Introducing freeCodeCamp Talks: awesome tech talks you can watch for free
As a professional developer, I know firsthand how crucial it is to stay on top of the latest technologies and level up my coding skills regularly. But I also know how tricky it can be to find the time and money to attend tech conferences, where cutting-edge ideas tend to emerge and proliferate.
That‘s why I‘m so excited about the launch of freeCodeCamp Talks, a new YouTube channel featuring some of the most informative and engaging developer talks from conferences around the world—all available to watch for free.
The rise of tech talks
Tech conferences have been a mainstay of the developer community for decades, but their popularity has exploded in recent years. In the JavaScript world alone, the number of conferences has nearly doubled since 2012:
| Year | # of JavaScript conferences |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 44 |
| 2013 | 65 |
| 2014 | 110 |
| 2015 | 119 |
| 2016 | 115 |
| 2017 | 167 |
| 2018 | 257 |
| 2019 | 278 |
Source: State of JS 2019 Survey
And that‘s just JavaScript—a single programming language. Across all technologies, there are now thousands of developer conferences and events taking place each year, in every corner of the globe.
So why are tech conferences so popular? Because they offer a rare chance for developers to come together face-to-face, learn from experts, share knowledge, and get inspired by new ideas. Some of the most famous conferences, like Apple‘s WWDC, Google I/O, and AWS re:Invent, are known for major product announcements that send waves through the industry. Others, like JSConf, PyCon, and RailsConf, are must-attend events for developers working with those specific languages and frameworks.
But beyond the hype and the swag, the heart of any tech conference is the talks. Presentations from respected programmers, tech leads, and researchers are what fill the seats and give attendees real value for their (often hefty) ticket price. A stellar line-up of speakers is what separates a good conference from a forgettable one.
Having attended many conferences myself, I can attest that watching a brilliant developer break down a tricky concept live on stage is a special kind of magic. It‘s a spark-new-ideas, change-your-perspective, anything-is-possible kind of feeling. I always walk away from a good talk buzzing with excitement, scribbling down ideas I can‘t wait to try.
The problem is, tech conferences are prohibitively expensive to attend in person. Take a look at this table comparing the ticket prices of some well-known conferences:
| Conference | Early Bird Price | Regular Price |
|---|---|---|
| WWDC | $1599 | $1599 |
| Google I/O | $1150 | $1650 |
| AWS re:Invent | $1799 | $2199 |
| JSConf | $699 | $999 |
| RailsConf | $849 | $1099 |
| RubyConf | $800 | $1200 |
| PyCon | $450 | $700 |
Even at the low end, you‘re looking at hundreds of dollars just for the ticket, never mind travel costs, lodging, and meals. Conferences are a serious investment that many developers (myself included) have a hard time justifying, especially when you factor in the time away from work and family.
A free conference in your pocket
Fortunately, most major conferences now record and publish their talks online after the event wraps up. This has opened up a huge new audience of developers who can‘t afford to attend in person but still want to learn from the experts.
The only issue is, finding high-quality conference talks amid the avalanche of content on YouTube is a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. Unless you know exactly what you‘re looking for, you can easily waste hours scrolling through irrelevant or poorly-delivered videos.
That‘s where freeCodeCamp Talks comes in. The freeCodeCamp community is curating the most useful, insightful, and engaging talks from a wide range of tech conferences and publishing them in a single place. And the best part? They‘re all completely free!
freeCodeCamp is a donor-supported nonprofit that helps millions of people around the world learn to code for free. Over 40,000 graduates have gotten developer jobs after completing the freeCodeCamp curriculum, which covers everything from HTML and CSS basics to data structures and algorithms.
With the launch of freeCodeCamp Talks, they‘re expanding beyond their core coding lessons to provide free continuing education for professional developers. Structured as a YouTube channel, freeCodeCamp Talks aims to be a cost-free alternative to tech conferences, with a steady stream of expert presentations on a diverse array of topics.
And when they say diverse, they mean it. A quick glance at the initial batch of videos reveals talks on:
• Using SVG for web animation
• Technical writing and blogging
• The aesthetics of mathematics
• Solving tricky CSS problems
• Web security fundamentals
• Designing accessible color systems
• Contributing to open source
• Machine learning with Python
• WebAssembly and the future of the web
No matter what programming languages or frameworks you work with, there‘s guaranteed to be something that piques your interest and pushes your thinking in the freeCodeCamp Talks backlog. And with new videos being added every week from conferences like JSConf, PyCon, NG-Conf, and more, that well of knowledge will never run dry.
Removing barriers to learning
One of the coolest things about freeCodeCamp Talks is that every video is licensed under Creative Commons. This means that not only can you watch them for free, but you‘re also encouraged to share them, edit them, and repurpose them in your own projects.
For example, you could:
• Use clips from a talk in a presentation at work or school
• Translate the captions into another language to make the content accessible to more people
• Create GIFs or memes from the visuals in a talk to share on social media
• Remix and mash up different talks to create a new educational resource
The Creative Commons license removes the red tape and legal barriers that often keep valuable knowledge locked behind paywalls. It‘s all part of freeCodeCamp‘s mission to make learning resources as open and accessible as possible.
