Can I use GitHub Pages instead of CodePen? [Solved]

Hey guys. I have a question and I’m hoping it might help others wondering about the same thing.

I’m going to start with the basic front end projects. The thing is that I don’t wish to use CodePen as I believe GitHub Pages is more “professional” and may give me some early experience with Git. I’ve been considering doing the projects locally and then putting them on GitHub Pages, instead of developing in the browser with CodePen. Is this possible? If yes, then are there some sources you would recommend that might help for a quick start with GitHub Pages? I’m also going to put the projects on my future website when I create one.

Also, can I use stuff I haven’t yet learned on FCC but know from other courses, like JavaScript for example or some more advanced jQuery and animations? Will this cause suspicions or is it okay?

Thanks a lot in advance!

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Yes you can, more info here https://www.freecodecamp.com/about

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CodePen not professional?

What makes you think that? :smile:

It is created by Chris Coyier who is wildly influentional and the founder of Css Tricks and CodePen.

Lots of really talented people use CodePen.

Why do you not want to be part of that?

Yes, you can use Github, but CodePen is … well, it’s a tool. Just like git and Github.
But it also comes with a community. Don’t underestimate that :slight_smile:

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Thinking about this a bit more…

I think, if you want to do quick and focused front-end ‘stuff’, then CodePen would probably be “more professional” because, in my opinion, it would be not very professional-like to clutter up your list of Github projects with small, one-off experiments.
Unless, the experiments were grouped in a multi-project project…

I don’t know if I am making myself clear :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit:
What I mean is: use both Github and CodePen. ((But I would keep my list of Github projects focused - for long-term projects mainly))

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You know? After thinking about this a bit more and considering what you said, I think you’re right. I’m going to use CodePen for now then. :slight_smile:

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Oh,cool. I’m glad to know this is supported at FCC

I’ve mostly found CodePen handy. But I don’t like the editor as much as I do some others.

Notice how those two are not mutually exclusive!

In fact, they go very well together.

CodePen is also a real world tool.
It can be used to show future employers what you are capable of.

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@P1xt Yeah that’s what I’ve been thinking. But as @jacmoe has said, perhaps I should do the basic projects in CodePen? What do you think? Is it a good idea to have those simple projects on my GitHub account (and personal site in the future) or is it better if I have only the advanced stuff there?

Would you recommend any sources to get me started?

What I think CodePen is great for is explore different ways of accomplishing front-end matters.
You can use it to quickly prototype your interface which you can apply to your ‘serious’ project that you have at Github.
Sometimes you just want to quickly prototype something instead of having to fire up your entire development environment.

Just experiment! :smile:

Edit:
I should definitely be using CodePen more than I do because I often get bogged down in technical details - but you can also use a static site generator on your own machine as an alternative… CodePen is just much more convenient…

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@AmirF27 I don’t think keeping small projects on your github would be unprofessional. Keeping it there could be even quite beneficial as your potential employers could see how you’ve progressed over time. Still, if you are worried about it, you can have 2 github accounts, one for big stuff, one for playing around.

@jacmoe That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be using codepen - you will never get comfortable with those “technical details”. And it’s not like your future employers will ask you for the link to codepen.

Also, one more thing. Codepen might seem comfortable, but once you get somewhat familiar with some more complex editor and see how much it speeds up your work, you will never want to go back to codepen.

I am using Emacs and have many complex projects going.
I can appreciate CodePen because it means that I don’t have to cook up a ton of boilerplate code just to try out some ideas. It is like a sketch pad, hence the name.
Let me repeat that CodePen and “technical details” are not mutually exclusive. :blush:

It is like telling people to stop using a keyboard because they will forget how to write with a pen.

You seem to assume the worst case scenario where “someone” would actually code everything inside CodePen - yes, that would be silly.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I have read most of your recent posts on various topics
& I would put money on the fact that the real reason you are asking ALL of them is:
FEAR!
What if you can’t do it, what if you look stupid asking questions?
What if you still look stupid even after asking a bunch of questions & still doing understand something?
What if you complete the cert & don’t get a job right away? What will your friends
& family say if you get to 30 & don’t have a career?

Well, the advice that finally got me off my butt was this:

“You’ll be that (in my case more than double your) age whether or not you do it, so you may as well do it now, or you’ll be starting it then.”

Use CodePen, use Notepad, use anything including scratch paper if you have to!
Your profile shows you have not done anything in over a month.

Believe it or not, by the time you get a job you will have used so many tools you won’t even list them all on your resume. What you start with as a beginner should be whatever is quickest & easiest & gets you CODING! Codepen is useful for showing things off when you don’t want the hassle of figuring out how to host it even as a pro, so its not a waste to use it. Yes, there are other tools you will learn about eventually that do the same thing, but they have take longer to learn to use & right now you need to focus on coding, not learning yet another tool. You WILL know when it is time to move off Codepen to you next tool/IDE.

