20+ Beginner-Friendly Project Ideas for Learning to Code
You have already learned the basics of programming. It is now time to apply your new programming knowledge in your first little software project.
In this post, I have created a list of over 20 beginner-friendly project ideas for you.
I sorted the ideas into three categories web, games, and mobile. So if you already know whether you want to make a game, a web- or mobile app, you can directly jump to the specific section.
Web Applications
Web development is an excellent field of software development, to begin with. You will learn how to create full-stack web applications.
A full-stack application is a software application that consists of at least three layers.
Frontend - this is the actual website the user will see and interact with.
Backend - the server handles the browser requests and sends the site to the browser, which displays it.
Database - A database contains all the data of your application. For example, user profiles or posts of a website like this one are included in a database. They are delivered by the backend to the frontend.
Most software development roles are listed in web development. That makes it even more exciting to start creating a web application.
Personal Profile Website
A personal website is a very traditional pick for a first project. You can create a website showcasing information about you, your hobbies, and interests. There are no boundaries to what you can add to your very first website. Just use your creativity and design something cool to show to your friends or family. An option could be an online CV, which can easily be shared when applying to new jobs.
Requirements
Cool content ideas
HTML, CSS, Javascript
Webhosting
Difficulty: 2/10
Personal Blog
A personal blog is similar to a regular website listed above. You could publish an online diary, either public for everyone to read or private only for you and invited people.
The technical difference is that you will also need to program a server in addition to the website. In addition to that, you will need a database to store the content in.
You could either use an already existing blogging platform such as WordPress or Ghost (my favorite) or create your own one.
Since you want to upgrade your programming abilities, I would recommend building a simple blogging engine yourself.
Frontend: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Backend: Javascript / Node.js or similar
Database: MySQL or Postgres
Web hosting
Difficulty: 6/10
Meme Generator
The first two app project ideas in this list were basic and not very fancy. If you want to create something more unusual, why not building a meme generator?
On your meme generator website, you could allow users to upload photos and add a text to create memes. After a user has created a meme, you should also allow him to download the meme as an image.
Frontend: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Backend: Javascript / Node.js or similar
Image manipulation library like Jimp, or a more advanced solution like OpenCV
Difficulty: 4/10
Expense Manager
Create a platform allowing users to manage their expenses, upload receipts, and create expense categories.
You also could add features like monthly reports, budget warnings, and more.
This software project idea is a good pick because you can start small and increase its complexity step by step.
Frontend: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Backend: Javascript / Node.js or similar
A Database like MySql or Postgres
Library for creating lists and spreadsheets
Library for creating pdf exports
Difficulty: 8/10
Recipe Database
What about creating a database containing delicious food recipes. Users could create their own recipes, add ingredients get information about nutrition, and much more.
Maybe you could do something even better:
Let users take photos of their fridges, so the application creates recipe suggestions based on the ingredients they already got at home.
Frontend: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Backend: Javascript / Node.js or similar
A database like MySql or Postgres
You will need a third party API to get the ingredient information
Difficulty: 7/10
Collaborative Texteditor like Google Docs
This app idea is some really advanced stuff. A collaborative text editor built from scratch means there will be a lot of hard problems to solve.
For example, think about this:
Two users are editing the same line of text in the same document. Your application needs to find a solution for how to merge those simultaneous edits, so both users don't overwrite each other's changes.
Frontend: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Backend: Javascript or similar
A database like MySql or Postgres
Text editor frontend library
Synchronization mechanism for concurrent editing
Difficulty: 10/10
Games
If you are a passionate gamer, you could consider a game as your first software project.
Singleplayer games usually are client-side only.
So you don't have to learn backend development.
That can make game development more comfortable to get into compared to web development.
Reaction Test
A reaction test is a straightforward to develop game, which can be a great idea if you are still very new to software development.
It could be really done in just an hour.
You can either create the reaction test as a mobile game or in the browser using Javascript.
Difficulty: 1/10
Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-Tac-Toe is also a simplistic game that can be interesting to start with. You could easily create it by utilizing HTML tables and a little bit of javascript.
In a first simple version, you can let your computer enemy always tick random cells.
If you want to create a more sophisticated tic-tac-toe game, you could implement a multiplayer feature. So this game idea is also perfect for incremental development. Start small and improve it step-by-step.
You can either create the reaction test, a mobile game, or in the browser using Javascript.
If you want to create a multiplayer feature, you could do it locally in the same browser window, which would be very easy.
The other option would be building a server for an online multiplayer mode.
Difficulty: 2/10
Flappy Bird Clone
FlappyBird was a very successful game when it was released in 2013.
It is a simple game that was produced by an individual developer Dong Nguyen.
The player has to control a bird and avoid the tubes. The game is designed to be very hard, so it challenges you to always want to try another time. This was a crucial factor for its success back then.
It's a way more graphical game compared to tic-tac-toe. So you will need some kind of graphical interface.
I would recommend picking a game development framework like Libgdx.
Difficulty: 6/10
Candy Crush Clone
Another tremendously successful game is Candycrush by King.
