Good Morning!
I’ve read A LOT about one of the best things about the coding community is the peer support for new learners and I could use some of that support today. I apologize in advance for the length of the post, but if you take the time to read and respond, you will most likely make a pretty big difference in someones learning process and I thank you in advance.
I recently came to freeCodeCamp with the intent to work through all the material in an effort to learn to code having no experience in the pursuit of a career change.
I currently work in retail (15 years+) and the stress and lifestyle are no longer for me. I am extremely excited at the concept of writing programs that DO things, but in order to change careers and in pursuit of a well rounded knowledge base, I am totally open to learning anything and starting anywhere.
I have worked through the entire first “Responsive Web Design” portion of the curriculum and I treated it like I would a class. I took notes on each section and put in my best effort to learn diligently as I have been successful in the past doing through school.
I have started the projects and the first couple hours of building the tribute page has been a grind. First, I don’t feel like I was prepared by the material to do so. Please do not misunderstand, I appreciate freeCodeCamp for what it is, but it sort of felt like I just took a class that teaches you the specifics of individual spices and vegetables, and then told to make a gourmet dinner. I found myself forking the example site for the project and that put me on the right path, but I was using HTML5 sections, unsure of where or how to use the div’s (on every section). I re-read my notes and the section on div’s and I’m not sure how A should have gotten me to know to do B.
I am 100% sure this is one of two things:
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I was not trying to build a page with what I was learning while I was learning. Nothing explicitly says to do this, and honestly looking back through my notes, I don’t know that following the order of the course would have helped with that. I DO, however, acknowledge that I should have been doing this throughout anyway as it probably would support MY individual effective learning process. Which brings me to number 2.
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This may not be the most effective way for ME to learn. I’ve watched videos and read dozens of Medium blogs about how everyone learned differently and used different resources. For example: One guy learned Javascript from a book. (apparently a popular book series, the name escapes me) He said he “worked through exercises”. I feel like I just did that? I WAS taking a Udemy course on Python when I first started freeCodeCamp but I put that on hold because I liked how freeCodeCamp seemed to be more structured in progressively teaching you. That course was just “ok, today we are going to show you how to use one of insert technical term” without explaining what that technical term is or means, or how it relates. Sure, I know how to do it, but I’m not going to know WHEN to use it.
I don’t have the financial opportunity or time to take a coding bootcamp and honestly from some of the things I’ve read, I’m probably not ready for that yet.
I feel like I need a progressive structured program like freeCodeCamp but I need, like homework, or something to APPLY the knowledge as I go to something other than just the automated kitty website exercises to cement it. In that way, maybe a book series IS the best approach?
freeCodeCamp is awesome and I am incredibly appreciative that there is a resource like this because, let’s be honest, if you wanted to become an engineer, or a chemist, these things just do not exist. I just need to hear suggestions or personal experiences that are similar to mine to get me on the right track.
Right now I feel kind of like I’m on a raft in the middle of an ocean of information and don’t know which way to row to get to land. Right now, freeCodeCamp is that raft, and I very much appreciate the support.
Thanks again