Frustrations of learning programming/web development

Thank a lot! I’m buying the course now while it’s still $19 :slight_smile:

I’m using Lynda.com as access is included in my degree and some introductory units they made us watch photoshop/html/css videos from there. Interesting to know they are going downhill, I didn’t know much about them at all except they’re Linked In company. But now I’m going to explore Udemy and share my experiences!

Cheers

I’ll probably get flak for this, but I find algorithm challenges to be very dull and not much fun to do. They’re not a good way to measure how good of a programmer you are. Don’t feel bad if you find yourself getting stuck on a few of those.

That being said, I do see the importance of doing them. You learn to train your brain how to think very literally (like a robot).

My advice to you would be to go do algorithm problems from something like Codewars where you can choose difficulty levels. Keep doing the easiest ones to build your confidence, and move to the harder ones over time. Eventually, you’ll get used to thinking like a computer and you’ll be able to solve these with more ease. Then you can do projects and the real fun in programming begins.

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@sonicakes
Looks like things have changed recently. The Wiki seems to have gone so yes you are probably in the right area: https://forum.freecodecamp.com/c/guide

To get started with pair programming, I first posted a message here and got some responses. In gitter chat room there is a room “Let’s pair” but this in not very busy so I recommend that for maybe meeting up. There are many tools to aid pair programming but usually I use Google Hangouts or Screenhero as you can share your desktop with these.
Pythontutor & jsFiddle are great for collaborating.

I have paired for algorithms and projects. The Night life app (full stack app) I did with a friend. We worked for 2 weeks solid and he got a job shortly after. It’s not perfect but we learned a lot.

I would recommend trying to find someone in your own time zone for obvious reasons!
The format is usually one person coding and the other helping.

Having worked as a developer, I am constantly searching for code snippets other people have made to suit my needs. You could say this is plagiarism but the internet is a tool for sharing ideas and information. :thumbsup: This includes code. You can view the source code of any webpage of any website. You can’t see the source code for Microsoft Office.
Here’s what I have “copied”:
Weather Project
Original: https://codepen.io/AdventureBear/pen/PwmoMd
Mine: https://codepen.io/JohnnyBizzel/pen/BKMPpp
Tic Tac Toe
Original: https://codepen.io/alexhunt/pen/qOgBqN
Mine: https://codepen.io/JohnnyBizzel/pen/aBBdJp

Reasons for doing this are to save time but in both cases I have spent time putting my own style into the code so I can understand it well. I think it’s more a case of getting inspired to start a project as I’m not good at starting from a clean slate.
Note, if you go to my codepen and look for collections you will see some of my favourites.

The latest bootstrap version has flexbox integrated now I believe so that’s fine.:wink:

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Hi Sonicakes

Try these tutorials maybe they might help.

http://htmldog.com/

http://htmlgoodies.com/

All the best, and Im sure you gonna make it.

Best Regards
Dorothy

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Hi sonicakes,

Lots of folks with lots of good words here; I just want to speak to the gender “brain-washing”. Don’t believe it for a second! I am a woman, and I’ve been working in Information Technology for over 30 years. I started out as a COBOL mainframe programmer and have progressed over the years; today I am a database admin/developer. I’m here in freeCodeCamp working on my web dev skills as a potential retirement income.

Programming is a skill. You can learn - don’t give up! Some people “get it” faster, some slower, but you WILL get there! Follow the advice you’ve been given here. Use google. Work on the problem on your own first, then look at how other people solve it. Don’t simply cut and paste code to make it work; try your best to understand how that code works and then replicate it. That’s how you learn. No one expects you to just “know” how these algorithms work - they’re as much about teaching you how to learn as they are about coming up with solutions.

Keep on keeping on!

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As a new coder myself, I totally relate with the frustrations. Best encouragement I can give is similar to what I tell my kids: Don’t give up, build upon the previous attempts, and understand each attempt is a learning experience.

Irregardless of gender, ethnicity, etc, perseverance will help you accomplish your goals.