Originally King started this game as a little side project that has grown to be a massive success generating 1billion$ in revenue each year.
Compared to Flappy Bird, a candy crush like \"match-3\" game is more challenging to build. It demands a much more complex game logic and a gorgeous user interface.
A browser version with Javascript, HTML, CSS
Mobile version either native or cross-platform with Libgdx, unity or something similar
Skills in graphics design or free graphics assets
Difficulty: 8/10
Text-based Adventure
A text adventure could be your pick if you are into story-driven games.
It needs only basic graphics so you can concentrate more on the actual programming and less on getting suitable graphics assets.
If you choose to create a text adventure in the browser, you'll need HTML, CSS, and Javascript
If you want to create a multiplayer version or allow the user to save his progress, you need a server and a database to store the user data.
Difficulty: 5/10
Guess A Word
Another fantastic game project idea is a \"Guess a word\" game.
It will display an empty input field and images related to the word that should be guessed.
The user's task is to guess the word based on the images. The faster he is, the more points he gets.
Can be done in the browser or as a mobile app
You need to create a database containing the images and the to guess words
You need to develop some kind of backend to retrieve a random word and the linked images.
Difficulty: 5/10
Quizduel
This one is the most challenging game idea I have listed here. Because it's a multiplayer game that will require much more server infrastructure set up than the other game ideas in this post.
Basically, this game is about challenging your friends to compete with you in quizzes. Whoever gets more correct quiz answers in a shorter period would win a quiz session.
Frontend in the browser with HTML, CSS, Javascript
OR a mobile app
Backend and database with user management, profiles, list of friends, quiz information, leaderboards, etc.
Realtime server capabilities for the single quiz sessions. It could be done by using web-sockets.
Difficulty: 9/10
Mobile Applications
Calculator App
A very straightforward mobile app idea to create is a simple calculator.
If you are a fan of maths, this could be your favorite app idea to start with.
You could first create a basic calculator app and later add more and more maths features to it.
To create a basic calculator, you would only need to code:
A text input field
A select box to choose the calculation type
A button to start the calculation by clicking on it.
Difficulty: 1/10
Todo List
A Todo-List is a goto project idea for beginners because of its simplicity and the possibility to extend it in almost unlimited ways.
To create a todo list mobile app without any synchronization features, you would need to program the following things:
The user interfaces for displaying the todo items.
Each item has a name and a checkbox for completing a todo item.
You would also need local storage to store the todo list data on your mobile device.
Difficulty: 3/10
Notes App
This app idea shares a lot with the todo application. Let users create notes and edit them.
Like the todo app, you would also need to implement a solution to store the user's data on their devices.
Later on, you could create more advanced features like note sharing, pdf exports, and embedding images, videos, and other content.
You could even combine the note application with the todo list app.
Difficulty: 3/10
Wifi Analyzer / Internet Speedtest
This project idea is perfect for learning about networking and internet connectivity, combined with mobile app development.
You would need to create a mobile app that can scan available wifi connections and display info such as signal strength, distance, internet speed, and channel
No servers required for a simple version of this app idea.
Maybe you could build an app that calculates the amount of radiation the user is exposed to. You could achieve that by scanning all connections nearby. For instance, cell phone towers, Bluetooth devices, wifi signals, etc.
WhatsApp Like Chat App
WhatsApp is one of the most used mobile apps worldwide. Before WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014, only 32 people worked on the project.
It is not very complicated to create a similar app. Still, compared to others on this list, it is more challenging to develop this project idea.
You would need a mobile client app. I'd recommend using a cross-platform framework like React-Native, Nativescript, or Flutter to write the code once and get both Android and iOS apps.
You need a backend application. Pick the language you like the most. My favorite would be Node.js.
You need a database to store user-profiles and chats.
Difficulty: 7/10
Instagram like Photo Diary
Instagram is also a significant acquisition by Facebook. Initially bought for only 1billion$ it is now estimated to be worth over 100billion$.
Among young app users, Instagram is very popular, even more than the Facebook app itself.
If you are an Instagram fan, it could be an exciting app idea to start developing.
It is more challenging to create than a chat app because it has more features like profiles, hashtags, chats, posts, or stories.
You would have to create a mobile app. Do cross-platform development, to create Android and iOS versions.
A backend with an API allowing the app to request data.
A Database containing things like users, profiles, posts, and chat messages.
Difficulty: 10/10
Weight Tracker
This app can be your daily companion if you are currently on a strict diet. Just build your own version of Apple Health step by step.
Start with features like weight tracking, for which you should allow users to add their current body weight. The app then calculates the progress and could visualize it in beautiful graphs.
A first simple version of this mobile app idea doesn't need a backend.
Create a cross-platform mobile app.
Later you can add more advanced features such as connection to Bluetooth powered scales.
Difficulty: 4/10
Reminder App
Another simple but interesting app project idea is a reminder app. You can allow the users to add simple reminders, set a reminder message, date, and time.
The user will then get a notification if the specific time is reached.
No server or database required.
You'll only need the app frontend and a way to save the reminders locally to your mobile device.
Difficulty: 2/10