I’m currently making my way through “the Map” as I call it and since I have a general understanding of HTML/CSS and some minor Java experience, I’m speeding through without issues.
I’m currently in the Basic Algorithm Scripting section, which I love because I always learn better with having to figure things out myself.
My question is - are we expected to ace these without much help? I’m find that for each one, I can figure out the general solution, without having to look much up on Google, and write the code myself. However, I keep missing a piece here or there, and in the end have to look up the solution because I’m stuck. Which can be frustrating because I usually get pretty close to figuring it out on my own.
Is this normal? Or should I be doing the tutorials beforehand on loop until I can ace the Basic Algorithm Scripting section before moving on. I mean, in the real world, programmers have access to Google and each other, right?!
I personally believe the only thing that matters is you understand the code you use to come to a solution … whether it be … you grind through them and figure it all out yourself or you post for help on the forum or you google and use code you find … main thing though is to really understand the code used and why it works …
Its really nice to grind through them and get the solutions downside is can be slow as it could take a while to figure out a solution for some … and me personally im a bit stubborn and have to solve them by figuring out a solution myself … though i do google for methods that i think i need to use but havent had much or no experience with eg regular expressions are a great help and i knew nothing about them when i started so spent some time learning how they work … and glad i did because now im confident enough to use them when i can.
also what you learn form these algorithm sections comes in handy later doing projects so i pays to do them good and not rush.
I had a heck of a time with the basic algorithms… took me 2 weeks and I literally just finished the last one this morning. For your title question, Im going to say no…if I had just kept grinding away, most of my brain matter would have leaked out of my head by now lol If I got super stuck, I just moved on through to try the next, and then gave myself a break and moved on to working on the projects. Im also reading and doing CS50, so I kept occupied, and kept going back to give them another try, but didnt bang my head or stop progress in general over it.
When I got stuck, Id hit google to look for help, but I purposely avoided anything specific to freecodecamp examples so that I wouldnt see the actual solution, just javascript guidance in general to try and find a way to the solution myself. Ill be honest, there were a couple times when I said forgetaboutit and looked it up, but I like how it first starts with hints, so Id just scroll reeeal slow so that I didnt get the solution, and just use the hints.
I am in the Intermediate Algorithm Scripting section. I was like you in the Beginning Algorithms section. I’d get “most” of something but have a hiccup here and there. I used the coding challenge hints, google, and use chat to find solutions. I wanted to understand what I was coding, really know it. I plan on going back and attempting the challenges again to see if I can code things in a more elegant manner.
I am experiencing difficulty in the Intermediate section. I have slowed down to a point where I’ve had to remind myself that FCC isn’t a race. It’s a learning experience.
If you want to ace everything before you move on, go that route. If you are feeling bored, then move forward. Find the pace that works for you.
I think your approach is good. Try to figure it out, struggle, then look for help.
As has been said, the most important thing is that you understand it, irrelevant of how you got there. I would suggest getting though that section and then scanning back through the challenges and seeing if there are any you are shaky on. If so, try them again. Also, some people have put together pretty decent youtube vidoes that walk you through solving them.
And realize that there is more than one solution. Sometimes there are many. Sometimes none is “best”, sometimes you make a trade off between speed and concision, or between concision and readability.
If you want more algorithm challenges, places like Code Wars can be good.
I think that’s fine. Don’t get too stressed about it. The important thing is “Did you learn something new?”
Any experienced programmer that said they didn’t ever look at other people’s code in their journey of learning to being a programmer is lying.
Looking at other people’s code is part of learning, and understanding and being able to follow other people’s code is a valuable skill. This allows you to get into their mode of thinking and their approach to the problem, and compare it to yours, and be able to decide if theirs or yours is better, and if theirs seems better, you learn from their example.
Thanks so much everyone for the words of encouragement and tips! I’ll definitely utilizing all of the tips moving forward.
I actually gave the challenge “Confirm the Ending” a try this morning and I was able to solve it without having to google anything, just using the substr and substring tips in the challenge, all by myself in about an hour. Yay, solved my first challenge on my own!