Goal: Even if I don’t end up in development, it looks good on a resume that I took the time to learn a new skill.
The curriculum here launched right into things without covering terminology. What’s an attribute? I’m still not sure but I can modify code to get a result. The videos are great with explanations, the instructions for each lesson though are often baffling. I’m nearing the end of the CSS and recently started over, taking notes. This hasn’t helped much. Went over to W3 and took their basic tests to gauge my retention. I got only 60% on the first test and a little over 70% on the second one. (There were many things asked that weren’t covered here.)
Still unable to complete many tasks when confronted with an empty page and direction. I feel like I’ve wasted my time or that I should’ve been building a website from the beginning using the lessons along the way. Is it the curriculum? Is it me? Everyone says to study, but if you aren’t immediately applying that knowledge and regularly using it - for me anyway - it’s pointless.
well… i think this state of mind\thinking happens to almost everybody ( including myself)
For this you have all the World Wide Web for this. That exactly what I was thinking in the beginning and decided that I will make it this way: each and every thing I don’t understand I will research over the internet and write notes down to myself- for me, at least it’s more comfortable when I write the things down- I memorie more and well… i have notes fro reference if I will need some times.
As for example, I’m learning the Javascript now- it goes relatively slowly because, as I said I research about everything, so it goes like 80% of the time is spent in the MDN and the rest in the curriculum. Besides, its kind of fun in my opinion to come to the solution or understanding by yourself. The curriculum built in that way to encourage you to search around. It’s not a school here that you are learning with a teacher… it is a auto-didaction studies. so it will be up to you, what you will discover is usable for you.
was\is same at my side. what Ive done? well… I went to the original codepen project of the FCC, “broke” the Css into smaller blocks and saw what every thing does and what are the possibilities.
Running into walls, sometimes, impostor syndrome that we have from time to time, its ok, its a part of a learning curve…
A method that you should impliment when you’re seartching for an answer or seeking help- is
This approach maked wonders in your attitute toward researching your things!
It is really great that you float it up, because it shows that you are learning and you want to learn!
I just saw this and I am sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine how hard it is on you but I have mad respect for your perseverance to have done CSS! I’ve registered since 2018 and only recently reached CSS curriculum.
But I think I can relate where you are faced with an empty page wonder how on earth do you even start! Holy lord…it always happens to me in addition to my chronic impostor syndrome. I am not sure if this will help but, I’ve done a few things that helped me practice some HTML and CSS even without developing websites from scratch; now that’s hard and I am still a noob.
Do you have a Google Account?
If you do, then you’re gonna like this; I hope . You can try and have a go at Google Site or Blogger for HTML and CSS by creating a new blog or site. Blogger’s blog site have the ‘Layout’ function and under there, you can create an ‘Embed HTML’ widget where you can created a layout by using HTML and CSS. I’ve tried it and was hooked at testing different HTML functionalities there. The change isn’t permanent though because it is a widget and the customization is governed by the bigger HTML template which you can start testing when you feel more confident. Google Site works the same with the HTML embeds. If you’re feeling more adventurous, try checking out the whole website to get ‘reality checks’ on the code that makes up the page by right-clicking and select ‘Inspect’; I assume you are using Chrome Browser. If you relate to some of the codes there, you’re one step closer to frontend dev!
Comments/Blog posts
Another place to start testing your HTML in Blogger is by posting something on the blog. In Blogger, the posts have the feature to change the mode of input from Rich Text to HTML. Since I started to seriously study HTML, I’ve taken every opportunity to use that function whether to make tables in that post, create links, lists, credits or footers and such. It’s a more fun way to do it without thinking about the stress of developing something from the ground up when you have other things to do; work or study.
It can be frustrating and at times, feel so pointless, cause after all the exercises here at freeCodeCamp, I can’t actually make anything just yet. But I think I learned something else; the ease of research. I found that not every developers knows the code of something right off the bat and they too have to Google to find some functionalities. Other than that, I’ve managed to take it easy on the internal self-effacing.
You’re amazing to have identified that you do not have the grasp of CSS and goes back there to understand what it is and take notes; for real…some people don’t for a long long time. I hope the little exercises I’ve shared above can help alleviate some of the frustration you feel – it’s usually because you don’t have something concrete developed by your own hands yet. I am positive you’re gonna break that painful wall of a learning curve and come out victorious.
