Boot.dev Blog
Python Type Hints: Syntax and Examples for Beginners
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
Learn Python type hint syntax for variables, functions, lists, dictionaries, tuples, optional values, and static checking with practical examples.
Python List Slicing: Syntax, Examples, and a Visualizer
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Learn Python list slicing with an interactive visualizer. See how start, stop, step, negative indexes, copying, out-of-range bounds, and assignment work.
Python F-Strings: Syntax, Examples, and Formatting
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Learn Python f-string syntax with examples for variables, expressions, decimals, percentages, padding, alignment, dates, debugging, and escaped braces.
12 Python Practice Problems for Beginners (With Solutions)
by Boot.dev Team - Programming course authors and video producers
Practice Python with 12 beginner-friendly problems covering functions, loops, lists, dictionaries, sets, and unit tests. Each exercise includes a solution.
Why Didn't Hard Drives Change in 80 Years?
by Boot.dev Team - Programming course authors and video producers
Hear that rhythmic clicking sound?
17 Fascinating Python Projects for Beginners
by Zulie Rane - Data analysis and computer science techincal author
Explore 17 Python projects for beginners, from text adventures and Django apps to data analysis with NASA, AWS, and TidyTuesday datasets.
Coddy vs Boot.dev: Which Should You Use? [2026]
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
Coddy vs Boot.dev compared: free tiers, pricing, course depth, certificates, and real user reviews from both platforms, with sources for every claim.
Boot.dev vs Codecademy: Which Should You Pick? [2026]
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
Boot.dev vs Codecademy compared with verified 2026 facts: pricing, backend career paths, refund policies, and real reviews from both platforms' users.
The Best SQL Certifications of 2026 (and Which to Skip)
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
Every SQL certification worth knowing in 2026: Microsoft's brand-new DP-800, Oracle 1Z0-071, DataCamp, free options, and when a portfolio beats them all.
The Boot.dev Beat. August 2026
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
July was a big month: The Pandas course is live, boss fights got a full rework, the playground received some love, and we shipped a whole new batch of interactive widgets - we even embedded a couple in this newsletter so you can play with them right here.
8 Best Data Structures and Algorithms Courses [2026]
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
Compare the best data structures and algorithms courses of 2026, with verified prices, hours, languages, certificates, and real cons for each.
How to Become a Backend Developer in 2026
by Maya Chen - Computer science and programming educator at Boot.dev
How to become a backend developer in 2026: real salary data from five sources, what AI actually did to hiring, realistic timelines, and what employers screen for.
Runes in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Go's rune type lets you work with Unicode code points that can take more than one byte in a UTF-8 string.
Slices in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
99 times out of 100 you will use a slice instead of an array when working with ordered lists.
Go Run vs Go Build vs Go Install
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
go run, go build, and go install compile Go packages for different purposes. go run executes a program without saving the binary in your working directory, go build produces an executable from a main package, and go install installs a compiled command on your machine.
If Statements in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
if statements in Go do not use parentheses around the condition.
Switch Statements in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Switch statements are a way to compare a value against multiple options. They are similar to if-else statements but are more concise and readable when the number of options is more than 2.
Functions in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Functions in Go can take zero or more arguments.
Structs in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Structs are one of Go's core tools for organizing related data.
Error Handling in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Go programs express errors with error values. Keep in mind that the way Go handles errors is fairly unique. Most languages treat errors as something special and different. For example, Python raises exception types and JavaScript throws and catches errors. In Go, an error is just another value that we handle like any other value - however we want! There aren't any special keywords for dealing with them.
Channels in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Channels are one of Go's core tools for concurrency. They let goroutines communicate with each other, and their blocking behavior helps coordinate work.
String Formatting in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Go follows the printf tradition from the C language. In my opinion, string formatting/interpolation in Go is less elegant than Python's f-strings, unfortunately.
Go Packages vs Modules
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Packages, modules, and repositories organize Go code at different levels. A package is a directory of code that's compiled together, a module is a collection of packages released together, and a repository can contain one or more modules.
Variables in Go
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Variables in Go have a type that is known before the code runs. Here's how declarations, type inference, conversions, and scope work.
Python / vs //: Floor Division Explained
by Lane Wagner - Boot.dev co-founder and backend engineer
Python has two division operators: / performs regular division, while // performs floor division.
