations, and also share ideas and any issues you've encountered while working.
To join, you need to sign up either with a Google, Facebook, or Microsoft account, and it's absolutely free to get started.
PHP
This is an active and vibrant community of programmers that has grown up around an affinity for the PHP programming language. The community is all about friendship and helping each other become better at PHP.
Kotlin
You can be part of the Kotlin community by either joining their User movement groups, planning a kotlin event, or joining an existing one. You can also contribute to the language and ecosystem.
In the community you can learn the essentials and best practices of Kotlin in Android, the Google Cloud Platform, and multi-platform development.
Swift
In the Swift forums, which are public by the way, public conversations are encouraged, and active developers of the Swift language are encouraged to monitor the relevant forum categories.
Lua
The main aim of the Lua community is to get together and meet new developers and talk about the Lua language, its uses, and its implementation.
Another goal is to help spread the word about Lua to the tech industry and academia.
iOS Developers
This community has around 30k+ members. Their main aims are being open, helping each other, and sharing knowledge.
You can either join by email, Google, or Apple ID. When you join, you get to ask for an invite and in no time you will be a member.
Mobile Developers
This group was founded by developers, for developers. It is a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.
It is open for all kinds of mobile app developer from Android, iOS, games and so on. It is divided into sub-forums where you get to join according to your skills
Conclusion
“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” – Sherry Anderson
These are the kind of people you'll find in all the above listed communities, ready to help you move up to the next level.
Through participating in developer communities, many devs have landed their dream jobs and created lasting friendships. These communities have changed lots of peoples' lives.
Are you a part of on ? If not, what are you waiting for?
True community requires commitment and openness.
Do share your valuable opinion, I appreciate your honest feedback!
Enjoy Coding ❤