Hello! I started learning code this year! I stopped for a few weeks because I caught covid and then bronchitis infection following. It was the worst, but I’m finally better again and can get back to learning.
So far I’ve learned html and css (I still have a bit of trouble centering things with it lol).
Right now I’m starting Javascript which already feels challenging, but I’m excited about it. I’m also an artist and I work part-time at a library. I started coding because I like trying new things and I hope can be a career change for me. Library work has been kind of rough since 2020 and I haven’t been able to go full time with them despite my many efforts. So hoping to carve out a new pathway for myself.
One thing I haven’t managed to do is find any coding community. Any tips for finding/joining them? I found a fb group but they just post memes and don’t really talk.
Thanks!
I have a vague idea about this one.
What kind of community do you want to find?
Here is the cool community. If you have issues/questions about some code, just post it.
Here is no memes, mostly talking about specific code-related issues.
I am currently searching for some local communities in my area, but I think it’s not what you are asking about. This is kinda more IRL stuff. And anyway I just started, don’t have any tips about this process.
I think perhaps the hardest thing about self directed learning is knowing what to work on, and having the discipline to keep at it without any external accountability. When I was starting out (I pivoted in my mid 30s), I completed most of fcc but I had a mentor who helped me which made a huge difference.
Like you said, I think open communities are great for certain things but for obvious reasons, “superCoolCoder123” is probably not thinking deeply about your personal success and may just enjoy posting fun memes (which is great too!).
I have nothing but good things to say about fcc and I have donated money every time I got a new job, but I think fcc should be one of many resources you use on this journey.
I was looking for online meet ups or discord servers. I saw a meet-up I like, but of course they only meet up on a day I’m at work.
That is true! I’ll have to visit the forum and check out the topics. I came here for the first time even though I’ve been using the website for a few months.
Glad to hear that things didn’t get worse and your getting better!
FreeCodeCamp itself is “community focused”, so there are a number of aspects to its community beyond just the curriculum itself.
The most important thing, is nearly everything is volunteer driven, which is why having a community is basically a requirement for FCC to exist.
Other parts of freeCodeCamp that you can take part in right now would be:
The forum is still the primary area to communicate between other members, and Discord isn’t promoted as much as past chat solutions. Youtube and the news feed is worth throwing out there as there’s a lot of content, as it will give you more “over the knowledge horizon” viewpoints to things you might not know about but might find interesting, or at least give you context to what your learning overall.
FreeCodeCamp used to hold in-person meetings, but this stopped during the pandemic. That said, there are still a few meetup groups that have gone back to meeting up in person, but there isn’t currently a dedicated space to hunt those down or organize them well.
I consider FreeCodeCamp to be one of the better coding communities out there for people just starting out, since its volunteer driven and aimed at beginners it fundamentally needs to be as nice as possible to “cast the widest net” to get as many people as possible using it. Ultimately with the goal to go out be successful and “pay it forward” later by donating or contributing back to the platform and community. 
There are alot of coding communities on twitter! I’m a bit new to coding too. I am hoping I become big in the future
Thank you so much for the replies!! I’ll be checking out some of the places you guys mentioned and ofc this forum 
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