Hello everybody ! I’ve just finished the first 110 challenges on Basic JavaScript, and I’m feeling super confused, at the middle of the section I started with problems to pass the challenges , it took me hours, until i entered to the “get a hint” section.
Anyway i don’t feel ready to solve this challenges for myself, I feel super sad right now.
Maybe you guys can tell me your story with JS… It was difficult to learn it? How can I learn better? Maybe videos, another source?
Let me know, i would love to receive some advice on this…
1 Like
If you found yourself relying heavily on “Get a Hint”, maybe you could go back to the challenges where that started happening and try doing them without looking at solutions. Remember that it’s perfectly normal to spend a lot of time on a challenge, but if you get stuck try talking to people here instead of looking at the answer.
1 Like
I might still be ‘cheating’, but when I need the tips, then pass the tests, I reset my code to nothing and try again without any help. Once I can do it again, I’ll wait a few days, reset, and work the answer myself again until I can pass again.
I think that makes sure that the new idea is firmly within my grasp.
It is so great that you keep plugging on. I struggled with the ES6 section as well, because it seems to assume you know javascript and the section just teaches the new way to do it in ES6. I often did not understand the underlying functions because I had not learned them yet. I ended up learning enough about them from googling that I could solve the problem. I intend to go back once I have finished the entire javascript and make sure I can do the ES6 section on my own.
3 Likes
Learning is a path not a single day 
Sometimes it’s harder to talk with people and ask something than look at the hint and resolve it by yourself…talking to people is a kind of hint too…Forget to avoid rabbit hole, be “aware” that you are into and find a way to go out when outside, keep learnings of that travel
It’s pretty cool to find the solution “by yourself” but, at the end, if you’re not familiar with concepts and tech (like searching into an array for example) and ways of doing things, you cannot suck your thumb and wait for the perfect celestial answer !
Indeed, most part of the time there are multiple ways to do (example : if else or switch), test all of them and find your way by repeating exercices or tutorials and by building projects, step by step…
Some people will say you, don’t look at the hint, others say look at it…
A way of learning worked for someone and didn’t for someone else…
Nevertheless, be sure to understand what happens (or not) with the code
You can do some “meta-learning” and learn about how you are learning
Don’t forget to have fun too <3
1 Like
I agree that it’s harder for a lot of us to ask people for help. That’s part of why it’s an important skill to have. This is actually something that has come up in professional performance reviews. Knowing when to ask for help and how to ask for help are skills that many developers struggle with, to the detriment of the whole team.
Another reason that I advocate for asking for help here on the forum (especially if you are concerned by your reliance on the solutions or “hints”) is that we try really hard to help you figure it out. Unless your problem is something like a typo, we won’t just tell you what code to change. I would say that learning from solutions is like learning to ride a bike by watching someone else do it and asking this community for help is like learning to ride a bike with training wheels.
1 Like
I understand your point better now this metaphor is relevant !
I find communication with humans harder than algorithms hahaha
2 Likes
Thank you all for the replies ! I did what you guys recommend me and I feel more comfortable with JS now ! I’m re-doing all the exercises, also watching videos and practising programming logic.
I feel much better, thank you so much !!
1 Like
Hey there OP no need to fell sad. I was in a similar situation and the Data Structures and Algo cert is certainly pretty hard to go through especially as someone completely new to programming like i was. What actually helped me was solving some easy coding challenges from an external source first to try and understand the problems. I used this site: https://edabit.com/ and started at the “very easy” Js problems and then once i felt like i could solve most of them without getting stuck or looking at solutions i then went level higher to the easy ones and so on. Then i came back and continue with the lessons here at FCC. Doing this over and over helped to progress even if it was a bit at a time, hopefully this helps you as well. Best of luck! 
1 Like
I went through Java Script twice. If I knew how the problems applied to a real world situation, I could probably have a deeper understanding. I feel I should know the formulas automatically. The good thing is that there are sites that have formulae as long as you are able to articulate your objective.
1 Like
It seemed to me that the first 110 challenges on Basic JavaScript are the most difficult. In subsequent chapters, much of what has been covered is repeated, and more is revealed. I believe that there is nothing terrible in looking at hints and even sometimes ready-made solutions at the beginning - this is experience. Then you will begin to solve problems yourself
2 Likes
I think it’s okay to see and understand it at first. Then you try to write the code without seeing it again.
If you still need help, that means you haven’t understood it correctly and do the same thing again.
I’ve given a lot of time searching and understanding each part. And I’m also going through the whole “MDN Web Docs” part as well. Sometimes there are YouTube video of coder(s) who has uploaded the problem’s solution of your problem and they explain every line of why they used it.
Whatever I’m suggesting you will make your progress very slow. But, “it does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop” - Confucius
1 Like