I have hit a wall with my learning progression and I need help

Hey everyone,

I am currently learning HTML & CSS - to which I have grasped a strong understanding of the basics, but I am struggling with positioning and layouts (something I can’t get my head around).

Through freeCodeCamp - I am beginning to use Bootstrap and I have a few thoughts and issues I would like to address, and have your thoughts and opinions on them:

Should I fully learn how to use HTML & CSS before using a framework like Bootstrap? as I am under the understanding that a lot of the styling and positioning of elements is already “pre-styled” through the use of Bootstrap and this way I am not learning how to properly style and position things.

Also, can anyone advise me of a standard practice to achieve a responsive design. I have seen things like flex box, media-queries and of course Bootstrap, and this has me confused as to which direction I should learn towards.

Additonally, if anyone can point me toward some learning materials I would be very grateful.

I am of course still progressing through the FCC course, but I am not sure if using Bootstrap is limiting my knowledge of CSS.

I hope what I have said has made sense, and you can address my issues clearly.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew

This is somewhat debatable, people have different opinions, but I would say yes, that would be beneficial. I mean, there is nothing wrong with using Bootstrap in your first few projects, but you should learn plain CSS at some point. I’d say sooner the better.

This is quite a complex topic, but:
Shay Howe’s guide. - There is a section on positioning. Also, he has an advanced guide, which covers flexbox.
A complete flexbox guide on CSS tricks - this made my life sooo much easier.
Basically, for me flexbox is the easiest way to achieve responsive website without crapton of code and media queries (altho you will want to use those also).

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No. You should get to learning how to program, and then circle back to HTML and CSS.

If you were to only use Bootstrap, this may be true. Instead, think of Bootstrap as a scaffolding around which you can build a much more customized site. My own portfolio page uses Bootstrap, and I still ended up with about 700 lines of styling. You should know that being a CSS whiz isn’t the goal of FreeCodeCamp, and that the sooner you get to learning JavaScript, the better.

You have a lot to learn still, and you’re delaying the stuff that really matters. When you build projects, you’ll find yourself learning all the CSS and HTML you need.

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From: #110: Quick Overview of CSS Position Values | CSS-Tricks - CSS-Tricks

Cheers and happy coding :slight_smile:

The learning never stops. Just when you think you’ve learned enough. Someone else comes along show you a project that baffles you. LOL

It is nice to use bootstrap, but one should also know CSS as well. I am sure not all companies will use bootstrap for their css quickfix.

I typically like to do my projects from scratch, every time I finish a project. I find new mistakes and new ways to do things.

I recommend DevTips from YouTube, in particular his CSS videos.

Even though he uses SASS for CSS you can still learn a lot of cool tricks from his videos. I personally learned how to use @keyframes to create custom animations from watching one of his videos.

Standard practice for responsive design? I’m not a professional at this but I would say using the viewport meta tag in your HTML and not using px - instead, use em, vw, vh, %. Play around with it in codepen to see how it works.

For positioning, understand the difference between absolute and relative, inline and inline-block. For easy horizontal centering inside a div, use “margin: 0 auto” along with “position: relative”. Realize that there’s more than one way to get the same effect.

Hi,

Funny enough I was about to post a very similar post. I have been doing the FCC for about 3 weeks and I also seem to have hit a wall when I see other people projects. I am not happy with mine and feel stuck.
By reading your topic I come to understand that this is probably ok.
Again, from comparing our very similar experiences I would say: we are stuck? Then chances are there is a new technology out there we know nothing about/an element.

So the conclusion I came to reach is, when you hit a wall with your project/a partciular element, stop it, learn new things and get back to it.

Thanks for sharing!

Hi,

Found this last night… i think for bootstrap is quite helpful and the “Cheat Sheet” is a “must-have” for beginners like us.

http://www.newthinktank.com/2015/11/learn-bootstrap-one-video/

The video:

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