For leisure or professional necessities, computer programming is a great medium to engage in. While there are numerous books that you can read, and blogs and forums you can browse on the internet, interactive websites are the only way you can learn programming and implement what you've learnt at the same time.

Here are the top 5 websites to learn programming online. 

Codeacademy

1. CODECADEMY

Codecademy's specialty lies in its beginner oriented curriculum and a user friendly interface. Codecademy emphasises on students having first hand coding experience. Their built-in programming environment, complete with a text editor and console, does a perfect job in easing exercise and engaging the learner. Primarily consisting of courses for basic web development languages, the site now offers courses on Python, Java, Git and SQL. Practical application courses where you can make your custom websites have also been added.

A common misconception about Codecademy is that it teaches the learner to be fully equipped with any language it teaches. Codecademy's courses are not designed for in depth learning; rather, it is designed for complete beginners with little or no knowledge about programming. It exposes the learners to programming concepts, and their intuition and primary implementations. So if you're just starting out on programming, Codecademy is your way to go. And it's completely free (at least the compulsory courses are).

You Can Learn: HTML & CSS, JavaScript, PHP, JQuery, Ruby, Python, Java, Git, SQL, Ruby on Rails, Command Line, and AngularJS.

Address: www.codecademy.com

Treehouse

2. TREEHOUSE

TreeHouse is generally the next step after Codecademy. Though, unlike Codecademy, it's not free of charge. There are two ways to subscribe: a basic $25/month plan or a pro $49/month plan. You can of course avail a free 14 day trial. On the plus side, TreeHouse has a ton of resources and rich content. Extensive libraries, forums, workshops, interactive exercises, quizzes, video tutorials, and language courses are at your disposal if you're willing to pay for it. They also have an easy-to-navigate interface and personal features that can increase your enthusiasm to learn on a regular basis.

You Can Learn: HTML, CSS, WordPress, Ruby, PHP, Android, iOS, JavaScript, Java, C#, Git, Database, and Game Development.

Address: www.teamtreehouse.com

Dash

3. DASH

Dash is a side project of General Assembly, an education institution that specializes in teaching web development for free. The courses deal with real life problems and projects. By teaching how to construct, develop and manipulate websites and its many contents, Dash basically educates learners about the many aspects and grammar of web development. Dash also has a built-in programming environment that shows the learner what he's building while he's coding it.

You Can Learn: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Address: www.dash.generalassemb.ly

Code School

4. CODESCHOOL

CodeSchool is a lot like TreeHouse, with a monthly subscription fee of $29 and a huge amount of resources to digest. Where CodeSchool differs is in its prerequisite for a learner. The courses here are not designed for the beginners but for the learner with ample basic knowledge. So CodeSchool is preferred over the likes of Codecademy if you were previously exposed to programming and wish to delve more deeply in the languages.

You Can Learn:HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, Python, iOS, Git, Database, and Electives.

Address: www.codeschool.com

CodeHS

5. CODEHS

While almost all other sites emphasise on web development, CodeHS stands unique with its game development track. Though, not as well resourced as TreeHouse or CodeSchool, nor free, CodeHS is still a formidable site for learning. The courses here emphasise on logic and hard coding. With each course you get to build a game or solve puzzles that require full understanding of algorithms and test your problem solving skills.

You Can Learn: Problem Solving, JavaScript, Animation, Data structures, Game Design, and Puzzle Challenges.

Address: www.codehs.com

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PROGRAMMING FOR THE FUTURE

There are also many other sites that can help you a lot in your endeavour. Course oriented sites like Udacity or Coursera offers many courses on computer engineering. These courses comprise of short videos and follow-up exercises and quizzes. Speaking of videos, YouTube has a seemingly endless amount of videos, playlists and channels dedicated to teaching computer programming. So if you're an enthusiast and looking for a place to learn programming, you'd find that the internet has no lacking.