The Valley of Code

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A Flavio Copes project, yes all the 1,664 lessons have been handwritten in over 8 years with passion and sweat, it's not AI slop. Claude Code estimated 5,000 hours of work to write them, that's 2.5 years 24/7.

 
Fundamentals
Welcome to The Valley of Code. Your journey in Software Development starts here. We start with Web Development, but you can also learn other programming languages later. In the fundamentals section you'll learn the basic building blocks of the Internet, the Web and how its fundamental protocol (HTTP) works.
 
HTML
This section covers HTML: how we define content and structure web pages.
 
Tools
We could do nothing without good tools. In this section I introduce a few very powerful tools you will use every day: VS Code, Git, and GitHub
 
Deployment
Deployment is the process of putting your code "out there", on the Internet, for everyone else to use. We commonly work on local machines, but when it is time to release, we deploy the code on a service or cloud server.
 
JavaScript
JavaScript is "the Web programming language" because it has one key feature: it is the only language that browsers understand. As a Web developer, it is essential that you learn this language very well.
Explore JavaScript runtimes and related technologies: Deno as a modern Node.js alternative, and WebAssembly for running other languages in the browser.
 
CSS
This section covers CSS: how we style content and create beautiful layouts.
 
DOM and Events
Using JavaScript we can "hook" into a Web page and change everything about it, and listen for events when something happens, so we can do whatever we want.
 
Networking
The fundamentals of HTTP networking, and how to use fetch(), and Request / Response
 
Browser API
Browser APIs give you powerful capabilities to interact with the user, network, files, and more.
 
Node.js
Node.js is the foundational runtime for server-side JavaScript. It was the one that created everything back in 2009 and remains the most popular choice for running JavaScript on the server.
 
Bun
Beyond Node.js, there are other JavaScript runtimes optimized for different use cases. Bun focuses on speed and developer experience.
 
HTTP Servers
There are quite a few lightweight libraries/frameworks that build upon Server Runtimes to provide an easy to use set of features to build HTTP servers. We can call them microframeworks too. I picked Hono as the modern, feature-rich one
 
Forms
Of all the HTML tags, forms need their own section because of how important they are.
 
Databases
We use databases to store and retrieve data dynamically. In this section we'll talk about relational databases, NoSQL databases, and ORMs.
 
React
React is the most popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Learn component-based architecture, hooks, state management, and modern React patterns.
 
Astro
Astro is a modern web framework for building fast, content-focused websites. It supports multiple UI frameworks and ships zero JavaScript by default.
 
Libraries and frameworks
UI libraries and tools that help you build interactive web applications with less code.
 
Next.js
Next.js is a powerful React framework for building production-ready applications. Learn routing, data fetching, SSR, and deployment.
 
Security
Learn web security concepts and how to protect your applications from common vulnerabilities.
 
Docker
Docker revolutionizes how we deploy and distribute applications. Learn how to create portable, isolated environments that work consistently across any machine with Docker installed.
 
Python
Python is a high-level programming language perfect for beginners and professionals. In this section we cover the fundamentals: from installation and basic syntax to functions, OOP, and collections.
 
PHP
PHP is a popular server-side scripting language designed for web development. Learn how to build dynamic web applications, handle forms, manage sessions, and deploy your PHP projects.
 
Laravel
Laravel is a powerful PHP framework loved by developers worldwide. Learn to build modern web applications with elegant syntax and powerful features.
 
Go
Go (Golang) is a modern, statically-typed programming language developed by Google. Known for its simplicity, efficiency, and excellent concurrency support, Go is perfect for building scalable web services and system tools.
 
C
C is one of the most influential programming languages in history. Learn this powerful, low-level language that forms the foundation of operating systems, embedded systems, and many modern languages.
 
Linux
Master the Linux command line. Learn essential commands for navigating, manipulating files, processing text, managing processes, and administering systems. These skills are fundamental for developers, system administrators, and DevOps professionals.
 
Swift
Swift is Apple's powerful and intuitive programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Learn Swift fundamentals and SwiftUI, Apple's declarative framework for building beautiful user interfaces across all Apple platforms.
 
Electronics
Learn electronics from the ground up. Understand the fundamentals of electricity, work with electronic components, program Arduino boards, and control hardware with JavaScript using Johnny Five.