Hi, I recently decided to get into the coding/web development game. I’ve spent the last 10 days learning html and CSS and feel I’ve understood and picked it up quite quickly.
From what I understand, if I’m to pursue a career I want to really focus most of my attention on one language, and it should be something I feel comfortable with. But at the same time I should gain a basic understanding of javascript to go with html and CSS.
I started going through the javascript basics module this evening and I have to say I really don’t like the syntax. I just did the section called “Word Blanks” and I don’t know how they expect anyone to solve that from using the previous slides and the instructions. There was no mention of this stuff: “+adVerb+” and why on earth do you have to add the code to an undefined variable rather than just assigning it straight to the variable???
var result = “”
result+=“code…”
This was the solution (I had to look at the spoiler or I would never have got it)
var result = "My " + myAdjective + myNoun + myVerb + myAdverb + “home.”
Very confusing. So yea would people recommend that it is critical to complete all this javascript module? I’ve been very impressed with the courses so far in terms of explaining things to the user, but that “Word Blanks” exercise was not cool…
I understood the adding of spaces. It was the use of quotations around the blank words and the + symbols on each end of them that confused me, and that was because it wasn’t taught in the exercise or any of the previous ones.
if your career aspiration is to only do website design (not development), the HTML and CSS and the CSS libraries/extensions are probably all you need.
In my area of the world, there are very little jobs though for website designers and a whole lot of jobs for website developers (the ones who can do javascript and understand its many extenders/libraries and who know a database language like SQL) This is because in my area there are a lot of startups that need ‘unicorn designers and developers’. That is, designers that can do a little development, and developers who can do a little design.
As for your concerns about understanding javascript, I do hope that if you decide to pursue learning it here (or pursue learning any other programming language for that matter) that you can learn the valuable skill of researching your concerns and connecting with others to advance your knowledge. That is, if you don’t understand something, look it up (either in the website or anywhere on the internet) and/or connect with people (such as on this forum) who can help you advance your knowledge or answer your questions. These two skills will help you in the future if you end up working as a developer.
if your career aspiration is to only do website design (not development), the HTML and CSS and the CSS libraries/extensions are probably all you need.
In my area of the world, there are very little jobs though for website designers and a whole lot of jobs for website developers (the ones who can do javascript and understand its many extenders/libraries and who know a database language like SQL) This is because in my area there are a lot of startups that need ‘unicorn designers and developers’. That is, designers that can do a little development, and developers who can do a little design.
I have to say the design side of things is probably more my kinda thing, but like you mention, what demand there is and what job opportunities there are is important. I’ve only been going 10 days, (and about 1 hour on JS) so I will persevere. I know I am going to have to devote some serious time to this if I want to make a career of it.
My aim, and main reason for doing this, is to become a remote worker. With that in mind, what advice can you give me in terms of focusing on certain areas of web design/development, and also career ladder advice if I’m to give myself the best opportunity of eventually going remote.
I am finding it is hard to answer you without some personal knowledge of who you are and your geography. So I’m just going to have to share with you some anecdotes and hope they lead you the right way. (though they may do the opposite!)
First thing I want to say is: don’t worry about this now. Reason? You are not at the level of expertise or experience needed to seriously consider remote development. The ones I know or heard of who have successfully managed a remote dev job have had many years experience with the company or field they are in (and ended up working remotely through personal changes in their circumstances). That is, they were good at what they did, they had a good reputation with the people they were working with, and thus were able to sell and sustain their position as a remote-developer when they left. Everyone though ended up freezing their career when they left to work remotely. (and they were passed over for managerial positions because they weren’t in the office, so when they got older, and found themselves unsatisfied with being developers only, they were stuck and unable to move up in the company) So I want to say: learn; find an office job and gain experience doing that; increase your experience and your network; then consider remote dev work then.
Ok but what if you’re not thinking of joining a company at all and just freelancing? well I’ve heard of that (even here on FCC) and it seems there is some online websites that discuss the challenges in trying to sell your services to strangers etc. I would encourage you to look those up to see if this would suit you.
Are there other opportunities for remote dev out there? perhaps. You can answer that by going to your favorite job search sites and looking for those. Read their experience and technical skills requirements. Maybe make a table of the ones most commonly referenced and then you’ll know where to focus your efforts. For eg. I recently looked up something like this and found lots of people who are willing to hire remote developers want them to be Wordpress ninjas. In your area it may differ. Therefore you should do that research so you can help guide your current/future efforts.
Finally if you know someone who is a remote software developer already, just arrange to pick their brain on how they did it. (and what they like or regret about it). That’s probably an even better way of finding your way forward than anything else I’ve said.
Hello - was reading the thread here… I think that it is important to learn JS and everything that you possibly can even if you want to be more on the design side of things. If you are only on the design side, the extra knowledge will give you insight on how to design something that is workable for the developers to do. You’ll understand where they’re coming from if there is an issue.
Another thing: go for your dreams! If you want to be a remote worker, then that’s awesome! That’s what I’m looking for too and the more skills I get under my belt, the more interest I have in my resume from companies. I haven’t gotten hired yet, but I also haven’t been applying for that long. And be dedicated and learn to ‘hone your craft’ so to speak.