[First Lesson Ever] Trying to understand what's going on

I hope it’s not too early to ask this.
I’m trying to figure out the interface and why it’s like that.
Why does the “code” start with ?
What are all these things?

What is this whole page mimicking or representing? A console? A program or interface of some kind? Is this what I will use when I start coding?

What are the different names to these “elements”? The numbering next to each… “line”? The "<"s and ">"s, what’s up with those?

Disclosure: I’ve never coded before, but I have messed around a lot with “Inspect Element” and even used CLI, but really, I lack the fundamentals.

I might be able to a single “advanced” task, but I wouldn’t know how to do anything else.

Is there somewhere I should go (a different site or a page in FCC) that teaches these things? Do I pick them up as I go along?

Hello! Welcome to our forum. You’re definitely the right space. Here is a another space that will help you learn the basis of HTML.

https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

I hope this will get you started in the right way.

When you first start to learn to code, you will likely be introduced to many things you don’t understand.
This often leaves people (myself included) feeling like they are not learning anything, or there is too much to learn.

Its often a process that takes a while before results start to appear.

Many learning platforms will try not to give you too much information at once.

But they do use environments similar to what you will be using when making your own projects.

I don’t want to confuse you or lead you down any rabbit holes, so this is just the basics:

When writing code, you write it in a file, that file is read by the browser as instructions for displaying content.

The ‘Preview’ is what your code looks like when the browser reads your code.

The console may display errors and other information when writing code.

When you are introduced to something new, try using a search engine to find out more about it.
There are many sites out there with tag, attribute, selector, etc lists that will give you the definition of these things.

freeCodeCamp uses a project based learning method,
this mean you will be introduced to things using projects in small steps, then you will go on to complete a project all by yourself.
(those are where you will learn the most)

Its likely many of your early questions will be answered by going through the first few projects.

If you still have questions or are confused about something, you can search for resources online and ask the community about it, when asking a question its often helpful to include as much relevant information as you can, such as links and images ( as you have done :slight_smile: ).

There is also a ‘general’ subforum where you can ask any question :smiley:

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Magnificent stuff!
I’ve had this bookmarked since maybe 2013 or before. Tried and gave up coding many times since then. But with the tools available now, including the interact-ability of this site, its great community, and my maturity, I think this time it might stick.

Patience will be the toughest part.
Thanks!

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Very well explained.

I had the same problem with start stopping, until I started on this site.
Can be hard to find the right path with so many options XD

But once you find one you can stick to, its just a case of one step at a time before you start playing with code as if it was a new toy

Can’t agree more.

I think part of what helps is having a project in mind. Even if it’s a trivial task.

Last time I tried was during the lock-down at the start of the pandemic. I saw some videos on YT about how it’s best to start with some kind of goal, but I drew a blank. Didn’t know what I wanted.

This time my motivation is that I’ve actually gone through some code-related things that I at least know what I want to understand. And I’ve messed around with Python (thanks to ChatGPT for guiding me) and actually created an executable program that I kind of generally understand.

To whoever needs to hear this, try AI Chatbots for programming, LOL. They’re a good companion

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they can be good for understanding definitions, and avoiding rewriting code you understand well.
But I wouldn’t depend to much on them if your goal is to learn.

Making mistakes is often what drives us to better our understanding :smiley:

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