On that note, another key benefit of freeCodeCamp Talks is that every video is fully captioned in English. And there‘s a community effort underway to crowdsource captions in other languages as well.
Captions are essential for making videos accessible to d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. But they‘re also tremendously helpful for non-native English speakers (like many in the freeCodeCamp community) who might struggle to understand a speaker‘s accent or fast talking pace.
Additionally, captions allow anyone to watch videos in sound-sensitive environments, like offices, libraries, and public transit. As someone who does a lot of coding on the train, I deeply appreciate being able to follow along with a talk without disrupting my fellow passengers.
freeCodeCamp Talks also aims to be fully accessible to blind and visually impaired programmers by ensuring the code examples in each video are readable by a screen reader. As a developer who cares deeply about inclusion, it makes me happy to see this level of thoughtfulness and attention to detail.
Learn, discuss, and grow
The most brilliant aspect of freeCodeCamp Talks, in my opinion, is that you‘re not learning in a vacuum. Yes, you can watch the videos on your own time, in your own home. But you‘re doing so alongside a massive global community of developers who are learning right along with you.
It reminds me of a quote from author and TED speaker John Green:
"I really believe that connecting with others gives us a lot of power to affect change in ourselves and in the world."
Watching conference talks in isolation is one thing. But discussing them with other coders, sharing your biggest takeaways, and exploring the concepts further together—that‘s where the real magic happens. That‘s when you start to internalize the knowledge and connect it to your own projects and experience.
And freeCodeCamp is all about collaborative learning. In addition to the main freeCodeCamp Talks channel, there‘s also a forums where you can chat about the videos and a tech publication where you can write your own articles and tutorials based on what you‘ve learned. It‘s a whole ecosystem designed to help you retain and apply your new skills.
I can‘t tell you how many times I‘ve struggled with a tricky coding problem, only to watch a conference talk and have the solution click into place. Case in point: I recently got stuck trying to create a responsive grid layout with CSS. Then I watched Morten Rand-Hendriksen‘s engaging talk on CSS Grid from WordCamp US, and suddenly it all made sense. He explained the new Grid syntax in a way that was clear, memorable, and easy to visualize.
But while I was thrilled to get unstuck, watching Rand-Hendriksen‘s talk also gave me a deeper appreciation for CSS Grid‘s backstory and its potential to revolutionize web layout. He showed examples of real-world websites using Grid in creative ways that blew my mind. I came away from that talk not just with a better understanding of a new technology, but real inspiration to stretch my design skills and leverage Grid‘s power in my own projects.
That‘s the beauty of conference talks done well: they spark your curiosity and give you a fresh perspective on what‘s possible. I‘m excited that freeCodeCamp Talks is making that experience accessible to all, regardless of your location, budget, or ability.
Get involved and spread the word
freeCodeCamp is a community effort, and the success of freeCodeCamp Talks depends on attracting a large, diverse audience of programmers who can discuss the videos and apply what they‘ve learned in the real world. So if you‘re excited about this new resource, here are a few ways you can help it thrive:
- Subscribe to the freeCodeCamp Talks channel. The more subscribers, the more discoverable these videos will be.
- Watch a few talks and leave a thoughtful comment. What did you learn? How might you use that knowledge in your own coding? Interacting with the videos boosts their visibility in the YouTube algorithm.
- Contribute captions and translations. This is a huge help in expanding the reach of these talks. You can find instructions for adding captions here.
- Share your favorite talks on social media. Introduce freeCodeCamp Talks to your network and spread the word about this free educational resource. Be sure to tag @freeCodeCamp so they can amplify your endorsement.
- Write an article about a talk and post it to the freeCodeCamp forum. Summarize the key points, throw in your own analysis, and get a discussion going. This is a great way to deepen your own learning while contributing to the community.
- Suggest new talks to feature. If you know of an awesome conference talk that‘s CC-licensed, send a link to [email protected]. The curator team is always looking for new material.
- Become a freeCodeCamp sponsor. If you want to support this initiative financially, you can make a tax-deductible donation to help cover the costs of hosting and distributing these videos. Learn more here.
As freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson likes to say, "every dollar helps us provide free education to thousands of people."
The future of freeCodeCamp Talks
It‘s hard to overstate the potential impact of freeCodeCamp Talks. By providing free, unlimited access to top-quality conference presentations, freeCodeCamp is removing a major barrier to entry for aspiring developers around the world.
Just imagine: a teenager in a developing country who dreams of becoming a programmer but can‘t afford a computer science degree. A single parent in the US who wants to switch careers but doesn‘t have the time or money for a bootcamp. A retiree in Japan who‘s eager to learn new skills but feels intimidated by the pace of change in tech.
All of these people now have a way to learn from the best minds in the business, at their own pace and in their own language. And as they start to discuss the videos and apply their knowledge, they‘ll become part of a global community of developers who are all learning together.
As a professional coder, I‘m excited to see how this influx of new perspectives and diverse talent will shape the future of our industry. The more voices we have at the table, the better we can solve problems and build tools that work for everyone.
So here‘s to the democratization of tech education and the power of lifelong learning. May freeCodeCamp Talks spark many lightbulb moments and inspire a new generation of builders. I‘ll see you in the comments!
[Find your next "aha!" moment on freeCodeCamp Talks.]