The rise of Twitch has helped a large number of people learn new skills by watching other people do them in real time. Coding wouldn’t seem like the kind of thing that would make for a riveting viewing experience, but if you enjoy coding, watching other people code in a live stream can show you some new tips and tricks and let you see how others problem-solve the most difficult coding challenges. While reading about solutions to problems is the standard way to learn, nothing quite compares to being able to see an expert working through the challenge visually until they reach a solution.
You will also get to see some tips and tricks that you may not have thought of as you watch others work their way through coding. These are the kinds of shortcuts and insider tricks that often get left out of edited videos or professional lessons.
Coding live streams also serve an important social function. It can be all too easy to think of ourselves as alone in the struggle to create good code, or uniquely prone to error. When you watch others code, you can see that you are not alone. Other coders have to Google for information just like you, and they can and do make mistakes, such as forgetting a semicolon, the same way you do. This kind of insight into how others code can help boost your confidence and show you that you, too, are a good coder.
Most streamers enjoy interacting with their viewers. When you watch a coding live stream, you can always ask questions to learn more about what you’re seeing, and the chances are good that the steamer will share insights and ideas with you.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the top Twitch channels (and a few on YouTube) to help you learn to code.
CodingTrainChooChoo
Every Tuesday, you can find Daniel Shiffman of The Coding Train streaming about everything from machine learning to algorithmic art to generative poetry to his more than one million subscribers. His coding tutorials focus on JavaScript and AI/ML
Learn with Jason
Jason Lengstorf’s “Learn with Jason” live streams see him team up with another developer to explore a different topic in each ninety-minute stream. Lengstorf focuses most often on JavaScript and React but also covers a number of other topics, such as SaaS tools and platforms.
Adam Wathan
Best known as the creator of Tailwind CSS, Adam Wathan also conducts occasional live streams of his coding projects to show you the complete process from start to finish, including all of the mistakes and false starts that make up a coding project. Wathan often interacts with the audience, so you’ll learn a lot.
Traversy Media
Across hundreds of videos, Traversy Media offers lessons in everything from basic web development to MondoDB deployment. These videos show you unedited walkthroughs of every build so you can watch from start to finish every step of the way.
j_blow
Jonathan Blow is a famous name in the gaming industry, known for creating games such as Braid and The Witness. During his live streams on Twitch, he sets a three-hour timer to show you how much he can program in a fixed time.
rwxrob
Rob Muhlestein streams three hours per day about server-side coding issues in topics such as cloud native, containers, Docker, DevOps, Linux, VIM, and more. Muhlestein enjoys interacting with his audience and will happily answer questions from his viewers.
csharpfritz
On live streams on Twitch and recorded streams on YouTube, csharpfritz offers insights and encouragement for coders who work with Microsoft tools such as ASP.NET Core, .NET Core, and Visual Studio. A must-see for the Microsoft enthusiast!
PirateSoftware
Six days a week, you can find “Thor,” a developer of the hit RPG Heartbound (2018) live streaming about every aspect of game development. Thor’s eighteen years of experience in the industry shine through as he takes you through every aspect of game development.
Alh4zr3d
Alh4zred streams about hacking, InfoSec, and cybersecurity to help teach you more about the best practices for security and how to defend yourself against hackers.
RadicalFishGames
If you are interested in creating your own game, you’ll want to check out Radical Fish Games, a studio that streams the development of their games so you can see exactly how the games are put together. They stream on Saturdays, and these streams are helpful for aspiring game creators.
Sayvi
On her Twitch channel, Erika Willis invites you to learn new technologies along with her as she live streams her experience learning about aspects of coding, such as learning Python. She also streams her gaming sessions.
Handmade Hero
The Handmade Hero YouTube channel documents a years-long project to create a game completely from scratch while streaming the development process from start to finish. There are hundreds of videos so you can follow along throughout their journey.
Of course, live streaming is always enough to help you through the most difficult coding challenges, such as the assignments you receive in college-level coding classes. When you are faced with specific homework challenges and need someone to help with your coding assignments, you can always pay experts at a service like AssignmentCore to do your programming homework for you. When you pay for coding homework help, you’ll receive not just the answers to your homework questions but also a model assignment you can use to help you navigate your exact homework challenge from start to finish.