Learn

The Odin Project (TOP) is a free, open source resource to learn web development. For those who can learn in a self-directed way, it provides a clear roadmap to gaining the necessary skills to launch a career in full stack web development.

Contribute

For people not new to development, there is a great opportunity to cement knowledge by helping others and answering questions on TOP's Discord channel, and to gain experience as a contributor to the project.

Build projects

The project-oriented style is engaging and practical, as ultimately what you are able to build and how you do it is the most important thing. Projects start very simple and progress through things like building a to do list, a Battleship game, and eventually things like a photo tagging app and an app replicating the core functionality of Facebook. There is also a section sharing wisdom on the job search process.

Community

One of the greatest things about it is the TOP's community on Discord, where users can help each other or discuss searching for jobs. The success stories channel is the best, where seemingly every few days someone posts about getting their first developer job, thanking the TOP community, encouraging others, and talking about the value of grit and perseverance. Here is one success story:

An incredible self-paced curriculum that consists of the best resources for learning programming on the web! It was an invaluable resource on my path to a becoming a software developer. Thanks to The Odin Project I was able to get a job half way through the curriculum, and the projects completed as part of the curriculum gave me an edge compared to other junior developers with no experience.