The Odin Project is for absolute beginners in the world of web development and those who have tried other resources without success. In reality, The Odin Project is for anyone who wants to work as a web developer, build a startup, or just hack together a homepage for yourself. All the tools you need are here. You should consider yourself fairly competent with personal computers and open to using a non-Windows based Operating System.
We've built an in-depth curriculum designed to take you 100% of the way to becoming a web developer. Many other resources out there teach you just the basics of programming. With The Odin Project, you'll create your own websites, games, and social media sites.
The goal of The Odin Project is to provide a complete path for students to go from zero programming knowledge to employed as web developers while working with other students and picking up the skills to become self sufficient along the way.
We won't have any of this 'Learn it all in two days!' BS. You can't start from scratch and learn true web development in such a short period of time and you know it. It's highly unlikely that you'll be employable after a weekend workshop or a one-month part-time course.
On the other hand, you don't necessarily need to put in 4 years getting a computer science degree. 80% of what they cover won't be used during a typical web developer's early career and it's not necessary to get hired. So why not learn the 20% and learn the rest while you're getting paid on the job?
We've essentially distilled down what you most need to learn to hit that employable level, but it's still a healthy dose of learning. There is no good way to estimate how long it will take you to reach that point, and we don't have any good way of getting data on how long it takes on average anyways. If you're naturally more technical or come from a technical background, it may be a bit faster. If you're less technical or brand new to all this, it will take longer. Don't despair! When you think about it, that's pretty much the same learning curve you had to climb to learn anything worthwhile so far in life.
All students are initially enrolled into the Foundations Course. This will give you a chance to explore several of the languages and technologies you'll need to know on your journey to becoming a web developer. Foundations introduces HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Git and more. We've also created mini-projects that give you a chance to test your new knowledge by building your own applications and websites! Once Foundations is complete, students have two paths to choose from: Fullstack Ruby on Rails and Fullstack JavaScript
The Full Stack Ruby on Rails path takes a back-to-front approach to fullstack development. We start with a strong foundation in Ruby and an understanding of databases before migrating into Ruby on Rails (which is a framework built using Ruby). Then you'll polish your front-end skills with a journey into HTML and CSS before learning to make your websites flow, load quickly and look great with JavaScript.
The Full Stack Javascript path maintains our front-end momentum from Foundations by delving into Javascript. Once you've got a solid foundation here, you'll take a deeper look at front-end design with HTML and CSS before taking your JavaScript skills to the server-side with Express and PostgreSQL in NodeJS.
Along the way in either path you'll learn Git and deployment so you can build your own portfolio, collaborate with others, and see your work on the web. Finally, The Odin Project will provide you with opportunities to work with legacy codebases and open-source projects. We'll also cover areas specifically intended to help when you're looking for employment.
The Odin Project is different from other online programs in that it pulls the best resources from around the web and compiles them to create a complete curriculum. In many other programs the material is formatted to meet their specific curriculum. This means that not all of the lessons are top-notch. The Odin Project sidesteps this downfall by pulling various free resources from around the web and compiles them in one place.
The Odin Project also attempts to develop your problem solving skills when it requires you to install programs on your local computer. As developers, programming errors frequently arise and knowing how to decipher error messages is critical. These problem solving skills are frequently ignored by other programs.
Lastly, The Odin Project is project based. Other programs require you to simply input the correct answer. It is difficult to retain any knowledge by learning the bare minimum syntax. The Odin Project is designed with projects built from the ground up giving you real-world experience that you can use to build your portfolio and get hired as a web developer!
Odin is a figure from Norse mythology, the allfather of the gods. He is portrayed as powerful and fickle (as they often are) but also wise and cunning. His search for knowledge is a thing of legends - he gave his eye for the wisdom of ages and hung from the world tree, pierced by his own spear, for nine days and nights to gain the knowledge of runes.
Learning web development is not an easy task and the tools laid out here are merely the path; you must walk it yourself. Should you possess a thirst for knowledge and persistence of spirit akin to that storied in Odin's mythos, you will find success on your journey.
You don't have to! Dive right in, the content is free and available. It'd be best if you started at the beginning and went through in order but everyone's goals are different so we made the full curriculum available if you want to cherry-pick lessons or projects.
However, by signing up you are able to check off completed projects and lessons, easily keeping track of your progress. We don't collect any user data and keep emails to a minimum.
Yes! The Odin Project is an open-source project created and maintained by hard working volunteers. To find out how you can help us, please visit our how to contribute page.
We don't provide a certificate for course completion. Employers will be much more impressed with your amazing personal portfolio of projects, many of which you'll hopefully have built with inspiration from The Odin Project.
You can read our Code of Conduct on GitHub.
The Odin Project is licensed under two pieces: the curriculum and the main website. The main website is a fully open-source project under an MIT license, so you can use the code for whatever you want. The curriculum is currently licensed under a Creative Commons license which restricts it to noncommercial use without prior authorization.
This means you can use The Odin Project's curriculum to teach at your club, meetup, or with your friends (In fact, we'd love it if you did that and told us how it went!). You can't, however, use it to start a bootcamp without having a conversation first. Please reach out with any questions to contact@theodinproject.com
If you have questions about The Odin Project itself, feel free to contact us. There is also a friendly Odin community in our Discord chat rooms.