Did you catch my LinkedIn post earlier this week? If not, no worries!

I shared how I really messed up early in my career by not taking advantage of all the free GitHub repositories available for learning.

👨🏾‍💻 Caleb King on LinkedIn: Looking back, the ONE thing I most wish I had done more of early in my…
Looking back, the ONE thing I most wish I had done more of early in my career is... Taking advantage of All the free Github repos just for learning…
LinkedIn👨🏾‍💻 Caleb King

I always struggled to find the right resources. For the longest time, I was a fan of TeamTreehouse.com, but as time went on, I felt that wasn't exactly what I needed. Then I tried Udemy, Coursera, edX—you name it. The same thing would always happen:

  • Look at a course
  • Buy a course
  • Never watch the entire course 😔

Hello Github Mobile/Explorer 🧭

One day in 2020, while we were all locked down, I tried GitHub's new mobile app. I absolutely loved their Explore/Trending Repositories feature.

github mobile app

Ever since I found that feature, I've been compiling a list of helpful repositories to help myself and others level up in their tech careers.

Today, I’ve curated 30 GitHub repositories across different categories that will help you no matter what your focus is—be it coding, productivity, mental health, or even design.

Let’s dive into these must-bookmark repositories that will keep you ahead of the game! 🚀

🌱 Learning & Development: Grow Your Knowledge

1️⃣ developer-roadmap
⭐ 237k+ stars
Roadmaps for learning programming languages, tools, and frameworks. Whether you want to become a frontend, backend, or DevOps engineer, this roadmap lays out a clear path.

2️⃣ coding-interview-university
⭐ 260k+ stars
A comprehensive study plan to become a software engineer. Covers everything from basic programming to advanced algorithms.

3️⃣ system-design-primer
⭐ 230k+ stars
Learn how to design large-scale systems. Prep for system design interviews and understand how big systems work.

4️⃣ awesome-interview-questions
⭐ 59k+ stars
A curated list of common interview questions for software development roles.

5️⃣ tech-interview-handbook
⭐ 90k+ stars
Comprehensive guide for technical interviews, including algorithms, system design, and behavioral questions.

🧑‍💻 Projects & Coding Practice: Get Hands-On

6️⃣ awesome-for-beginners
⭐ 58k+ stars
Beginner-friendly projects for contributing to open source.

7️⃣ app-ideas
⭐ 69k+ stars
A collection of app ideas to sharpen your coding skills.

8️⃣ project-based-learning
⭐ 123k+ stars
Learn by building real-world projects.

9️⃣ build-your-own-x
⭐ 229k+ stars
Guides on how to build your own programming language, database, and more.

🔟 freeCodeCamp
⭐ 370k+ stars
An open-source community that helps you learn to code through interactive lessons and projects.

🚀 Developer Tools & Resources: Boost Productivity

1️⃣1️⃣ free-for-dev
⭐ 76k+ stars
A list of free services, tools, and APIs for developers.

1️⃣2️⃣ awesome-selfhosted
⭐ 157k+ stars
A list of self-hosted software to run on your own servers.

1️⃣3️⃣ awesome-design-tools
⭐ 30k+ stars
Comprehensive list of design tools and plugins.

1️⃣4️⃣ awesome-cli-apps
⭐ 12k+ stars
A curated list of CLI tools for increased productivity.

1️⃣5️⃣ gitignore
⭐ 145k+ stars
A collection of useful .gitignore templates.

💯 Patterns, Best Practices & System Design: Build Smarter

1️⃣6️⃣ awesome-design-patterns
⭐ 33k+ stars
Software design patterns for more maintainable code.

1️⃣7️⃣ awesome-scalability
⭐ 49k+ stars
Resources on scalable, reliable systems.

1️⃣8️⃣ what-happens-when
⭐ 36k+ stars
Detailed explanation of what happens when you type a URL into your browser.

1️⃣9️⃣ system-design-resources
⭐ 9k+ stars
Collection of resources for system design interviews.

2️⃣0️⃣ devops-exercises
⭐ 50k+ stars
Exercises to prepare for DevOps interviews and roles.

🎁 Bonus Section: My Secrets 🤫

2️⃣1️⃣ yt-dlp
⭐ 55k+ stars
A powerful video downloader supporting YouTube and many other sites, with additional features and fixes over youtube-dl.

2️⃣2️⃣ youtube-dl
⭐ 120k+ stars
A command-line program to download videos from YouTube and other video sites.

2️⃣3️⃣ FFmpeg
⭐ 35k+ stars
A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert, and stream audio and video.

2️⃣4️⃣ aria2
⭐ 31k+ stars
A lightweight multi-protocol & multi-source command-line download utility.

2️⃣5️⃣ cheat.sh
⭐ 35k+ stars
The only cheat sheet you need. It supports 56 programming languages and hundreds of UNIX commands.

Disclaimer: Please use these tools responsibly and in accordance with the law. Downloading copyrighted material without permission may violate copyright laws and the terms of service of certain websites.

🌟 General Knowledge & Learning: Expand Your Horizons

2️⃣6️⃣ The Art of Command Line
⭐ 143k+ stars
Master the command line interface, making you more efficient and productive on any operating system.

2️⃣7️⃣ You-Dont-Know-JS
⭐ 176k+ stars
An in-depth book series on JavaScript. A must-read for anyone wanting to master JS.

2️⃣8️⃣ every-programmer-should-know
⭐ 70k+ stars
A collection of (mostly) technical things every programmer should know.

2️⃣9️⃣ Dive Into Machine Learning
⭐ 24k+ stars
A beginner-friendly guide to machine learning, complete with resources and tutorials.

3️⃣0️⃣ 30-seconds-of-code
⭐ 110k+ stars
Short code snippets for various programming languages you can understand in 30 seconds or less.

I know you could have easily compiled that list yourself. But you didn't. 😉 These are the repositories that have genuinely transformed the way I code and work.

If you found any of these repositories helpful, I'd love to hear from you!

Do me a favor and reply to this email telling me which one was the most helpful or what you'd like to see more of in the future.

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👨🏾‍💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram. Been posting more on the 'gram lately!

Happy Thursday! See you soon,

Caleb "TechDad_" ✌🏾