5 Code Snippet Websites for Sharing Code Online
This page may contain links from our sponsors. Here’s how we make money.
When coding a website, using existing code snippets can be a tremendous time-saving practice. It could be your own snippets that you keep and reuse, or you can benefit by using snippets that other developers have shared.
And aside from the time-saving aspect, code snippets can also be incredibly useful for learning how to code or expanding your skills. You can view and inspect the code created by others, see how it works, and learn something new. Whether starting from scratch or simply looking to keep your skills fresh, browsing the code created by others can be well worth your time.
Several websites exist to allow developers to share code snippets or manage their own code snippets. In this article, we’ll look at five websites that are excellent sources of code snippets.
Code Snippet Websites
Here are the best code sharing websites you should be using to expand your skills or pick up helpful snippets to save your time.
CodePen
CodePen describes itself as a “social development environment.” Started by Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks, CodePen is probably the most popular site for creating and sharing code snippets.
You can use CodePen to write code directly in the browser, save your own code, share your code with others, or find snippets created by others. Most of the code available at CodePen is free and open-source, so it’s an excellent resource if you’re looking for code you can use in your projects.
One of the best things about CodePen is the community aspect. With a huge number of active users, you can benefit by becoming a part of the community. For example, they run monthly challenges that are a great place to start.
Although the site is free to use, you can upgrade to CodePen Pro if you’re interested in additional features like privacy settings (that control who can and can’t see your code), asset hosting, and collab mode. You can work on the same code with colleagues and chat directly from the site thanks to collab mode.
CSSDeck
CSSDeck is another popular site with almost 100,000 registered users and almost 2.5 million projects. While CSSDeck may not have quite as strong of a community element as CodePen, it does have an outstanding collection of code snippets. You can save valuable time by using them or simply take advantage of the opportunity to learn from the coding work of others.
A site search helps you find what you’re looking for, but unfortunately, the snippets aren’t categorized very well for browsing.
To get the most out of CSSDeck, you can create a free account and then save your favorite snippets so you can access them later. You can also easily share snippets with others by copying the shareable link.
CodeSandbox
CodeSandbox is a bit different than CodePen or CSSDeck, but it’s an excellent resource for finding code. The site’s primary function is to help teams collaborate, code together, and get feedback. And while it’s excellent for those purposes, we’re focusing on code snippets in this article.
When browsing CodeSandbox, you can click on the “explore” link in the header navigation menu to browse projects created by others. You can either browse featured projects or search by keyword.
The number of code snippets at CodeSandbox currently can’t compare to what you’ll find at CodePen or CSSDeck, but there’s a lot of variety here. The site is definitely worth trying, especially if you’re interested in some of the collaboration features.
Plunker
Plunker allows you to code in the browser with a real-time preview. You can create a free account to save your code. You can also share your work with the community of users, or browse code created by others.
While Plunker lacks some of the more advanced features, like collaboration, it’s a good place to find code snippets. You can use the site search in the header to find what you’re looking for.
Codrops
Codrops differs from the other sites listed here, but I included it because it’s an excellent resource for finding code. Instead of a community site where users can create and share code, Codrops is a development tutorial blog. The site has been around for a long time and there’s a massive collection of helpful tutorials, along with the source code that goes along with the tutorial.
You can use Codrops to find code you can implement into your work. And, of course, it’s also an excellent resource for learning more about code. Anyone looking to improve their coding skills will appreciate the vast content and code available at Codrops.
Final Thoughts on Code Snippet Websites
The code sharing websites featured in this article can be extremely valuable for saving time or learning new techniques. You can find thousands of code snippets that you can use instead of coding from scratch, saving you countless hours. And regardless of whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced coder, there are opportunities to learn from others.
