I sometimes get asked for resources by folks who want to get into IT or learn how to code. Over the years I've sent some variant of info dump which I may as well consolidate and publish online.
Tech resource links incoming.
Basics (anyone who codes uses these):
You should start using these tools so that you can build confidence and get comfortable with using your computer in the pursuit of more computer skills. Using these tools closes the gap between reading about how to write code and participate in IT, and actually doing it.
- Version control: Spin up a Codeberg or GitHub account if you want to learn git based version control. I even have a GitHub repo with some git basics outlined
- IDE (Integrated Development Environment): using a basic text editor will not work for much beyond basics, I use Helix but VS Codium is probably a better starting point if you're not confident in a commandline environment.
- Terminal: configuration and application is very much a personal preference, I use WezTerm as it's cross-platform but you can also just use built-in terminal apps (worth looking for books/docs on the terminal for your preferred environment like the macOS terminal application). You will need to get comfortable with using your terminal and with looking up what commands do. Even if you only understand the basics of what a given command does for you that is infinitely better than treating the commandline as "scary magic".
- Package manager: again, depends on what OS you use and is used for installing utilities and packages for writing code and running your dev environment (I use MacPorts on macOS, though Homebrew is very popular). These are worth looking into for whichever operating system you want to use and playing around with to get to grips with things like managing dependencies.
Free resources
Coding resources:
Google also do very decent content for learning general tech concepts and even free site reliability books, I think all technologists should have some skills in Cybersecurity and Site Reliability.
For cybersecurity stuff there's HackTheBox and TryHackMe which also have paid tiers. It's worth looking into networking and security fundamentals early on as those skills are much more transferable than the study of specific exploits; Cisco have a decent amount of free material on their site as well.
For something that's good for getting an idea of what you learn in a CompSci degree and finding deep dive stuff the Teach Yourself CS site is excellent. There is a lot of dense material but it's well worth a look.
For really interesting and accessible material on all kinds of cool computer concepts Julia Evans is fantastic. She has an awesome site and collection of zines. I cannot recommend her work highly enough and the way that she approaches concepts brings clarity to some really complex subjects.