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What Kind of Coding Community Should I Join?
Not all coding communities are created equal. The type of coding community you’re looking for might depend on your skill level, preferred code language, or if you’re there just to see what people are saying. We can’t make the decision for you, but to help you weigh your options, we’ve gathered up a few of the top coding communities for you to explore.
A lot of programmers think of /r/programming as the holy grail of general information in the field. If you’re a novice, a pro, or even someone just looking to gather more information about coding, this might be a good place to start browsing.
You’ll find yourself sifting through thousands of posts on a magnitude of different topics, but you’re sure to find something helpful, thought provoking, or new ways of tackling your own code. Either way, this Reddit feed also gives you the ability to post your own questions if you’re looking for advice.
With one of the largest group of followers, Stack Overflow makes it easy to search and find what you’re looking for. With over 7 million members, this community holds answers to a wide range of topics, and plenty of people to interact and share knowledge with.
This community is unique in that it encourages you to interact and “prove” yourself as a programmer to earn privileges such as commenting and upvoting. The goal of the system is to increase the amount of good knowledge on the site and continue being a leader in providing valuable information for coders, by coders.
SitePoint forums are not just a place where you can go to get help on your coding skills, but they provide help on marketing and business strategy as well. For the entrepreneur-minded individual, this is a great jumping off point to keep in your arsenal of resources for a future business venture.
The structure of the site itself makes it easy for newcomers to see a breakdown of categories, who has engaged, number of replies, views, and an activity stamp to let you know what kind of topics are hot. This is a great site for the programmer looking to get down to business and get real answers from knowledgeable people.
The lobste.rs community is unique in that it is an invite-by-user community—you must be personally invited in by someone who is already a member. They use this system as a sort of spam control, verifying that the information on the site is reliable and posted by real people.
The other great part about this community is that posts typically receive a healthy amount of engagement.
Don’t be afraid to try out different communities. Each one, unique in its own ways, is full of members that are able and willing to help fellow coders. Take the time to find one that fits you the best, even if it takes a few tries. Your coding community will be a valuable tool not only during your boot camp experience, but in your professional career.