I did 6 years in Texas, but I was already a developer before I went in. That said, I had some books sent to me to try to keep my mind fresh. I also helped someo

I did 6 years in Texas, but I was already a developer before I went in. That said, I had some books sent to me to try to keep my mind fresh. I also helped someone else who was released a few years after me get going and now they're a junior dev. Emphasize learning that will serve freelancing, since someone with a criminal record will run into issues with traditional employment. (I've been out since 2009 and done very well) Ruby, PHP, Javascript are some of the best bets. I'd recommend O'Reilly's Head First books. Even if they're a few years old, really doesn't matter, given the situation. I think Sandi Metz's Practical Objected Oriented Design in Ruby is great - she does an awesome job of explaining OO principles even if you don't end up writing Ruby. The Manga Guide to Databases is another good read that explains concepts well. I'd also consider a book that shows a quick way to build web apps, like Agile Development in Rails or maybe a book on ColdFusion. Without the ability to write and run code, it can help plant seeds for those "aha!" moments for understanding the code -> web request lifecycle without getting bogged down in ceremony. In Texas, the books had to come from a bona fide bookseller, so don't go to B&N and try to mail the books yourself.