You CAN do it!

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drop that mentality,lad, as its your only obstacle in your way of learnring. I dunno why people think that one has to be born with some special organ in order to understand programming [ :slight_smile: ].Its like anything else in life.It requires effort, patience, time, dedication.You have to struggle at first, but if you really want it and have ambition, it ll get a lot easier. If thats not enough i have friends who got into programming with the same issues.I helped them more in motivating and explaining how this stuff works than in actually teaching them to code.but they know to code, and i guess that they admit it now, it was a matter of attiutude, perspective and self-management then learning technical stuff. As for myself, my programming job helped me more on a personal level rather than learning technical stuff. So keep cool, its ok to feel like this, just keep trying(not harder, you’re good as you do for now).Give it some time, your brain needs to get used to this learning habbit.After adapting it ll get more easier and pleasant.I know that you feel pressure from having to get a job in web dev, but please try to focus on what you think you might like, and do not accept “anything that works”.Curiosity or desire to learn must come before need of a job. So keep cool, this is the flow, you’re on the right track.Besides guys on there forums would always help.If you get stucked or do not understand something you can ask for help.Just shout, ok ? Cheers

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Do not give up, please!
Do not give up, please!
Do not give up, please!
Do not give up, please!
Do not give up, please!
Do not give up, please!

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hi sonicakes,

There is a lot of good advice here so far, but I’ve actually been in the industry for 20 years, and after reading your words and understanding your pain, I thought I would add my two cents.

So, first things first … let’s address the mythology of your statements above. You being a girl has nothing to do with your ability to learn this stuff. I’ve known many people in the industry over the years, some guys, some gals, and I have yet to meet a female programmer that couldn’t do what a male programmer can do … and I’ve met some talented folks. The other myth is that you believe that your level of Math may not be up to par with what programming requires. I’ll say two things here … (1) programming is not really about Math, and I’ve built a lot of things over my career, but not used much more than basic algebra, save maybe two to three exceptions … (2) programming is about logic and problem-solving, and like anything in life that has some complexity, you need to spend time at it to become better. With programming, the trick is to break down the complex into the simple, and when you do this, you can code the simple thing and then build upon it. This becomes easier over time. The programming language is just a tool to help solve the problem at hand, nothing more, so knowing the fundamentals of the language is key, and then code, code, code … you just have to keep coding and practicing and trying different approaches to solving problems. It also helps to download other people’s code and wade through it to see what’s happening … this is sometimes an uncomfortable way to learn, but it’s a great way to learn as you get different perspectives on how others solve problems using code.

Next, there is probably nothing wrong with you. I can say from experience that you will have to put something you said to rest, and forget about achieving it:

I recommend that you stop thinking this way … it’s a road to pain and agony. You will likely never reach perfection with programming, and that’s a great thing for two reasons … (1) perfection is boring, as you never learn anything new, and (2) this industry’s pace doesn’t allow for perfection, as you have to continue to learn new and different things to be a web developer. Also, if it helps, nobody knows it all … not even close.

Next, that you are trying to solve something every day is a great thing indeed … and congrats, you are ahead of most people in the world who just get done with school and coast, never attempting to learn anything new to improve their careers or enhance their culture, and thus, their lives. So, keep that up … learning should be fun and pleasurable. I suffered from both perfectionism and failure for a very long time, but I finally realized that perfectionism, again, is both a pipe dream and boring, and failure is not a bad thing, it’s a blessing!

When you fail, you assess and you learn … then you go after it harder, and with any luck you fail again, and then assess and learn. Before too long, guess what?!? … you’ve failed so much that you’ve reflected and learned a great deal … and then you start to understand that because you’ve failed, assessed, and learned so much, you are actually quite knowledgable at what you do, and so you understand that you’re not so bad at it, but quite good at it. If you can start to understand that failure = learning, and then relax into it, your journey will improve and become far more fun … btw, this applies to anything you decide to spend time learning.

