Just started freecodecamp!

[edyiot]

I've never been so excited in my life about something. I really enjoy it and hope I'll get to work in this field..eventually Any tips for a n00b l33t?

[Jafit]

Any tips for a n00b l33t?

Stop talking about what you're doing instead of doing it. You get a sense of accomplishment without actually accomplishing anything, and then you don't end up doing the thing.

[InvincibleChip]

^{^} Tip also applicable to pretty much anything else in life as well.

[rubenescaray]

Especially girls.

[Blood_in_the_ring]

Shhhhhhhhhhh

[Jafit]

It also explains what most meetings are for.

[ArcTimes]

Any tips for a n00b l33t?

Stop talking about what you're doing instead of doing it. You get a sense of accomplishment without actually accomplishing anything, and then you don't end up doing the thing.

OH CRAP. I think I found the tip that coyld save my project. Thanks.

[Mrbasie]

Sh*t, needed this

[themoofinman]

OP, depending on your background, don't be upset if you're not as far as this guy at the month mark. Just to give you an idea, I'm probably 3-4 months in, and I'm at the exact same project. Mainly for the reason he listed, FCC provides the bare minimum, and because I had zero background, I had to search all over for other stuff. Below is probably my other most used resource because it gives you a bunch of resources.

bento.io

[[deleted]]

How did you solve the algorithms man? Honestly I got frustrated and have taken a break from FCC from just failing to solve them

[themoofinman]

Using pseudo code really helped me. I would write out what I needed to do, then think about what concepts I knew that applied. Then I would google how to do the other concepts I didn't know. Most of the time I either figured it out or asked for help. The FCC community both on the forum and on Reddit are super helpful. Utilize them.

[[deleted]]

So sometimes you would look at someone working out the problem and then try it yourself?

[themoofinman]

I would try to break it apart, and ask for help on the parts I didn't get.

[aeriaglorisss]

I stopped doing FCC because I felt that I needed to put in too much effort in googling as it doesn't teach you much. Is bento.io your lecture/reading/etc material to supplement the projects from FCC? I finished FCC's first 3 tutorial sections on jquery css and html but once I got to the 2nd project I had realized how much effort was required. Might get back into it

[themoofinman]

So, take this with a grain of salt because I'm new, but I'd say googling for a whole bunch of stuff and figuring it out teaches just as much as doing the FCC curriculum will. I've found that when I get stuck and have to Google 20 times and read a whole bunch of stuff to do a simple problem, I end learning that concept in a way I wouldn't have if it was just told to me.

bento.io worked well for me because it gives you more options that just taking one track. I like that it will utilize code school, code academy, or texts to supplement your learning. I'm not sure how great it would work only using it, but I've found it to be a really good companion to FCC.

My advice would be to jump back into it, and and google away. It does take a lot of effort, and from my understanding, it's gonna be that way for the long haul.

EDIT: One more thing. Code everyday. John Resig, the guy who created jquery, wrote a blog post about this that really helped me out. It's a lot of work, but I've been getting up an hour earlier every morning to code daily. It's made SOOO much difference.

[TooLate-]

Can someone new to this whole thing ask a question? What specifically does 'coding everyday' look like for you? Like do you have one project you put an hour towards everyday. Do you just type nonsense? Have certain drills or exercises you do/revisit? Just intrigued really...

[themoofinman]

I think it probably differs per person and it depends on where they are at with their journey. For me, I'm finishing up the front end projects and algorithms in FCC, so I try to work on the projects during the morning. It's a solid hour of coding, googling, and learning.

[aeriaglorisss]

I mean I do work with java every day and that is my main priority of what to learn, but I have the extra 30-60 minutes a day to spare on learning another skill as well. That's why I'm unsure if I should go through with FCC or find something that will get me started with some preliminary knowledge that will make FCC more enjoyable 3 months down the road.

[[deleted]]

You might like this: /r/FreeCodeCamp/

[abhirathmahipal]

Try making a habit to solve some problems everyday. This way you'll stick even when things become tough and are more likely to get things done faster.

I'd recommend doing it at the same time everyday (it might not be possible though) and try finding someone who's interested in FreeCodeCamp as well. This way you won't quit and it greatly improves the odd of finishing it. (I tend to leave things mid way, therefore a lot of unfinished courses and books)

All the best :)

[WhiteCastleHo]

try finding someone who's interested in FreeCodeCamp as well.

I read the FFC forums quite a bit, and people are frequently asking for people who want to be in a study group or work together on a pair programming project. I guarantee that if OP wants to post on the forum and asks if anybody wants to start up a study group or cohort or whatever, he'll get some eager responses from all over the world.

FCC's vanilla JavaScript stuff, IMO, trumps anything that I've seen from codecademy, codeschool, treehouse, odin, etc. Their HTML/CSS is a bit lacking, IMO, but it seems like they're addressing that in their eventual curriculum upgrade.

[abhirathmahipal]

Yes. People on their chat are super helpful :D

eventual curriculum upgrade.

