7 free classes from Bill Gates' favorite websites that you can sign up for right now to teach yourself to code

On his blog, Gates writes that having a basic understanding of coding helps develop critical thinking.

"The questions it teaches you to ask — How do you accomplish a task? Can you find a pattern? What data do you need? — are useful no matter where you go in life," Gates wrote on his blog GatesNotes.

In this particular course, students create animations to understand the basics of JavaScript.

For the Microsoft cofounder, coding was more than a technical skill.

"Computer science helped shape the way I think about the world," Gates wrote on his blog.

In this course, you'll learn how to make a webpage with text and images.

"I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user," Gates said in a 2004 speech at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

This Code.org one-hour introduction to computer science is a perfect starter course.

"Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains," Gates wrote on Code.org.

This class walks you through creating tables and selecting data in different ways.

Gates is a lifelong learner, he told Bloomberg News said that he takes college courses just for fun.

This more advanced JavaScript class will teach you to create scored games and menus.

This course teaches you mathematical concepts to teach you more advanced programming.

Using HTML and JavaScript basics, you'll learn how to make an interactive webpage in this course.

"I think everyone can benefit from learning the basics of computer science," Gates wrong on his blog.