You can do this! Like @Eldorado82 David said, you are not compelled by anyone to learn this but you initiated this by your own sheer will. When you start feeling like punching your monitor or just eat your keyboard, walk away. Watch an episode on Netflix or two, running or cooking – any soothing repetitive tasks can help calm down the nerves. Or sleep on it. It’s totally ok. It really is.
I look forward to see what you’re up to . Feel free to share it here too when you’re ready
Thank you for the support and suggestions. I actually taught myself some html back before Blogger had many templates. That stayed with me some because you weren’t just creating a site, you were actively using it as a blog. If something didn’t work well, you knew right away, and fixed it fast.
Some things I’ve had to just set aside. For example, I don’t see the point in introducing only a few animation commands in CSS when there are quite a few. I’ve found some sites just for creating pure CSS images and that seems like a better way to learn that.
Having to bounce between curriculum is a bad idea too. When doing knowledge retention exercises at w3, they sometimes said my answer was wrong when it wasn’t. The order of some code (not affecting the outcome) is different there. I’ve given up on the lessons and have started on the first project. Maybe it will be easier to decide what to do with the page then ask how to make it happen rather than cramming things into my head not immediately put to use.
You should dive in! I hear 100 Days of Code is a great motivator.
I’m glad to hear that! I’m more of a functional person anyway so high-five! Information is sought and retained when I have a purpose for it; I can’t learn something I won’t be using…which is a big pity! Blame my 512RAM brain for that. Currently I’m following a Zero to Pandas MOOC course by Jovian.ml in collaboration with freeCodeCamp. It’s grueling to say the least. It’s week 4 and I’ve just finished Assignment 1 (there are 3 in total at the moment) cause the exercise was sooo simple but I can’t for the life of me find the right way to do it.
But I totally support #100DaysofCode cause I found most of my friends benefit from the deadline. Me? It’ll become 365 or more. God knows. But it’s nice to know that good things come in due time…although it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t rant. My mom is the witness to my random growling of frustration at 2am in the morning.
Yep. I know. Just not up to use the hashtag with my learning curve and rate of going isn’t as I hope it’ll be. And I’m not yet in the position to giving code advise just yet. I’m coding everyday and follow the tag at Twitter anyway, so there’s that.
I feel like I just bust an artery or two in my brain. The frustration is climbing up at high rate over steep learning curve. I’m currently learning with Zero to Pandas: Data Analysis with Python…and it was very challenging for me who still have hard time grasping the logic of it. But it was still pretty cool.
Until I thought it was ok to check out the CodinGame beginners game. Man…that sure crushed my motivation. I can safely say…the loops and logic still drive me crazy. Now I’m just mad at everything and wanna eat everything in my fridge.
Keep holding on, peeps…cause I’m hanging by the thread too
You need to get comfortable with not knowing and not understanding. You will only truly understand how to build something once you have finished building it, because only at that point do you have experience of each step involved. When confronted with a challenge try to:
understand the problem. take a good chunk of time just reading the instructions, googling what words or concepts mean, looking at how other people have tackled a problem, reading through their code, seeing what kinds of issues may be involved in solving the challenge. immerse yourself in the problem.
break the problem/project/challenge down into smaller pieces and solve one problem at a time. Try and keep your focus on one small thing at a time (the smaller the better) and don’t be overwhelmed by the whole. Oftentimes completing one small step will lead you to guessing what the next step might be, or you can google it. Do whatever you need to do to get the problem solved, looking up other peoples’ solutions is more than valid and in the real world, preferable to solving a problem from scratch as you can find the optimal solution quickly. with fcc projects focus on passing one test at a time
give the problem as many hours (or days) as it requires to be completed. Don’t rush.
recognise that knowledge compounds over a long period of time. It’s easy to be impatient when you first start as there’s so much to learn but really you will just pick things up over time and there are no shortcuts, you just have to invest the hours.
Go to EdX and take the free “Introduction to Algebra” course. It is non-video, which is my preferred method of learning, like here at FCC, and is taught in small chunks with a narrator leading the way.
As a developer of 4 years experience, I can tell you, most developer jobs do not require much math. Do you have a link to the W3schools quiz with math in it? I’m curious to check it out
