“Where can I learn to program in South Africa?”

If you’re taking the plunge and learning how to code, or even thinking about it but not yet decided – this article is for you. Here are some of the top places to study coding in South Africa:

1. TUTORIALS / ONLINE (Free):

The top website is Codecademy.com. It’s a offers online courses that takes you from “0” experience to “advanced developer” in 7 hours of self-guided learning with over 90% of people completing the course so far having reported that they were satisfied with their results. It targets Web Development, but most other languages.

2. IQ LAB (Pretoria):

Although they teach mostly Python, IQ lab also carries out training in HTML / CSS / Javascript and more. They have a Bootcamp program that runs for 6 months consisting of mentorships, training + work experience. Their tuition fee is R6500 per month. You can apply directly to them or get in touch with the founder Sandile Zungu on Linkedin.

3. RESTAURANTS AND ONLINE MARKETPLACES (Free):

Many large companies now seek developers with a knowledge of Python, HTML & CSS / Javascript and various other programming languages. So if you work in any of the following areas, you have an opportunity:

4. UNISA (Bloemfontein):

UNISA’s Computer Science program is the largest academic computer science department on the African continent, and is now a Microsoft Regional Centre of Excellence. They offer Full-time, Part-time and External study. See their website for more details. They cover most popular programming languages.

5. WITS (Johannesburg):

Wits Computer Science Program is ranked 1st in Africa and 8th on the continent by Webometrics, a Spanish academic ranking site that measures universities’ online presence by means of quality metrics like Google hits, Wikipedia references and other factors. Wits offers Full-time and Part-time courses. See their website for more details. They cover many popular programming languages.

6.) PRAXIS (Johannesburg):

Praxis is a unique coding school that teaches both web development & design as well as computer programming. Their tuition fee is R22,000 per month and they cover HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP & MySQL. They also offer Bootcamps for upskilling.

7.) BISON (Johannesburg) :

Bison Labs is a software house with a focus on web development and coding. They offer a 6 month Bootcamp training program + mentorship & job placement for R10,000 per month and up. Courses are conducted in the CBD area of Johannesburg during evening hours to accommodate most working professionals.

8.) POSITECH (Pretoria) :

POSITECH is one of the largest Computer Science & Engineering Departments in South Africa. They offer Full-time and Part-time courses. See their website for more details.

9.) GIBS (Johannesburg):

GIBS offers a Bachelor of Computer Games Technology, which is the first of its kind on the African continent with it’s focus being to bridge the gap between art and technology. The degree program spans 3 years, including a one year placement in industry. Tuition fees are R33,000 per year for full-time study or R5,500 per month for part-time study (R68,000 p.a.)

10.) UCT (Cape Town):

UCT’s Computer Science Department is the largest in Africa and ranked 5th in the world by Webometrics. It offers Full-time, Part-time and External study. See their website for more details. They cover most popular programming languages.

11.) UNIKL (KwaZulu Natal) :

UNIKL’s Bachelor in IT is the top computer science program on the African continent and #8 in the world according to Webometrics. In turn they offer Full-time, Part-time and External study. See their website for more details.

12.) FXP (Pretoria):

FXP offers a 6 month course consisting of both theory & practical training. See their website for more details. They cover Javascript, Python and many other languages.

13.) SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENCE FORCE:

South African Defence Force (SADF) is a great place to start your career as a programmer if you have the required skillset. Salaries are commensurate with experience. See their careers page for more details.

14.) TUT:

TUT offers IT courses and practical training at the graduate level. See their course pages for more details.

15.) MIT (Boston):

One of the top universities in the world, see their CS50 class on EdX for free online training.

16.) FREE WEB BASED CODING PROGRAMS:

– Code Avengers – See their website for more details. It covers HTML, CSS, Javascript and others.

– Codecademy – Offers a platform to learn programming interactively by doing in a fun way. Topics covered include HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, jQuery & Ruby on Rails. See their website for more details.

– Treehouse – Offers a platform to learn different programming languages through video tutorials in an interactive way. See their website for more details.

17.) FREE MOBILE BASED CODING PROGRAMS:

– Kodable – Offers a platform to learn the basics of programming in an interactive way for ages 3 to 8 years. See their website for more details.

– Hopscotch – Offers a free app that lets kids create games and programs using visual block-based coding techniques. See their website for more details.

18.) FREE MOBILE BASED CODING PROGRAMS (APPS) [iOS ONLY]:

– Codeacademy – See their website for more details. It covers HTML, CSS, Javascript and others.

19.) RISE (Johannesburg) :

RISE offers a 10 month paid internship from May to January during which students are trained in software development practices and tools while working on an actual project

20.) School of IT (South Africa, Online or onsite) :

School of IT offers short courses in Software Engineering, Software Development, including Full stack, which covers all major scripting languages including Python, JAVA, C++ & others. All in all you can opt to get internationally accredited and recognized in just under 3 to 6 months! This is a great option to answer the question Where can I learn to program in South Africa?

21.) Where can I practice coding on my own:

=> See http://10k.webcodingdojos.com/ where you will find any online web-based coding environment that is free to use and covers most popular programming languages.

=> See https://github.com/ where you can find thousands of code repositories that are available for free to use and contribute back if you wish. Thus Where can I learn how to setup a computer server? Overall Where can I learn about networking opportunities? Thus Where do software developers hangout online? Furthermore Where do software developers hangout in person? In addition Where can I start my own business as a software developer? All in all Where can I find jobs? In turn Where else would you like to see this framework expanded upon? In turn Where can other people comment, correct and contribute information? Overall Where can I learn more about the the coding opportunities available & how to get started locally? Where is your local community located in South Africa? Thus Where is your local community located outside South Africa?