I am 32 and I am still struggling to learn HTML,CSS

Wow ! I’m 55 ! Less 2 years ago I switched from a database dev position to fullstack dev with a new backend tech : C#
I’m now a webdev and I started this job at 54 !
I Got my first job as dev in 98 while I was already 35.
I don’t tell you to brag : If I could do it then YOU can do it !

The main point is : do you like coding ?
Does solving algorithms give an intellectual pleasure ?
Do you enjoy building nice and friendly web UI ?
After trying hard, harder up to your limits, do you enjoy succeding and telling you : Wow I did it !

Don’t make big leaps but small steps at a time
Give youself reasonable goals and day after day you will progress

I wish you success and enjoyment !

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Good advice! I’m in a similar position at 40, I had stagnated at my last job and am trying to rediscover my skills. It’s hard to climb out of the hole, isn’t it? But we can do it! But for a lot of people life (putting food on the table, taking care of young children, or just battling mental health or other challenges that pop-up) make it all seem impossible. Find one thing to try each day, even if it’s a small thing you only had a few minutes to do. It’ll add up, and soon you’ll be doing the big things you didn’t think you could.

I understand! I was going to pursue a job in mobile app programming, however, I get really upset with errors in code and I struggle with learning it once it got past the fundamentals of the language. I finally realized that maybe this wasn’t the job for me. I grew really sad and upset because I had given in a lot of time and effort into pursing what I thought was a job that fit me. Now I don’t know what I want to do, there is nothing out there that appeals to me. I am considering joining the military, but other then that, I don’t know. They say to do what you love. To choose a job that is fun for you to do. Many people start off thinking that this is the job that they’re going to do, only to find out later that all along this wasn’t a fun job. That they would rather have a different job then the one they are doing. Someone once thought he was going to be a doctor. His parents encouraged him in it, it ran in the family. After going through internship and getting a PhD , he got a job. After a year, he realized this wasn’t what he wanted to do. Maybe this isn’t a job for you. Maybe, though, one day it’ll click. It happens with me all the time. For a while you seem like it will never make sense, but one day you find it does, and you know how to do it. I am trying not to discourage you from giving up on this job. But do what you love to do. Do you love your job? If you understood it, would you love coding? Is this a job that you would love, or is there a different one out there that’s more appealing? I found that verifying my personality type and matching it up with jobs that fit it really helped. Even though you are at the age you are, people will still hire you. So maybe consider doing a personality test? Or maybe just keep at it, one day it will click. Just remember to do what you love, to do a job that is fun for you to do. If you like computers then maybe a different job in that industry? I hope this helps!

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Well maybe not a success story for you but if i can do this i am sure you can. I have been hospitalised for depression 2 times in the past year and have been unemployed for some 8 months. I am 46 years young so much old than you.

I was struggling with css but seem to be picking things up much better now, i started some 2 years ago and just coming back to it now. So i understand your difficulties but if i can stick with it, at your age i am sure that you can.

I am thinking of becoming a freelancer when i have the skillset rather than having to work for someone else.

Good luck.

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You are wrong. You dont need no motivation from other peoples stories, you need to learn to live your own story. Reading how other people try to motivate you will help only for about a few days. Then you gonna go down as you were. You either believe you are capable of doing something and hence are so, or you are not. If you dont like the job get something else, its not for you.

Hey @Elineea,
It may not be easy but I believe you will not give up because this is a new year and you can write a different chapter of your life. There are so many opportunities in web development and age does not matter but what you can do does. Take heart and one step at a time you will get there.

Totally agree…
I posted on this before but i just want to add… FCC has one of the best community ever. A lot of supportive people where no amount of money can pay for. I paid money for bootcamp and honestly, they spoke of supportive but you get none there… when come down to survive and making it through the bootcamp (they do fail you) everyone for him/herself (happened to me). Hang in there and stick with FCC. The people on here are SUPER. I have not working on my stuffs on here much (I should get back and do more) but I always getting update on tutorial and cool stuffs from FCC which a great comfort and I do read them and practice my coding with them.
If you have anything bother you when coding along the way, just fire out a post and you will get many responses (like what you are seeing now).

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@Elineea, check out this youtube. I like this guy because he has load of cool tutorial and he kinda break them down into section with each video to make things easier to digest. His personal site has more HTML and so on but not all free… I can understand because people are out to make money… but I or you can always utilize the free stuffs to our advantage…


That is the link to his youtube channel and not me trying to advertise in any way and form.

He is very upbeat so his tutorial is not boring at all… Just his Yo, blah blah blah at the beginning of every video annoying me. :slight_smile: So I warned you!

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Age is not a factor unless you let it become one.

Start a workout routine even if you don’t want to, it helps with mental attitude. When I first started I felt frustrated, intimidated, defeated. When I started working out jumping rope at first then moved on to weight training, the code started to fall in place. Coding is difficult and tedious at times especially at the beginning.

You hear people say it’s not hard “well it’s not hard when you finally break through”. It took me a year to get to J/S and what I did with CSS and HTML5 prepared me. I have not worked as a FED but what I learned helped me understand a lot of the other digital technologies I ventured off into.

Break your day up by getting out and away from the computer, staying in front of the computer can make you more depressed. Read something outside the realm of coding!

Good luck and happy coding.

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thank you so much. will follow through with this advice.

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Hi Elineea, I think you should take some popular udemy courses about web development. Sometimes, we have to take a different approach if one way does not work for us. In my opinion, freecodecamp curriculum is not suitable for complete begineers. Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy this site. You should take these curriculums to test your skills after you have got a good foundation. Don’t try to waste your time on something if you can’t find it easy to understand. You know there is always someone who is better at explaining things than the others. Just try to look for him/her.

