If you don't interact much with fellow developers, programming can quickly become to feel like a solitary and boring activity. But joining developer communities can help you feel connected, keep up with the industry, and get support from other developers.
Therefore, we’ve taken a look at seven online communities for developers that you should join.
1. GitHub
If you’re a developer, you’d already know about GitHub. One of the largest communities for developers, GitHub has over 73 million members. Among code sharing and other features, GitHub has a forum with quite active and supportive members.
Here, you can find the events happening near you, ask your programming questions, and get help regarding GitHub itself. There are discussions about different programming topics like languages and API development.
Since there are already hundreds of thousands of questions posted here, you can first search and see if someone has already answered your question. If not, you can post in the relevant categories with the right tags to ensure that you get replies.
Users here are awarded badges for their contributions. Thus, if you're looking for help, these badges will help you gauge whether the person is reliable. With millions of active members, you can bank on this community to get help or answers whenever needed.
2. CodeProject
CodeProject is a 15 million members strong forum of developers. There are multiple boards here, divided into different categories.
In the articles board, you can read long-form articles posted by community members on varied topics like algorithms, AI, IoT, programming languages, etc. If you require help with a particular question, you can ask a question on the quick answers board.
Moreover, there are discussion boards for developers to engage in deeper and longer discussions. CodeProject has discussion boards for general programming, web development, mobile development, databases, etc.
A particularly interesting board on this forum is The Lounge, which is the place to discuss a developer's life. As a CodeProject member, you can take part in surveys and competitions, stay abreast of the news, and subscribe to the newsletter.
As of writing, there are 50,000+ people active on Code Project. So, it’s a quite active community that can help you regardless of the problem or time.
3. freeCodeCamp
With 8,000+ tutorials, freeCodeCamp is a great place to learn to code online for free. It also has an equally-awesome forum for developers.
On freeCodeCamp, there are sub-forums for JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Python, Project Feedback, and Career Advice. Similarly, you can join sub-forums for different languages like Spanish, Chinese, Italian, and Portuguese to get help in your native language.
Along with a leaderboard, freeCodeCamp has badges for active and helpful users. Thanks to its self-hosted chatroom system, you can join the platform's official chat rooms and have live discussions with developers.
Several freeCodeCamp’s students and other developers are a part of its active forum. Whether you’ve used freeCodeCamp for learning or not, it’s worth joining the freeCodeCamp forum.
4. Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is a Q&A site for developers that aims to create a library of answers for every programming question. There are questions on hundreds of different programming topics and languages like JavaScript, machine learning, Nginx, debugging, networking, etc.
The up-votes and down-votes system, similar to Reddit, ensures that you get to see the best answers. Similarly, Stack Overflow gives badges and measures the reputation of each profile, displaying it with their name.
More importantly, these reputation points can earn you privileges like the ability to edit others’ questions or answers, access to moderation tools, and the ability to create chat rooms.
Stack Overflow allows you to build a private community for collaborating with your team. Moreover, Stack Overflow has a job board for developers to land their dream job.
Though Stack Overflow has a huge library of answered questions, if the question in your mind hasn’t been answered before, you can ask it and get replies within no time.
5. Subreddit: r/programming
r/programming is a popular Subreddit where you can discuss programming and keep up with everything that going on in the industry. This Subreddit has over 3.8 million members, and it's quite an active community. But this Subreddit is for discussion only, so you can’t get programming help from here.
If you're particularly interested in getting support, you can explore other Subreddits like r/learnprogramming, r/AskProgramming, r/coding, r/webdev, and r/gamedev.
If you already use Reddit, it is more convenient to join these Subreddits rather than shifting to a completely new forum.
6. CodeAcademy
CodeAcademy is another place to learn to code for free. But more importantly, CodeAcademy has a helpful community of developers. CodeAcademy has a Discourse-powered online forum and a Discord server.
On its forum, you can find discussions about Python, HTML, Java, and anything and everything related to programming. You can share your projects on CodeAcademy's forum and get feedback from fellow developers.
Across the globe, CodeAcademy has chapters that host events, so you can join developers from your region in virtual or in-person events. CodeAcademy frequently conducts online events, webinars, and tutorials, so you can join them too.
7. DEV Community
DEV Community is a social network of developers where you can discuss, learn, and collaborate. Built on open-source software, DEV Community has nearly 800,000 developers.
In the DEV Community, you’ll see a lot of articles about developers' opinions, experiences, and stories. But there are listings for multiple other purposes.
Here you can find a contributor for your project or contribute to someone else's, hire or get hired, and offer or get mentorship. You can get help by asking questions, too. Moreover, there are listing for tools, events, stuff for sale, and education.
DEV Community lets you watch community videos, listen to podcasts, and purchase its merchandise. Best of all, it regularly hosts challenges, so you can take part in them and win prizes.
Unlike most traditional online forums, DEV Community has a beautiful website with a great UI. So whether you’re learning to code or a seasoned developer, it’s worth joining the DEV Community.
Join Online Communities of Developers
Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional programmer, these online communities will provide you with valuable resources. More importantly, they can make programming fun and social activity.
For beginners, these can be the source of learning and getting help. On the other hand, advanced developers can give back to the community by helping others. Whatever your case, the above-mentioned communities are all options for you.