How do you guys/gals go about working the curricula? Do you take paper notes, online notes like with OneNote, or is there a way to review what you have done/go over things you deem important in the FCC modules/lessons? I reviewed Slate in GitHub and was honestly overwhelmed by how to use it. I mean I don’t even know what Markdown is and when I looked it up thought how in the world am I going to take notes in that format?
What is the best way to make sure I fully understand what I just did? Go to YouTube on the subject? Thanks.
Side questions not that important:
Is the C programming language covered in FCC?
How do I learn how to use GitHub?
I think that I have seen multiple campers answer this with every possible answer over the last three years - from not taking notes at all to recording every challenge solution with notes and references in organized digital notebooks. My personal answer is that when I’m learning something new, I take physical notes because it helps me take time to consider and understand what I’m reading/hearing about. But then I just throw those notes out because it was the act of putting my thoughts into words that helped me.
Basically, go with whatever works for you. In the end, what really matters is that you’re working with the code. You’re practicing regularly and you’re tinkering. Don’t worry about memorizing anything - syntax, algorithms, whatever. What you need to know off the top of your head will get there by repeated use. The rest takes less than a minute to look up.
Nope. FCC is always growing, but I don’t think C is anywhere on the horizon. I like “C How to Program” by Dietel and Dietel. No need to get the newest edition. C is an old language and new editions are just part of the textbook racket.
If you just google that, you’ll get a ton of resources. The top one will probably be GitHub’s own Try GitHub. If you’re still sort of lost on what GitHub is even about, I really like starting people with Git and GitHub in Plain English.
Thank you! Physical note taking as in pen to paper or using OneNote, etc? Why is C the introductory course for most computer science programs if it is old and outdated?
That’s great to know about not memorizing everything, I was about to be making flash cards maybe. Does FCC give a platform to practice and tinker within the lessons or do I need to go to some outside source?
I take my notes with pen-and paper. It’s what works for me. I do love OneNote (or similar) for keeping track of things that I’ll need to look up but can’t google. I especially use them at work to create my own “for dummies” guides to things that I do infrequently - like re-image a development box or compile and install parts of the application that I don’t work on.
C is old, but it isn’t outdated. Your operating system is written in C. The fact that it’s been around for longer than most of us have been alive just means that you are perfectly safe buying used books.
I’m guessing that you haven’t actually spent much time on FCC yet. Every lesson is an opportunity to practice and tinker.
I’ve heard from a user on reddit that learning just Git (like you said) is essential, not learning GitHub (I didn’t know they were separate things). They kept reiterating “learn Git from the command line.”
GitHub is a platform that provides free git repositories. There are other options. I mentioned GitHub specifically because most FCC users have a GitHub account linked to their FCC account. Nearly all resources you find will teach you Got from the command line, including GitHub’s tutorial.