Finally, I have met a variety of programmers over my years in college and in my career. There are those that get into programming as a financial means to an end. If this is you, run away very fast, as you will not find happiness here. It takes hours, days, weeks, months, and years of staying at it to become a successful programmer who has the confidence to take on any task and feel like you have a good understanding of how you will solve the more complex issues and projects … I’m still trying to find my confidence with some of this, but my love for technology and programming keeps me going above anything else. There are also those who don’t care about the money, but the love of the solve is what drives and compels them to keep at it at 200am, when it feels like you’re not even close to solving the problem at hand, and you just want to pull your hair out because this one stupid bug just feels seemingly impossible to solve.

But you keep at it …

and there is more hair-pulling and deep frustration …

and you keep at it …

and you question why you ever got into such a perverse industry that could drive an otherwise logical person to the brink of madness …

and you just … keep … at … it!

And then, a moment happens … you type a line of code … and it works! All those hours of pain and agony just fall away … and you know that in that moment … right in that moment … you solved the problem, and you have become the best coder you can be … in that moment. And those are the successful programmers! If this is you, then please don’t give up … you owe it to yourself to continue forward. If you have questions about why something works (or doesn’t work), seek out the answers … solve that problem … don’t feel like you’re alone, just reach out and get help. Understand where you went wrong, and understand where you went right. Because I can tell you that as frustrated as you are right now, if you have passion for learning how to program and want to solve problems for a living, then keep going … that feeling I described above, when it just clicks and you finally solve that problem … that feeling is, bar none, the best damn feeling in the world … because you’ve won!

Many people are not cut out for programming, but not because of gender or IQ (IQ has zero to do with it actually). It’s filled with frustration, but it’s also filled with triumph and pride when you see your creation come to life and functioning as you told it to. But, know what you’re signing up for. It’s often intense, and it means that the learning never stops. It seems that every 18-24 months, there are three or more technologies that you have to learn to keep up … it’s truly never-ending, unlike a great many other industries. Most of my friends that are still in tech are no longer programming, they’ve gone over to management. I will code at 900am, and I will code at 200am … I can’t breathe if I don’t have my hands in some kind of tech, creating, building, shaping … because that’s what I love and there’s where my place is.

Find what you love, and do that … the money will come. If that happens to be programming, then please stay the course and keep fighting for it … it’s worth it. I wish you the very best with your pursuits, whatever they may be.

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Hi sonicakes! First off congratulations for reaching the js part of the camp not everyone can do that you know, so tap yourself on the back for achieving such a great thing. I really understand your frustration, I mean it and that’s frustration from a guy who knows about programming. Some days I really wanted to quit due to my inability to think problems through, but I did not. Programming, should be treated sometimes literally, we need to think how computers think and they take instructions literally. Its like when you ask someone to “write something on the board” they will write everything they wanted, but if you tell that to a computer it will literally write the word “something” on its monitor. So when you solve algo problems think as if you are talking to a person that needs very very specific instructions. Slice the problem to small chunks or create a simple version of the problem that relates to the whole of the problem, 'coz if you did that every thing will eventually pop up. You just need to persevere, do not lose steam and when you feel frustrated again try do something else to refresh your mind sometimes answer reveals after doing other unrelated task. Don’t worry you can do it and always remember when you’re facing a wall Read, Search and Ask.

P. S
Sorry if there are some grammatical error, English is not my native language. :blush:

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I loved your post and agreed with 95% of what you wrote. I was going to reply as soon as I read your comment about math, to mention Stephen Wolfram’s work on eg; computational equivalence, and the idea that math is actually a subset of programming [0].

I’m afraid that, as much as it makes me sound like a d*ck, IQ clearly does have something to do with a person’s ability to successfully program computers. People who are both “nice” and “clever” often don’t want to accept that they can do things that other people can do. In general, I think that’s laudable, and trust me, I would personally love it if it weren’t the case. But the older I get, the more I think we have to start from the truth, even if it’s difficult, otherwise we’ll end up doing harm somehow or other.

Just my two cents. No offence.

