The exact things to learn, in order, and where to learn them. Most of this costs nothing. Where something is paid, it says so.
Pick Python and stop shopping. You do not need the whole language. You need these six things, and then you start building.
Harvard's introduction to programming with Python, taught by David Malan. Covers exactly the list above plus libraries, file handling and tests. Free to watch and work through.
cs50.harvard.edu/python ↗Straight from the source. Dry, but it is the reference you keep coming back to.
docs.python.org/3/tutorial ↗Hands-on lessons in the browser plus long project videos. Good if you learn by typing along rather than watching.
freecodecamp.org ↗Also a valid choice, especially if you want your projects to be websites people can click. Same six-item list applies.
javascript.info ↗ theodinproject.com ↗An API key is just a password that lets your code talk to a model. Get one, send a message, print the answer. That is your first AI app, and it is about ten lines.
The fastest free start. Create a key in the browser, no card needed. Free limits are modest and change over time, so check the current ones on the page.
aistudio.google.com ↗The official get-started guide. Copy-paste examples in Python, TypeScript and more. Usage is paid, so treat it as the step-up once your free experiments work.
platform.claude.com/docs ↗Runs open models on your own computer. No key, no bill, nothing leaves your laptop. Great for practising without watching a meter.
ollama.com ↗Then three upgrades, in this order:
The step almost everyone skips, and the only one that compounds. One small thing a week. Small really is fine.
Where the code lives. A public repo with a readme explaining what it does and why is already more than most people have.
github.com ↗Where the live link comes from. Free hobby tier is enough to put a working thing on the internet that anyone can open.
vercel.com ↗Models, datasets and free Spaces to host small demos. Useful once you start wanting an audience for the thing you built.
huggingface.co ↗Part 2 goes deep on step one: which language to actually pick, and the first thing to build with it. New part every week.
Free tools, honest feedback on your work, and people who answer. Job hunters, builders and learners.