Blogs are still one of the best ways to stay up to date with the latest happenings in the realm of code and software engineering. Mainly because they are fully searchable in search engines and because you can copy and paste the content, which you can't do currently with video or audio. If there is a single term that you are interested in learning, odds are that someone wrote about it today.
As an avid blogger I also appreciate reading good content online as it also helps to keep me up to date.
Here are 5 blogs that I have bookmarked on all of my browsers and that I check often. And that hopefully will help to keep you informed as well when it comes to programming.
5. CSS-Tricks.com
css-tricks.com is a great website for anyone looking to learn about the latest and greatest functionality with CSS. The site features thousands of articles and has been updated daily for years now with tons of solid information.
You won't just find content on CSS however. The website has evolved during the years and you can now find pretty much content related to any part of web development.
The biggest standout feature is that they do not write on fundamental beginner level topics. This is not a website to learn CSS. This is a website for the skilled web developer that is looking to learn how the newest standards are being implemented or how problems are being solved.
And lastly, the website looks pretty good from a design perspective. My 2 cents.
You can check out the site right over here.
4. Smashing Magazine
If you are more oriented towards web design, then smashingmagazine.com is for you. For one, the website just looks fantastic as well. You can tell that they know and care about design and design principles.
They have thousands of articles on a variety of topics, not entirely on web design. You might also read about static site generators, React, Vue.js and even GDPR while browsing through their listing.
The content is on the hefty side though. Many of the articles are well over 10-minutes of reading time, particularly the longer walkthrough's. So if you are looking for a quick read, then you might want to skip this one and move on to the next.
3. Mozilla Hacks
hacks.mozilla.org is Mozilla's developer blog in which they discuss many things web and browser related.
Truthfully, much of the content revolves around Firefox, but that's not a bad thing. Much of that material is still very relevant from a web development perspective in general. Topics on the blog include optimization techniques, testing software, localization and security. Things that any good web developer should always keep in mind.
The one downside is that they do not update content as frequently as you might like. You might get 5-10 articles per month on average, which isn't terrible, but also not ideal. If you are new to their blog though, you might find that the older articles are worth checking out, in which case you will have reading material for some time.
You can check out the blog right over here.
2. Channel9
This is not a television news channel.
Channel9 is a Microsoft run development blog featuring a large amount of video content in all things programming, not just web development.
Because it is a Microsoft run community though, you can expect a large amount of content to revolve around .NET, Azure and SQL Server.
While specifically targeted more towards .NET Developers such as myself, the content is definitely useful for a variety of programmers. Content can include topics such as TypeScript, Git and GitHub and cloud architecture, which isn't just for .NET programmers. But they do approach the subject from a Windows Developer perspective.
Not to mention, they actually update pretty frequently. Note that most of the content is in video format but they give you the option to download the audio-only versions as mp3 files or to download a low-resolution video if you are on the go.
Channel9 has been around for a long time now, which is also why they make the list. This is a website that I frequented when I was still attending university working on my degree in Computer Science years ago.
You can check out Channel9 right over here.
1. web.dev
And lastly, web.dev is a Google run blog that revolves around web optimization. It's number 1 on the list because it has the widest reaching scope. It does not cater to any one technology stack or programming language.
If you are a web developer, then there is an ton to learn on this website. I myself am still finding nuggets of information that are highly beneficial to running this blog.
As mentioned before, the content on this particular blog is not necessarily catered towards entry-level developers. Some of the material can get pretty complex quickly, particularly when dealing with the newest JavaScript API's.
However, I've found that the articles are very well written and it's very possible for a new developer to dive in and to get something useful out of the experience.
You can check out web.dev right over here.
Note, there are plenty more blogs that I read weekly in order to stay up to date. These 5 however standout for their level of content, the quantity of content and the rate at which new articles are released.
If there is a blog that you would like to recommend, feel free to comment down below.
Walter Guevara is a software engineer, startup founder and currently teaches programming for a coding bootcamp. He is currently building things that don't yet exist.
Stay up to date
Sign up for my FREE newsletter. Get informed of the latest happenings in the programming world.