As to the OP, I would only suggest that the statement “Something must be wrong with me” is likely indicator of intelligence in itself :slight_smile: Just keep going. You’ll be alright. Please don’t stop.

[0] https://www.wolframscience.com/

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Hi Soniacakes thanks for speaking out i also have this problem i feel i can’t do much on my own. even though i know anything is possible i started learning how to code full time last month and it has been overwhelming there are good and bad days when your code won’t work. For me i believe being a software developer is a journey. and thanks to everyone giving advice i’ve also picked few things from your comments.

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Trust me the type of person who you described yourself as is almost exactly the kind of person I am. Not interested, well I was, but couldn’t handle stem subjects. Also when I first got to the JS algorithm part I could barely get past one or two challenges every 2-3 months. (how I got around them is below)

Like people have said, 2 months is very negligible in terms of learning web development - unless if you are very focused and have a very very definitive goal and the framework to make sure you keep on track reach that very specific goal in 2-3 months. And where i’m from girls are generally considered smarter and do better in science and maths than boys so ignore the biases, people will always say one thing or the other. The worst thing you could is place limits on yourself. A few things that have, and some still are helping me on my path:

  1. Console.log - Whatever variables or results are expected of you in the challenge, try console logging them and viewing them browser’s console output. Usually the FCC tests only say whether a particular output matches expected but doesn’t show you what it is. So console.log() say intermediate results, like a variable or method return which you think might show one thing could be something altogether else.

  2. Whatever you’re learning on FCC try out a portion of it somewhere else. Codepen.io is great for that. Say when i’m trying to finish a project and I can’t quite figure out how a certain layout works or isn’t working I just take that part and try to play around with it till it works separate from all the other code - here’s mine https://codepen.io/donyd/pens/public/# (it’s messy and even I would be scratching my head when I go back to it) I suggest creating a new account there and you could even try something out there in a pen and then maybe ask others for feedback. I’d be more than glad to help as well if you have queries

  3. Try other resources, one or two, don’t go over board as your attention will be spread thin and you won’t be able to gain much ground. I find https://www.codeschool.com/ has great material, just like FCC (it’s paid for but 50% off till June 30th) but it’ll give you a different perspective. There’s different paths and most of the popular frameworks and what not in those paths. Also when you feel like you’re getting nowhere with FCC it’ll give you a break while still being able to keep working towards your goal

  4. This site was actually very very helpful when it came to overcoming self doubt and so many of the myths surrounding people being born to handle math or computing etc etc. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn the creator of that course was good at language like yourself but her self doubt kept her from pursuing maths and science but later on she realised it was nothing but practice and persistence along with science based research on learning and retention, that she goes into what a person becomes. I highly highly recommend going through this one. It was free when I signed up and probably has an audit feature so you can watch for free.

Good luck

ps even after years of trying i’m still a ‘newbie’ but I feel at points i’ve broken through and made gains but still on the path to learning :slight_smile: don’t give up.

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Greetings,

I can understand your frustration and low self-esteem as it pertains to learning to program. I would like to offer you a few words of advice which might help you in your journey.

  1. Confusion is the first sign of learning. If you find that something is easy, it isn’t worth doing and you should keep challenging yourself until you can maintain this constant state of confusion. Failure is a good thing! It’s an opportunity to get better!
  2. Forget the idea that computer languages are like human languages. Human language is for the expression of ideas whereas computer language is for the expression of logic.

To make things easier for you, I would recommend taking a course or looking over a text book which explains how computers function. A good start might be an A+ certification prep book. This will teach you how the CPU works with RAM and peripheral devices in a computer to perform the computer’s various functions. Understanding how simple the computer is at the machine level will help you get a grasp of why computer languages work the way they do and will also give you an idea of what concepts are best to focus on.

There really isn’t as much math as you might think involved in programming unless you are trying to do specific types of programming. I find that I spend much more time dealing with strings of characters than trying to reteach myself calculus to solve a problem.

