It really all depends what you want to do?
Microsoft Learn is the place to go to learn all about PC computing technology, it is the replacement for Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA). In short If they can’t provide it online, they will have a link to someone that can. This (then MVA) is where I started learning coding and the potential that computing power brings to the world.
Ok thats not entirely true, I started at the community center on BBC Model B Micro with a 5 1/4 inch floppy drive back in the 80’s but my re-immersion into computer tech happened over 9 years ago learning C++ and Windows Forms ( Not Microsoft Forms in Office 365 / Online).
So as I said I started over as technology moved on and initialy bought books which was costly or downloaded over the net some other books in PDF that may or may not have been allowed to of been shared, we’ve all done it when we have no funds. Then I could not make up my mind which direction to go in until I discovered Blender for 3D modelling which is powered by Python. This led me to find a good Coding Environment. First I used Eclipse but it was not really beginner friendly then or had a good intellisense to highlight bad code so I spent ages looking through code not understanding what was wrong.
I found Microsoft Visual Studio and the love affair began with everything Microsoft because they had really powerfull learning tools online and a free community IDE (Integrated Design Environment), called Visual Studio, to code in and produce these fantastic forms and programs at the end.
Linked to this was MVA which was full of weird and wonderful characters sharing their knowledge of how to code, which is inspiring because they were querky like me.
So what happened to MVA – They say that Microsoft Learn is its replacement but I think the powers that be wanted to simplify and refresh but I don’t think it works as well, although coming from a very high standard, it is great.
Microsoft Learn appears to be all about current and corporate Software with only a courteous look at those that have come to learn the core skills, almost as if they want to move from the end user (i.e. us techies) being able to code to just being a user of their products. One example of this is if you look at the Learn UWP (Windows10) page https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/browse/?products=windows&term=uwp and compare with the old MVA MVA Site UWP I am sure you will agree that the layout and everything about the old inspires you to investigate new technology as you see fit while the new site is all about pushing you down a path with blinkers on. I do however like the transcript style to the lessons but you need 2 screens on your PC to follow along, One for Visual Studio and One for the lesson. With Video Lessons you can watch on your Tablet while working on the PC.
I want to mention Bob Tabor for his C# course and Windows 10 UWP courses, I would definitely suggest trying his UWP course but have a look at his website DEVU as there is a free text only option to his courses and the membership gets you access to all the courses which is great value, having worked on my website – I now appreciate the time and effort it takes and NO I am not on commission.
Other options are to You Tube the coding language. If you type in Learn UWP or Windows 10 coding for beginners, you should get Bob’s course come up and you will see what I mean about how personality of the tutor aids your learning.
OK so enough dribble about MVA, where can I go now to learn about making apps for windows 10.
Here you can learn all about core Windows languages like C#, F# or Python. Yes you can learn and code Python here too. This is an important language to learn as not only Blender is written in Python but most open source applications are too.
OK so you don’t want to write software for windows but you want to write for everything, then learn Xamarin or HAXE. Another flaw in this Microsoft Learn site is it is no longer a one stop shop for all Microsoft products, you now need to go to Xamarin Website.
If you want to code just for Android, then look at Android Studio
If you want to code only for Apple then you need XCODE and of course an Apple PC, this can be prohibitive if all you have is an ipad or iphone and I suggest one of the other cross platform IDE’s like HAXE.
If you want to go open source and model in BLENDER straight into an open source cross platform Game engine called ARMOURY3D seemlessly then you want HAXE.
Now Microsoft are in with UNITY3D which is phenomenal and starts you off slow with good tutorials, but you need to create an account with Unity, and create the models elsewhere like in Blender.
As you can see, you have to know what you want to do, what is your goal. You need a vision of not only what it is you are creating, but also how you will use it, what platform will it be used on etc.
Anyway I hope this has helped in showing you to what is out there for free to get started and please Like, Follow and Share as this website is essentialy open source in ethics.