Have you used the Treehouse "Tracks" System to learn Web Dev?

I have been working through the tracks at TeamTreehouse, and have found them to be of a high quality. But like many of us out there learning Web Dev & Coding, I wonder sometimes if this is the most effective system. I like the fact that the learning paths are laid out for you, but is there an even better way? There are only so many hours in a day. How do you approach your study? Do you work on multiple programs simultaneously, or stick to one program? How many hours a day do you study? I really want to work through FCC as well. Should I switch from one to the other, or split my time between them?

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I would focus on one curriculum at a time. Make it my main focus. You can use other lessons, and reading material as filler. But, sometimes jumping back and forth slows you down, a lot. Work through one. Then switch to the other. It may help fill in missing pieces from one course set, and it will help cement that knowledge with extra repetition.

What’s most effective and how many hours you study all comes down to you. What works for me probably won’t be best for you. The important thing, imho, is to pick one, focus on it, and make sure you spend some time one it each day. The amount of time doesn’t really matter. What is important is that you are actively working toward your goal.

The short version: Forget about the amount of time, or figuring out which way is most efficient. Pick one you can, and want to, focus on and complete it first.

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I use both but mainly Free Code Camp. If I am having a hard time with some concept that needs to be laid out more clearly, I will switch to Treehouse. But my main source of learning comes from Free Code Camp, articles, and books.

I would say to make at least one of these your focal point. Some things are just hard to understand at first. Use your secondary source of learning sparingly. Also, read. That really helps.

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I use Treehouse on the subway or when I can’t type code. Also, they actually introduce things (at least so far in the Front End Track) much more comprehensively. When I started Javascript here, it was like “write a comment”, “do this”. I get really paranoid that I am on autopilot just typing things out here on FCC and Treehouse makes me feel a little more confident about understanding something. I did the projects with “Make a Website” and “CSS Basics” just because those topics are a little dry for me but I didn’t complete any of the challenges and hardly any of the quizzes in the JavaScript section because I have a bit of programming experience so the basic ideas already seem familiar to me and just because I feel it is redundant with what we do here at FCC. Maybe I will go through them again later for review.

Disclaimer: I am a n00b, just sharing my experiences :slight_smile:

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