Don’t focus on the particular language. Instead, focus on the core programming concepts.
Also, try not to think of Free Code Camp as the end-all be-all place to learn web programming… I sort of see it as just a good place to practice javascript and working with JSON api’s… To be honest. This program is incomplete in most other sections and doesn’t provide much value to a programmer beyond what I just mentioned. So, with this in mind it’s important to understand that you’ll have to go to other websites and take other courses and spend many hours in other places learning to be a good web developer.

Here’s a list of the things I’ve studied so far… I put them in a better order as I mostly just haphazardly learned these concepts on my own as I went. But maybe this will help you discover a path you can go down in your learning experience.

WHAT TO LEARN::

Learn what variables are and how they are assigned
learn the difference between data types, how they are used and the difference between implicit and explicit data type rules
try experimenting and performing different functions on datatypes to learn how the computer “understands” and operates on them. Learn the difference between integers, doubles, characters, strings, and booleans.
learn how decision statements work… “if , else if,” You can study logic tables to give you a good idea of how these work…
learn how the switch statement works
learn how to use looping statements effectively… Experiment by building loops within loops using numbers and strings of characters to see what kind of results you get.
learn how functions work and how they can be beneficial to you in writing DRY (Don’t repeat yourself) code

Once you get this far… you’ll be a pretty effective procedural programmer… Now on to object oriented programming

Take everything you’ve learned from the procedural part and start studying classes and objects… Javascript object notation (if using javascript) then jump to different languages such as php, python, or C# and start looking at classes

learn about Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism, and overloading

Learn good error handling and the try {} catch {} exception

Now since your a web programmer, there’s some extra things you have to think about that desktop programmers don’t have to deal with. You’ll have to think about how web servers work and how they dish out data to people on the internet…

So you’ll want to learn about Session data,
Learn how cookies work and with that learn SECURITY SECURITY SECURITY
Learn some SQL and MongoDb and how to interact with those databases
Learn the difference between GET and POST methods and when it’s appropriate to use either.

Finally! You want to remember to always be WRITING CODE… Experiment! Think of something you’ve always wanted to do and then just try to do it! Struggle with it! Stay up all hours of the night and make your friends and family think you’ve gone completely insane!

I think once you’ve done all this… You’ll be a pretty confident and competent programmer and your self-esteem will shoot through the roof. And you’ll deserve it!

Good luck to you. And happy coding!

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Thanks for the response … no offense taken (please don’t take offense to my spelling of “offence” … I’m American, and I can’t help it ;)).

While I would agree that math is a subset of programming, I would argue that if you’re dealing with math within your programming, more times than not, you will be given a formula or formulae to integrate into the application, and so at that point, it’s a logic-driven activity to get it in place and the have it tested … again, more times than not. I actually have a BS in Mathematics and a minor in CS, and as I mentioned, there have been very few times where I personally (and most devs that I know) have done much beyond basic algebra to satisfy a solution to the given problem. I recently worked with an amazing data analysis guy, and he used all kinds of statistics in his queries to create a self-correcting model for an application that he maintained … really bright guy … but that was for SQL, not on the programming side of things. Again, it’s not that I’m suggesting that some level of mathematics knowledge doesn’t come into play with programming … I’m merely letting the OP know (and she happens to be more focused on the front-end side of things, I believe) that her level of math shouldn’t scare her away from staying the course while she’s learning how to program, as it’s mostly a matter of problem solving and logic … these are two things that need to be exercised regularly, and those “muscles” will grown over time if exercised properly. And, if you’re worried about math in programming, either (a) brush up on some math using Khan Academy (it’s free), or (b) stay out of heavy math-driven industries (science, financial, etc.) … there are plenty of programming jobs that don’t involve much in the way of math.