You have the rest of your life to figure out how to use Atom, Sublime, Brackets or whatever. By theny some other tool will be the in thing-- it always is.

Any & all are good options, but as complete newbie–the important thing is to see & mess around with code: copy the tutorial BY hand. Get them to work, then mess around with them, break them, change them to do something a little different, until you understand what every line you typed does.

What tool you use is irrelevant until you have the self confidence to start downloading & installing a boatload of software & that can certainly wait a month or two or even more for someone who has never coded before.

Don’t let the choice of a tool keep you from starting in the browser with the tools designed to get you started NOW! Yes those tools are there exactly for this reason-- so you can learn to code without the headache of 5 hours of installation nightmares before you get to code your first line. There is some sort of perverse pleasure in forcing people to have such an experience, but all the coding bootcamps have come to realize if you want people to START coding, making it a painful start is not the way to succeed.

If you are spending this long trying to get through a Udemy course then the alternate perspective of doing FCC will help the light bulb go on & give you a nice change of pace, helping speed both along. For example, if you have done HTML & CSS on Udemy, then come & do them on FCC, then go back & do the next topic on Udemy & then FCC (or the reverse). It may take you a bit longer but the perspective of two explanations of the same topic is usually helpful as one often fills in things the other skims over.

Just DO something on BOTH every day.
If you can’t do an hour a day, do 20 minutes
or even 10
or even 5 minutes, but
do SOMETHING other than forums–every day.

(BTW I am talking to my self here too & juggling 5 or 6 courses.)

Start at the beginning & go straight through, skip around, follow a ouija through the curriculum or P1xt’s program, but do something–anything–other than forums & chat on FCC–
–every day.

If you never start, then yes- you never will get a job.
But even the tiniest accomplishment of ONE screen challenge a day
will eventually & totally change your view of yourself & what you can do.
(Have you ever watched ants work? One grain at a time, until “suddenly” there a huge pile.)

THEN, when you get stuck, bored or need a new push, use the chat inside FCC
& get though help with it.

THEN, come back here to help & encourage the next person behind you who is doing
what you just overcame, just to talk to us, & to tell us how awesome you are doing.

Looking forward to seeing that post soon!
Maybe even before the new year!! Give it a try!

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The opening post justifies that assumption. This isn’t an out-of-context discussion about pros and cons of using codepen. The question specifically was: “I’m going to start basic front-end projects on FCC, would it be better for me to use github for them instead of codepen”. The answer is “Yes, of course, do it”, no matter how useful you think codepen is.

You’re comparing an editor with does nothing by itself with a tool that can use sass, less, coffeescript, import libraries with two clicks, etc.

In a working environment you set up all of that by yourself, getting comfortable with it is a must.

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I think that we can all agree that the best thing to do is to build layers upon layers and create a solid foundation.

Using both Github, local development machine, CodePen and brains and brawns.

We we actually are doing right now, in this topic, is something that coders do well: nitpicking and bikeshedding. :stuck_out_tongue:

A developer these days should use all the tools, even CodePen.
A good developer is a person who knows what tool to pick when.

I would pick CodePen when I want to explore, play around, because it saves me from having to do a lot of boring set up. Time that I want to spend on being creative.

Most of the time, though, I pick my custom built development environment where I have set everything up myself.

It depends, really.

CodePen really does a whole lot behind the scenes which you will appreciate if you have done that set up yourself.

Yes, you can do that by installing several hundred megabytes of Node.js modules (gulp, browser-sync, sass, …) - if you want sass, live preview, etc. - and I guess you can do that easily if you have created a template project (on Github, maybe?) that takes some of the pain away from having to boilerplate it from scratch, but it is still easier to just use CodePen for when you really don’t feel like having to go through that process just to test something out that you may or may not end up doing/using.

Exactly, but there is no worker who is ever going to ask you to setup the website of the company on CodePen, as you’ve said, it’s cool to try out new stuff quickly but it’s not an skill which is appreciated when it comes to get a job, which is the main goal for most of the campers.

It is precisely the point of this thread.

Professional perspective has nothing to do with it, because that is something that the OP will eventually achieve himself.

But using all of the above.

What I want to point out is that lot of professional people are indeed using CodePen.

What I am not saying is that those people are using nothing but CodePen - but I figured that was obvious. :slight_smile:

Having experience with Git and Github is not really a groundbreaking skill these days, so …

My advice is: just use all the tools. All of them! :slight_smile:

CodePen does have job listings @Oxyrus so I think it is more relevant than you think it is.
Having a presence there is worth having as it can increase the chances of being noticed.
Or, if not that, then provide inspiration.

OP’s question was essentially ‘Am I allowed to use GH pages instead of Codepen?’

The answer is yes.

Everyone knows the bikeshed should be painted blue.