Learning too many things and forgetting the older ones

You Can Do This!
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Its a long thread with what seems like lots of great replies that I haven’t read completely, but wanted to leave my encouragement too. I once joined a top rated coding bootcamp (Fullstack Academy) where I was unable to keep up and was eventually politely asked to leave mid-course. I thought I learn slower than others (I still think this might be true for coding concepts). However after sticking to it for the past year or two, I’ve now completed the course at another bootcamp that many consider as challenging, if not more challenging (Codesmith).

Yes, as others have said, programmers often cannot remember everything, and frequently use Google to remind ourselves how to do something, or to find out how to do something new. The thing about programmers is, we have to be engineers - i.e. solves new problems using the tools that we are given. In some cases, it can be a problem that nobody has ever solved before, so there may be no resource to tell us how to do it. It is also a skill to be able to read documentation on how something works, then figure out how to do it without a step by step on how. For this, you’ll eventually get to the projects on freecodecamp.

It seems like a big jump at first that you learn HTML and CSS then boom, make something from a blank page that works! If you stick to this course and do the projects you WILL learn a lot (at least, that is my experience). In many cases, you won’t even notice yourself improving, but as long as you keep going without too many long breaks, you will continue to grow.

Remember to do the exercises not to get the completion check marks, but to make sure you learned what was being taught at each step. I don’t rush through the exercises just because I got the completion check mark. If I find a piece of code online on how to accomplish something, I don’t just copy and paste it necessarily. If I can learn something from it, I’ll look at it and try to understand how the logic works (sometimes it is fairly proprietary, such as how an API works).

That being said, if you are short on money you may consider looking for another job that is in the field that you are used to and continue to study on the side. Not all of us have the luxury of being able to take off a year to learn how to code, and it will take most people at least 3-4 months to be good enough to get a Junior engineer job (there are obviously exceptions here and there, but being realistic here) and that is HEAVY hours everyday typically. More realistically, I see even the coding bootcamp students take about 6+ months to reach a junior level and build some projects to show off to prospective employers, so you should expect it to take at least half a year realistically even if you devote yourself pretty well.

As you practice this field more and more, you tend to learn more, and what once seemed like really complex concepts one day become understandable and even teachable. Stick to it if you like/love it, and try not to change your path too often as it will probably slow you down (switch from Java/ C++ to Python, to Javascript, etc.). The freecodecamp course is nice in that it (besides being completely free) has a structured curriculum where you learn one thing, then another, until after a point you will be employable as Junior (or better!) engineer. The curriculum is a good one that focuses only on one language - Javascript - to teach front and back end. If you follow it, I (and many others) believe you will become employable one day. Sometimes its hard to know what to study, so this course is great for that.

There is also the awesome community to help and encourage you along. :slight_smile:

Make no mistake this is a difficult journey for all of us. Its not high paying with good benefits by being easy. REMEMBER it is hard as you go through this journey. There was many times (and continues to be) where I wondered if I will ever understand X or Y.

Good luck. :slight_smile:

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Please read my post on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/diw2yb/from_jobless_to_junior_frontend_developer_in_5/

I think it can help answer your question

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@saito200 Could you please tell me more about that Anki Cards / Janki Method that you used to learn and more important, remember the things learned.

I’ve never heard about this kind of things (maybe it’s because here in Italy things take a lot to arrive).

I am the kind of person who takes longer than is necessary to learn and remember things. Maybe because sometimes I’m even distracted and so it’s easier for me to forget things. That kind of Anki / Janki could help me to remember better.

Like you, during my firt 2 courses (HTML Base and CSS Base) I took notes on a WordPad. I felt that if I write notes, I would have remembered things better. It isn’t always true and rarely I look at my notes to help me to remember.

Now I should start the 3rd CSS course (Applied Visual Design) but I don’t feel safe, many of the things I understood in the previous lessons, I don’t remember them anymore. I should start the course again from the beginning.

Anyway somehow the challanges helped because if I read the HTML Code, I can understand the logic behind it but I can’t replicate it on my own.

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I’ll try to reply.

Anki is a method of memorization. You download the app, you create question / answer pairs manually, you add them to the app and then you can use it to review the q/a. It has a “smart” repetition system that will ask you more often the questions that you fail.

This is an example of a deck I did from the first 3 modules of FCC: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/299314723

However, I highly recommend you create your own deck instead of using another one. Think of it as part of studying.

Good luck and patience

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Thank you, I’ll have a look!

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Hi Auronzolo,

I do understand you feel you need to repeat the lesson, and that might be the best way for you, but I also wanted to suggest actually trying the first project after you complete HTML/CSS. I find the best way to learn what I just did a tutorial on is to build something. The first project is not too bad.

Its only a suggestion. If you still feel redoing the lesson is optimal, I would not stop you any further.

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@gxcad At the moment I’ve followed the course until to the “Basic CSS” section.
Should I follow the “Applied Visual Design”, “Applied Accessibility” section and the following ones?

Because at the moment I don’t feel I’m learning something. I can read throught the code and understand what It does but I can’t write code only by myself, I don’t remember all the things, I need to read HTML / CSS Base again

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May I suggest “ Learn how Learn” free course from Coursera. You can pick up some useful learning technics from there.
Good luck!

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I’ve watched some videos about that course.

Something I’ve learned is about the Tomato technique and repeat the concept / things learned over the time and not all of them once in a day. Now I understand why I don’t remember much of what I’ve studied about HTML (but not only, this problem applies to many situations in life when you study a lot).

