HowToCodePage

Developer Directory

135 sites worth bookmarking — search any of them from here, keep your own shortcuts, and skip the search results when you already know where to go.

Web platform Languages Frameworks Databases Infrastructure Registries Standards Learning Design Tooling

Web platform and browser documentation

The platform itself: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, the DOM and the HTTP that carries them. When a behaviour has to be settled rather than recalled, it is settled here.

MDN Web Docsdeveloper.mozilla.orgweb.devweb.devcaniusecaniuse.comWHATWG standardsspecs.whatwg.orgW3C specificationswww.w3.orgTC39 proposalsgithub.comChrome for Developersdeveloper.chrome.comV8 blogv8.devHTTP Working Group draftshttpwg.orgHTTP Archivehttparchive.org

Language and runtime documentation

One canonical reference per language. Where a language has both a tutorial and a reference, the reference is listed because it is the one that stays correct.

Python documentationdocs.python.orgNode.js documentationnodejs.orgTypeScript Handbookwww.typescriptlang.orgGo documentationgo.devThe Rust Bookdoc.rust-lang.orgRust standard librarydoc.rust-lang.orgJava SE APIdocs.oracle.comPHP manualwww.php.netRuby documentationdocs.ruby-lang.org.NET API browserlearn.microsoft.comKotlin documentationkotlinlang.orgSwift documentationwww.swift.orgDart documentationdart.devElixir documentationhexdocs.pmPerl documentationperldoc.perl.orgR documentationwww.r-project.orgLua reference manualwww.lua.orgcppreferenceen.cppreference.com

Frameworks and UI libraries

Official documentation for the frameworks most frequently hired for, plus the CSS frameworks people mean when they say "just use a framework".

Reactreact.devVuevuejs.orgAngularangular.devSveltesvelte.devNext.jsnextjs.orgNuxtnuxt.comAstrodocs.astro.buildBootstrapgetbootstrap.comTailwind CSStailwindcss.comhtmxhtmx.orgDjangodocs.djangoproject.comFlaskflask.palletsprojects.comFastAPIfastapi.tiangolo.comRuby on Rails Guidesguides.rubyonrails.orgLaravellaravel.comSpringdocs.spring.ioExpressexpressjs.com

Databases and data stores

Official manuals. Database documentation is the one place where the exact wording of a default, an isolation level or a locking rule is the answer to the question you are asking.

PostgreSQL documentationwww.postgresql.orgMySQL reference manualdev.mysql.comSQLite documentationsqlite.orgRedis documentationredis.ioMongoDB manualwww.mongodb.comElasticsearch guidewww.elastic.coApache Kafka documentationkafka.apache.orgDuckDB documentationduckdb.orgSQLBoltsqlbolt.com

Infrastructure and operations

Everything between a commit and a running system. The official documentation is unusually good here, and it is also where the defaults are documented that nobody reads.

Docker documentationdocs.docker.comKubernetes documentationkubernetes.ioTerraform documentationdeveloper.hashicorp.comAnsible documentationdocs.ansible.comnginx documentationnginx.orgApache HTTP Server docshttpd.apache.orgPrometheus documentationprometheus.ioGrafana documentationgrafana.comGitHub Actionsdocs.github.comCloudflare developer docsdevelopers.cloudflare.comGit referencegit-scm.comGitHub Flowdocs.github.com

Code hosting, registries and package managers

Where the code and the packages live. Worth knowing the registry for a language even if you never publish to it: the metadata and the version history are the fastest way to judge a dependency.

GitHubgithub.comGitLabgitlab.comnpmwww.npmjs.comPyPIpypi.orgMaven Centralcentral.sonatype.comcrates.iocrates.ioPackagistpackagist.orgNuGetwww.nuget.orgRubyGemsrubygems.orgDocker Hubhub.docker.comGo module proxyproxy.golang.orgTerraform Registryregistry.terraform.ioHomebrewformulae.brew.shStack Overflowstackoverflow.com

Specifications, security and reference data

The documents everything else is derived from, plus the vulnerability databases. Dense, and the only place where a contested detail is settled rather than paraphrased.

RFC Editorwww.rfc-editor.orgUnicodewww.unicode.orgECMA-262tc39.esIETF Datatrackerdatatracker.ietf.orgIANA registrieswww.iana.orgJSON Schemajson-schema.orgOpenAPI Specificationspec.openapis.orgOWASP Top 10owasp.orgOWASP Cheat Sheet Seriescheatsheetseries.owasp.orgMITRE CVEwww.cve.orgNVDnvd.nist.govMDN HTTP status referencedeveloper.mozilla.orgSSL Labs testwww.ssllabs.comMozilla Observatorydeveloper.mozilla.org

Learning and deliberate practice

Structured material rather than collections of articles. Each of these is a route with an order to it, which is the thing a search result can never give you.

MDN Web Docs: Learndeveloper.mozilla.orgfreeCodeCampwww.freecodecamp.orgThe Odin Projectwww.theodinproject.comCS50cs50.harvard.eduroadmap.shroadmap.shExercismexercism.orgFull Stack Openfullstackopen.comLearn Git Branchinglearngitbranching.js.orgHello Algowww.hello-algo.comVisuAlgovisualgo.netLeetCodeleetcode.comKhan Academy: computingwww.khanacademy.org

Design, fonts and iconography

The resources that make a page look considered. Fonts and icons with clear licences, colour tools, and the writing that explains why a layout works.

Google Fontsfonts.google.comFontsourcefontsource.orgHeroiconsheroicons.comLucidelucide.devTabler Iconstabler.ioSimple Iconssimpleicons.orgCoolorscoolors.coCSS-Trickscss-tricks.comSmashing Magazinewww.smashingmagazine.comA List Apartalistapart.comFigmawww.figma.comExcalidrawexcalidraw.comdiagrams.netapp.diagrams.netUnsplashunsplash.com

Developer tooling worth a bookmark

The small number of external tools that are genuinely better than doing it yourself. Everything here is free to use, and most of them run in the browser without an account.

regex101regex101.comRegExrregexr.comMermaid Live Editormermaid.liveCarboncarbon.now.shHoppscotchhoppscotch.ioPostmanwww.postman.comBundlephobiabundlephobia.comPackage Phobiapackagephobia.comnpm trendsnpmtrends.comHave I Been Pwnedhaveibeenpwned.comsecurityheaders.comsecurityheaders.comHacker Newsnews.ycombinator.comDEV Communitydev.toLobsterslobste.rsInfoQwww.infoq.com

How this list is chosen

Four rules, applied by hand to every entry:

  • Canonical or nothing. Official documentation, the specification itself, or the recognised community hub. A blog post that explains a feature is not a substitute for the documentation of that feature, and it is not listed here.
  • Free to read. No paywalls and no forced accounts to reach the reference. Paid products appear only where the tool is the de facto standard for a job, and then it is named as a product.
  • One entry per thing. If two sites cover the same ground, the one that owns the information wins. A list where the same three links appear in four categories is padding, not coverage.
  • Somebody still maintains it. A project that has not shipped in years leaves the list even if it is still the best explanation of something, because a reader who follows it will build on an abandoned foundation.

Nothing here is sponsored or affiliated. Links are plain links: no tracking parameters, no redirects, no affiliate identifiers. Each name carries a line saying what the site is for and when to reach for it — hover a link, or read it in a screen reader. If an entry stops being right, it gets removed rather than left to rot.