The best online tutorials, according to hackers

24 online tutorials recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

All online tutorials

CSS-TricksLong-running CSS tutorial site that helped many developers learn and keep up with new CSS features. Critics say the writing quality dropped after the acquisition.23recommend
Beej's Guide to Network Programming by Brian HallA free, quick-read guide to socket and network programming that people credit with getting them into networking and systems work. Critics note it does not cover BGP.16recommend
Learn OpenGLFree, thorough tutorial site that teaches modern shader-based graphics, praised as the best OpenGL starting point. Critics say it stays tied to the OpenGL API.15recommend
Let's Build a Compiler by Jack CrenshawPeople recommend it as an accessible, readable introduction that got many started building compilers and was preferred over other books. Critics note the series stops before it becomes truly useful and dislike the baked-in line wrapping.12recommend
Patterns.devFree online guide to common frontend patterns, praised for clear, well-laid-out tutorials. Critics find the examples weak and the content shallow, with little high-level architecture.12recommend
Fintech Engineering HandbookPeople recommend it as a practical, centralized guide to fintech engineering, especially for readers new to monetary systems. The common caveat: critics find it shallow and lacking detail.12recommend
vimtutorFree interactive tutorial for Vim that people use to learn basic navigation and rerun to recall forgotten tricks.8recommend
Beej's Guide by Brian HallFree, well-written computer science and networking guides that people praise as some of the best documentation available.7recommend
Build Your Own ReactPeople recommend it as a clear walkthrough of how React works under the hood, with well-presented content that is easy to follow.7recommend
LLM Structured Outputs Handbook by NanonetsRecommended as a clear, well-written guide to current techniques for forcing structured output from LLMs, with masked decoding diagrams praised for explaining the approach.7recommend
Language Model BuilderFree hands-on app that teaches building a language model from scratch in hours to days. Critics note a crash in chapter 1's 'under the hood' link.7recommend
A Primer on Bézier Curves by Mike KamermansPeople recommend it as a helpful, well-made explainer of Bézier curves, and one reader credits it with first sparking their interest in the topic.7recommend
Visual Introduction to PyTorchRecommended as an accessible, honest introduction to PyTorch basics for newcomers that teaches useful concepts and sparks further study. Its most common caveat is that it could use more guidance from gradients to gradient descent.7recommend
ScratchapixelPeople recommend it as a free online resource for learning computer graphics, especially 3D rasterization and projection, and say it is good for beginners.6recommend
TinyrendererFree hands-on course for building a software renderer in C from first principles, recommended as a well-taught resource for learning graphics.6recommend
Natural Number GameFree game that teaches Lean by proving basic facts about natural numbers, praised as a strong start to Lean. Caveat: some tactics and semantics are poorly explained.6recommend
Use The Index, Luke by Markus WinandPeople recommend this free website as a long-running, highly regarded resource for learning SQL, saying it has taught them a lot.6recommend
Learn Claude CodeInteractive modules and terminal simulators teach Claude Code by doing, good for beginners and lesser-known features. Caveat: a broken entry point and quiz scoring glitch may turn people away.6recommend
Go 1.26 Interactive TourRecommended as a clear, thorough guide to Go's release notes, with examples covering nearly everything. Critics say the prose reads as LLM-generated and some examples error.6recommend
Twelve Days of ShellA free, browser-based set of challenges that lets people practice command-line skills without setting up full projects. Critics say the answer checker often rejects valid commands and gives no output on wrong answers.6recommend
TRaSH GuidesFree guides for setting up Sonarr and Radarr quality profiles, recommended by people who cherry-pick from them. Power users find it easier with Recyclarr, and it has a learning curve.5recommend
Plain Vanilla WebFree online guide to building simple websites with plain HTML instead of heavy tooling, and it has convinced readers to drop their CMS.5recommend
NeHe OpenGL tutorialsRecommended for learning OpenGL and GPU programming through well-structured, hands-on examples, and many credit it with starting their graphics and game programming.5recommend
Software rendering in 500 lines of bare C++A free tutorial that walks through building a software renderer in bare C++, which people recommend as an overview for building their own renderer.5recommend