Also, good point on the IQ. I was coming from a stream-of-consciousness place when I responded to her last night, because I was feeling her pain coming from a place of self-doubt, gender inequality, and believing in other misinformation. You are correct about IQ if we consider some people who may have quite a bit less than the average IQ (around 90-110) are probably not as capable, but then I would argue (and should have stated) that those people are generally not compelled to even consider a path of any kind to becoming proficient in programming. I suppose my point really is that there are a number of factors other than IQ to consider as to why someone should attempt learning how to program (logical mind, enjoys problem-solving, likes challenges, enjoys technology, etc.). I’ve known a few folks that have 150+ IQs and talked with me about learning to program, and just didn’t have enough patience and passion for it, so they quickly gave up. Are they “capable”? … probably, but they’ll never be any good at it if they don’t want to pursue it, and that on some level says that they are actually not capable. I’ve also known some folks who don’t seem to have a good deal of common sense, and you wonder how they get out of bed and function, but they can code like it’s nobody’s business. So, I’m simply trying to point out that most folks that go into development shouldn’t hang their hats on an IQ score … there are tons of successful people who have average IQs and do quite well in many complex endeavors, including programming, and there are plenty of people who have far above average IQs that struggle to find meaning in anything they do.

The OP is just starting out, and we know very little about who she is (IQ, background, emotional state (good or bad) due to parenting and environment, etc.), so we can only go by what’s currently frustrating her, and my feeling is that saying that IQ is a limiting factor defeats the purpose of attempting to help. She clearly has the interest … not quite sure if the money is the driving motivator here or not, but she reached out for help, and that speaks to her desire to become better. If the OP is truly interested in learning to program and make a career of it, then let’s encourage and not discourage.

One of the great things about this industry is that, by and large, it automatically weeds out those that don’t truly enjoy programming for the sake of it, but can be so wonderfully rewarding for those that do.

For the OP, here’s a fun read by Jeffrey Way (Tuts+) on his take on the phases of becoming a software engineer:

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Hi wildrice,

Thank you for your reply. A few good points there.

I understand programming industry can be intense and lifelong learning is a must… Which is what I’d love the most -without constant brain stimulation of acquiring new knowledge I feel dead. I have no idea how my friends from uni (they live and work in the same country as they were born, as opposed to me) work 9-5 and never learn anything new…

I wouldn’t say that money is the driving force of me getting into web dev. I could go into sales, or finance (if I really wanted, I do have business degree hence some business knowledge even though it’s from third-world country). It’s just the mere idea of being a salesperson makes me uncomfortable…Whereas being a developer sounds like something I’d enjoy - creating something, solving problems, I feel like it could be rewarding. It is a struggle to find a job, any job at this point (that’s why doing another degree), but money is not the main reason I’m learning to code.

Re your ideas about math - I agree you don’t need Discrete Maths, Linear Algebra or Differential Equations…Saying that, I’ve done all those subjects in my first 2 years of BC of Economics…I’m familiar with them. I’ve never been better than ‘pass’ grade, but I don’t know if its it due to my ‘lack of math abilities’ or just too much partying :smiley:

Honestly I have no idea what my IQ is, I’m too scared to take a test in case it’s too low :smiley:

True about ‘encourage not discourage’ - I am very good at discouraging myself but not the other way around… So thank you guys for doing that!

Cheers!

PS Great article on phases of web dev career! I’m on phase 3 I guess waiting for that ‘Aha’ kitty moment :slight_smile:

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Hi donyd,

Great reply.

Can I ask where are you from (where girls are considered smarter than boys?) I agree stereotypes differ but still are unreliable source of info.

I used codepen only for submitting fcc challenges (like tribute page). It’s a little confusing they don’t have the full html boilerplate with all the stuff and it seems now I’m used to writing stuff in Atom (code editor). Also, it was 16AUD/month and I gave up my subscription since I’m not using it much.

Following that link on coursera you have to pay for it right? I’m mainly interested in free resources since I’m not making any money atm I can’t really afford to spend much, and it’s not fair to put more burden on my hard-working husband lol. Same goes for codeschool. Is there a free way of watching some cool videos about learning? So far in terms of online resources I’m only paying for Udemy course only because people really seem to benefit from it and its one-time 20AUD purchase (no monthly subscriptions).

cheers!