From how I “studied” it is as if I had only read things but I have not fixed the syntax and concepts in my mind; I will certainly try a different approach next time.

This kind of tips on “how to learn” should help me with HTML & CSS, since most of the subjects is all about “memory” (you write something and you get the results). As soon as I will start the JS section I know it will be painful, due to the fact I had to do with C# and besides memorizing the syntax, I will need to develop the logic, a lot of logic. I’m ok with the fact that practice makes perfect BUT Is there a way to speed up JS learning? I don’t think there is an answer and useful answer to this … I imagine that if we take 2 people, it is possible that one of the two will learn faster than the other, just because each person’s brains are different from each other

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@Auronzolo I was in the same lane in the past where you are today. I will help you out. Always remember, it’s natural for humans to forget. We are not here to memorize everything in our brains. If we humans are to memorize then what’s the use of Internet and books?

You need to understand the very fundamentals of what you are learning and you should know the possibilities of the language or concept you are learning.

Consider HTML. I bet you, I and everyone else will forget the majority of the tags after a week. But you will remember that there’s a way to add images, there are some semantic tags, tags can have attributes and things like that. When you get stuck like “Ummm… I can’t recollect which tag is used for dropdown menu”. Simply Google it and look at MDN’s article.

Now the question arises when you will get stuck?

Answer: You will get stuck when you will build projects, right? As you’ll build more projects, you will realize things come to code naturally :).

Solve the challenges calmly and experiment with each challenge. Then build projects. If you get stuck ask the Internet. Happy coding.

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Thank you @vivek-agrawal27

Do you remember what did you do in the beginning, like me? I mean, how did you organized the study of HTML / CSS?
You studied for an hour, you stopped, you tried to put into practice what you had learned and then when you finished you went on with the theory?

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When it came to HTML and CSS, it took me some time to learn.

Keep in mind that programmers don’t memorize everything, but rather know what it is and how to use it. They can then do further research into it when they are using it. I know what keyframes are, but I can’t remember how to use them exactly.

Eventually, you will learn memorize a lot of HTML/ CSS over time simply by practice. I also struggled with HTML/CSS a ton until I used flexbox. It is so easy and practical that I can’t believe that it isn’t more widely known. Every annoying HTML thing like putting Items into flexible rows and columns are all solved in a matter of a few lines of CSS code.

Learning simple tricks and tips like that will ease up your programming experience.

I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it. – Bill Gates

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As Larry Wall, the inventor of Perl, put it: the three virtues of a programmer are Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris. (slightly more at http://threevirtues.com)

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@Auronzolo

You’re not the only one who keeps forgetting stuffs (I’m still looking at docs from time to time) :slight_smile: I started learning fcc back in 2016. Had some love/hate relationship with JS (learning inconsistently), took a break then trying to learn Elm.

If you’re stuck or confused with css flex/grid, maybe you could try this flexbox froggy, css grid garden, and css selector games. HTH

edit: typo

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@soyjeansoy
I’m still at the part related to HTML / CSS. Im trying to find a way to remember what I’m learning.

HTML / CSS I think they’re a matter of memorizing tags and syntax. The real challenge will come with JavaScript.

I haven’t arrived at the FlexBox part yet. Is it a difficult topic?

At the moment, i did all the lessons about HTML and I’m trying to build a really simple HTML page about myself; I’m putting inside this page every tag learned reading the HTML Challanges.

I’ve also finished the “CSS Basic” part (44 Challanges)

I will have to look at it again because I remember little and then I will have to apply everything I have learned to my personal web page.

When I will finish my small project, trying to remember as much as possible, I will move on to the “Applied Visual Design” part.

Unfortunately I have not yet figured out if my study method works as it should.

Do you think the FCC tutorials are enough or should I go and read the relevant documentation on Mozilla Dev for each topic?

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@Auronzolo I started HTML/CSS with MDN’s course: Learn web development | MDN. After completing a portion they ask you to build an assignment. The approach is same as freeCodeCamp. Study enough so that you can build something and keep moving forward.

Good luck. Happy coding.

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@Auronzolo

Do you think the FCC tutorials are enough or should I go and read the relevant documentation on Mozilla Dev for each topic?

IMHO, You might be overwhelmed with Mozilla’s docs although you could try to start there.

Unfortunately I have not yet figured out if my study method works as it should.

What I did when I started learning HTML/CSS was trying to mimic the design of a button (roundness, shadow, like super simple at first), then add an image (if its too simple for you, you could experiment like make it responsive, but not too complex).

When I will finish my small project, trying to remember as much as possible, I will move on to the “Applied Visual Design” part.

It’s really up to you whether you want to soak more info as much as you can, or not. Repetition with task(s) might be helpful to some. But the most important thing I learned from coding: be aware of the term fomo (fear of missing out).

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Sorry for late reply. I don’t think you need to memorize how to write code. Everything you can’t remember how to do, write your own code as you look at examples until you don’t need the examples anymore.

Professional software engineers consult documentation pretty much every day. We can’t remember how to write everything, and thats why sites like MDN and stackoverflow are so popular! Its ok not to memorize everything, thats not the point of engineering.

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@gxcad
Maybe I caught your point of view.
The elements of HTML & CSS should not all be learned by heart: better remember the fundamental concepts and know that these two technologies allow you to do things, have at least a vague idea of ​​what can be done. Then if you do not remember the code, you can consult the documentation for example Mozilla Dev.

But the study lets you know that there is a way to do that.