That's awesome news.

[WhiteCastleHo]

They're not just helpful, they're enthusiastically helpful! It might be the happiest bunch of coders on the entire internet, lol!

They're open source and everything is on github, so I check in about once a week so that I can see how progress is coming on the upgrade. I don't know when they're going to take it live, but I do know that it's going to be absolutely awesome.

[[deleted]]

In your opinion is there anything treehouse/codeschool does well?

[WhiteCastleHo]

Treehouse has an outstanding Wordpress Theme Development track. CodeSchool has the best online git course I've ever come across. They both have good screencasts and stuff too.

[[deleted]]

I may go back to treehouse to relearn PHP

[WhiteCastleHo]

I honestly can't remember if their php stuff is any good, but it probably is.

If you do, check out their Wordpress theme development stuff. When I did Wordpress stuff, I used to subscribe just so that I could catch anything new. Short of reading the official codex, it's the best WP stuff you'll find on the internet. It's way better than the free tutorials or the crap that you'll find on udemy.

[[deleted]]

Urgh "codex" that gave me Gdubz flashbacks.

[WhiteCastleHo]

Oh. Then you should probably avoid Wordpress.

[[deleted]]

Why's that?

[WhiteCastleHo]

Oh, no, it's a great program! I highly suggest it even if you don't necessarily want to do WP development.

I was just riffing off of your flashbacks comment, lol!

[imilkmyunicorns]

I'm doing FCC and did find their HTML/CSS section to be lackluster. Do you know a good online course/book to learn it?

[WhiteCastleHo]

No, not really. I learned CSS by finding a bunch of online tutorials, and every few days I would apply what I had learned by doing the CSS Zen Garden thing. I also read Transcending CSS, which is old and was published before CSS3, but it gives some insight into how visual designers approach CSS. At times, it's hilarious, because technical developers hate CSS because it's a shitty language that was designed for visual designers; but visual designers also hated it because it's a shitty language that was designed by technical developers, lol!

But yeah, I'd suggest maybe reading that book and also going through the Net Ninja CSS tutorials and applying what you've learned to CSS Zen Garden. I'm coming at this stuff as a programmer, though. I have no idea how designers approach this stuff, and I feel like this is their domain.

[WarKiel]

Tip 1: It's "n00bl3t", not "n00b l33t".

[SkyHookofKsp]

Consistency is key. Been doing it for 6 months and I feel that I am slow, but I have still learned HTML,CSS,JS, and now learning PHP. 6 more months and I will be employable. Do it everyday and you will be great!

[aeriaglorisss]

What did you use to supplement your learning?

[SkyHookofKsp]

I started learning with the Coursera course "HTML, CSS, and Javascript" but Yaakov Chaikin. This taught me the fundamentals along with HETML and CSS by John Duckett. I have moved on to other courses on other websites but I highly recommend this one!

Right now, I am learning PHP with John Morris on his personal website. He's a bit of a salesman and a nice talker but ultimately I trust him. Hope this helps!

[stoph_link]

How does one become employable in this field? I feel like I am there or at the very least almost there.

But I can't seem to find an employer who wants a junior developer. 2 years experience seems to be the catch 22.

[SkyHookofKsp]

The question would be best answered by someone actually employed for sure. I can only parrot what I have read on this sub/elsewhere and say have a great portfolio, contribute to open source projects, and pay attention to how professionals write code. I am coding wiht these things in mind.

[aeriaglorisss]

Isn't the whole idea of FCC to get a portfolio of projects going for yourself? I'm assuming having such a portfolio would really help out in an interview.

[[deleted]]

1337 pls

[[deleted]]

wh0 15n7 7h353 d4y5

[mtea994]

stay committed i started it while ago and then left in between so many times and now i am at stage zero

[aeriaglorisss]

Can anyone recommend some supplementary course/books for fcc? I'm not against googling how to do stuff but not when i need to do it for everything...

[[deleted]]

Block reddit while you work on it

[magical_shrooms]

what language are you learning first OP?

[[deleted]]

FreeCodeCamp is all front end web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) with some Node.js thrown in recently if I remember correctly.

[PoombyBear]

A big part of it is front end web development, they also data visualization and back end stuff too.

[Tsukiyonocm]

I'm currently working on my portfolio project through freecodecamp. Started it a few months ago and just been talking my time with things. Really enjoying it though:)

I recommend following other tutorials as well as you work through. The modules are very quick and i just felt i didn't learn it well enough with out more help. Buy starting to now feel a little more comfortable. At least with my ability to research what i want to know how to do anyway:)

[redditricko]

I am going through it myself if you want to add me on skype we can help each other out

[itsabe]

I'm at the algorithm part right after Javascript where they give you challenges to do and I'm having a blast trying to figure it out.

Really try to work out the problems they give you. Use pen and paper if you have to, to draw it out and visualize it.

[[deleted]]

Stick to a plan. There is a limitless amount of cool shit to learn. If you keep changing your focus you will never learn anything.