Hi looticrous,

Thank you for your response!

I guess the word ‘language’ is what made me think I could relate linguistics and programming. I understand now they are different.

Good idea about taking a computer functions related course. Do you happen to know any free resources I could use to study something like that? I’ve been watching Harvard CS50 lectures on YouTube for the past few days and they make sense to me although they start with C and use a lot of terminology I’m yet to get familiar with. I agree that basic concepts rather than particular language would benefit me more, as I can then apply those concepts to any specific language.

Wow, there are lots of things to learn out there. Thank you for putting them all as a ‘to-do’ list (I do like lists). This will definitely take more than a couple of months :slight_smile:

Cheers!

Hello Sonicakes,

As cliché as it sounds, I completely feel your pain. I enrolled in a Mobile and Desktop Web Development course this past November. I have one year to complete the following courses:

  1. Intro to HTML
  2. Intro to CSS Training
  3. Advanced CSS Training
  4. Intro to JavaScript
  5. Advanced JavaScript Training
  6. HTML5 Training for Web Developers
  7. jQuery Fundamentals Training
  8. Responsive Web Design Training
  9. JQuery Mobile
  10. Intro to SQL
  11. Intro to PHP
  12. Intro to XML
  13. Ajax Training

And…

  1. Final Project

I have 1-year to complete all of these modules in an online self-paced program. Although the program I am involved in is self-paced, time continues to tick and I can only go back and try to learn a topic that is not clear so many times before I feel as if I am falling behind. I found learning the syntax extremely difficult fairly early in the program and became overwhelmed with the thought of having to memorize all of this. I swear there are days that I think learning how to write in Chinese would be easier. To make matters worse, if I run into problems, help is only available online by submitting your questions through the course portal. In addition, I have to keep an eye on my progress (or lack thereof) because at the end I have to allow time for the final exam, plus a final project in which I have to create a website, based on course-given criteria, which will showcase everything I have fumbled to learn. Once everything is successfully completed, along with my Final Project, then a certificate of completion will be awarded.

My confidence level is low and I have my doubts of successfully meeting the November deadline with everything complete. Being a 54-year old male who has worked in marketing and program management through my working life hasn’t exactly been the foundation to guaranty success in this chosen career path. Yet, I hear all the time of people from all walks of life; male or female, old or young, who have gone on to learn web development and have become “rock stars” in the industry, who are ultimately commanding impressive starting salaries.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I completely identify with your struggles and frustrations. If this is something that you’re committed to learn and you see a bright future for yourself after it’s done, then stick with it and explore all your available resources to succeed. The beauty of FreeCodeCamp is that there’s no deadline. That’s a huge plus.

Good luck,

  • Adrian
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You have an econ degree, and some higher level math under your belt, and it’s not about the money for you … all great things to hear. Don’t worry about your IQ … it’s a number that psychologically makes people feel better or worse, but given your background as I now understand it, it’s not the defining thing that determines your ability to code or not.

YOU are that defining thing.

As I said before, stay the course … dig your heels in and go after this if you truly want it. You mentioned somewhere that you’ve been at this for 2-3 months if I remember reading that correctly. You’re at the beginning, so be at the beginning. Don’t fret about whether or not you’ll be able to do this. If you really do want it, you’ll find your way through this, but you have to be willing to spend time with it, and ask questions, seek out help, seek out the answers … and just play with the tech.

I believe that I have enough info now about you to think that you are perfectly capable of learning to program. Now it’s your turn … you have to believe it, and start acting like you can learn it (which, if you’re going through this program … guess what?! … you are learning it ;), so how cool is that?!).

There is so much available online and in a variety of communities, and you have already reached out once here … don’t be afraid to do that again. Trust me, we’ve all been in that place where we wonder if we’re gonna get it … I still do from time to time, but you just keep after it.

Anyway, I’ve made my points and don’t want to ramble … the industry needs more developers and programmers, which is why Quincy is doing this (FCC). Change your lens and see yourself being in this industry … now go be that person!

Best of luck!

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