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i starting learning how to code when i was 32 in 2017 with freecodecamp…initially i couldn’t keep up because i lacked motivation… but later i picked it up when i saw a friend got a job in 6 months…last year i got a job as a react developer…it all boils down to determination and willingness

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Thank you all very much for the supportive comments!I hope I can find my motivation!

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@Elineea Also try codecademy.com it will give you the basics. I have been coding for 6 years and have had the same issue as you. Coding really is a different way of thinking.

Hi, I am a software engineer with 6+ years of experience.
What I can tell you is that depression sucks and if you can tackle this problem first, there is a lot of bad doctors, psychiatrists and whatnot who prescribed shite to treat it.

Long story short for about 5 years in my professional career I was fine, and the last 2 years I’ve changed my job 3 times due to depression, I was highly irritable could hold on anything + 2 suicide attempts + 2 work environments that were super toxic.
Depression does not come from nowhere and it requires to be treated otherwise you may enter in a vicious circle, thinking that you are achieving something that will make you eventually feel better but the issue will still be there.

It took me a long while before realizing that I have some latent issues lurking in my brain. I am recovering now, at my own pace and I have the chance to have a wonderful wife who can support me but I know not everybody has this chance, and my wife also has her own limits. But trust me, health must always be your top priority.

Health matters a lot more than any job, do not underestimate your depression.

Try to exercise (it does help) and recover first from depression before tackling anything new.

About 33 yo it’s not really an issue, it’s all about selling yourself when the chance will be given to you. Do some pro-bono tasks, if a platform that does not provide such thing, then create it! (I am actually thinking about doing that later on when I will be fully recovered, cause I could not find anything that put associations in contact with pro-bono developers).

In regard to the learning process, try to surround you with people who support you, be at job or elsewhere. It can happen that some software developers have a pretty high opinion of themselves and joke around crap with a pinch (or more) of sarcasm when you’re doing something wrong, this is toxic and you’d tell you to not go with those people. Stay with the ones you trust and who can bring you a real support.

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Hi
I am 31 years old …
learn it for fun because it’s a fun thing
You will be able to learn anything if you like learning it
I am also just learning and the best way is direct practice
I made a simple website, not very good but I’m quite proud to be able to make it because I’m a beginner
here is my website :
Es Degan

@Elineea

  1. Your age - in IT it is not a factor. And never will be. What really matters are: your knowledge, your skills and your ability to learn new things.
  2. Your motivation - maybe You are not motivated because coding is not interesting for You? Or maybe it’s just frontend. If that is not the case than think about your expectations - maybe you expect too much from yourself? My advice is - forget about your expectations and just do your thing. Spend some time every day on learning. It is not so important how much it will be as long as it will be every day. This will help you build a habit of learning.
  3. Your struggle with html/css - these technologies are simple. Mastering css is not so easy but technology by itself is easy to learn. If you struggle with html/css then you should find some other course because the one you’re using right now is not working for you.
  4. You making next step - as other, I also recommend you Codecademy (free courses), The Net Ninja on YouTube, and I would add The Web Developer Bootcamp by Colt Steel on Udemy. Go to The Net Ninja and watch HTML courses, next watch part about html in Colt’s course, next do Codecademy html course, next do FCC html course. You should know HTML good enough to move forward. Use this approach to learn CSS. After that search for Flexbox Froggy, Flexbox Zombies and CSS Grid Garden games to learn about flexbox and css grid. After that you should know html and css good enough to start learning JavaScript.

ps1. This is only my approach (it’s not the only good way of learning) but it works for me so maybe it will work for you too.
ps2. Above courses are mostly about frontend but you can easily find courses and use this approach to learn backend.

Good luck :slight_smile:

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Hi,
don’t think about your age it’s not an issue at all. you can change your career whenever you want. Now, you really need to be motivated and push your self toward your goal if you really love web development then you will reach your goal. Be confident! You also need good resources to learn faster because if you don’t learn fastert then you will get bored and tend to quit. I suggest Sololearn it’s an App that I used it to learn HTML and CSS. You have to practise too. that’s a key for success. I wish you all the best and Good luck!

https://jfi.uno/jiofilocalhtml https://adminlogin.co/tplinklogin/

I am in a similar situation. I am also 32, but I am not struggling with programming . My issue is that I have problems getting into the industry DESPITE the skills that I have . I think I am going to remedied this dillemma more by trying to network more with people and I would do that by going to meetups . I’ve tried applying for software developer jobs online, but I barely get a phone call back.

This sounds terribly cliche but try to find a career path that brings you joy second and focus on your health first. In other words, find the underlying cause of your depression.
For me, it was hypothyroidism and complications from ovarian cysts. I took NDT for hypothryoidism and am eating much better and trying to exercise for the second.

Also people will hire you at ANY age. I was a former s/w dev intern at lockheed and morgan when I was 18-20. I dropped out of CompSci. Then I left the industry for 20 years but did lamp on and off for 5 years as a side project. At 40 I re-entered the industry. I’m 41 and received an offer with a 33% raise and have other interviews lined up.

I’m not anyone special. Not super intelligent or gifted. However I absoulutely love front end/full stack development. It’s fun to me and I’d do it if I wasn’t paid.

Nurture your health first, passions second. Hope that gave you a little boost, youngin’ :wink:

PS. Oh and also, what helps is at my age, you stop caring about your age. :wink: