Finished my personal portfolio challenge. Do I jump into javascript now or?

I know, this question sounds stupid. Many people will say that just follow the map and do all the challenges.

The thing is after I finished my personal portfolio, (which you can see [here] (http://codepen.io/zhouxiang19910319/pen/aBMzvd) ), I just realised that I know soooo little things about HTML and CSS, about how to implement different layout etc. I bought a book that is called: HTML and CSS design patterns. In this book it tells you from the very basic, like what kind of different patterns you will encounter when you design a page, and how to turn all the design patterns into codes. I feel like I can finish this book 1st, then come back to freecodecamp to learn javascript. So here are my questions:

  1. When do you need javascript when you build a website?

  2. I want to do some more projects, build more website from either design template or just cloning other people’s pages in order to get myself comfortable with CSS and HTML. Is this doable?? Or I am being nuts here and should go back to do all the javascript challenges.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

I am not saying I won’t learn javascript forever.,… I just want to get my hands wet 1st. When I am comfortable with designing website from ground up or when I won’t panic after seeing the design template , I will learn javascript and do all the challenges and so on…

If you’re interested in getting to know HTML and CSS better now, go for it!

Oh hey, thanks!!! I just don’t want to sound cocky, “OH I WOULDN’T FOLLOW THE TREND COS I AM SPECIAL” lol.

Nah, any time you get excited about something and want to learn more it’s a good thing. If you do FCC and nothing but FCC you won’t get very far.

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Yeah, that’s how I feel. After reading some other docs and books I realised that FCC only opens a door for you. If you want to get serious, better grab those books and do some real project and then you will go places that you never able to be. :smiley:

FCC introduces you to coding tools and concepts. It’s up to you to build a relationship with them. :grin:

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My experience has been that FCC provides a good introduction to the technologies needed for modern web development, and my fellow campers opens up new ideas and keeps me motivated.

One such person is @P1xt who created the following study guide you might find useful.

https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/computer-guide-get-job-ready-with-1-fcc-cert-3-projects-2-courses-and-10-books/64027

Good luck on your FCC journey!

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This is the second time I heard someone strongly recommend to avoid codepen.
I will consider it. At the mean time find myself other projects to commit to before I dive into the world of javascript.

IMHO CodePen isn’t a bad place to start since it does take out some of the complexity as you go through the earlier projects and challenges in the Front End Cert. However, what I found was that I got to the Advanced Challenges I had “outgrown” CodePen and was ready to start developing in an environment closer to what I would use in a true work setting.

Having said that, my advice is to use CodePen early on so you can concentrate on concepts and building a firm foundation in HTML, CSS, And JavaScript. A mistake I’ve seen others make is to get wrapped up in development tools to the point that it distracts from learning.

I hope this helps.

I will carefully use those tools and trying to avoid being distracted. Thanks for the tips.

I really like your portfolio.As some positive critcism though, I think you should reduce the height of your grey header.Otherwise it is very impressive.

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I will look into that! Thanks!!!