Still not feeling 100% confident

Hey all,

So I’m just about done with the front-end cert. I just need to polish up my tic-tac-toe game then build the Simon game. I still don’t feel 100% confident that I can start working as a front-end developer. I pushed through the front-end program pretty smoothly (was definitely difficult, but I didn’t run into any major hangups). Are my feelings common? Are there any other resources you all know of that would be good for continuing education? I know of the usuals (codeacademy etc) but they all start back at 0. I want to feel pretty solid before I move on to other certs.

Thanks!

What area/s do you not feel confident in?

Good question. I should have elaborated a bit more. I feel super confident with javascript/jquery, but as far as going in and building a solid static site, I still feel a bit uneasy. I guess I feel like there’s a whole lot more css that I don’t even know about. I’m pretty good at looking things up when I need to, but I’d like to really build a solid understanding of css, and be able to just jam things out.

I guess what I need is some good advanced CSS instruction.

Do you think that creating complex CSS layouts will be something that you want to do in the future?

In my experience developers need to be able to apply CSS to be able to bring some styling and interactivity to a project. I’d go as far as saying that creating a complex design, beyond what most Developers should really need to do (visually), is more the role of a website designer.

A designer can take a static design from PS or Sketch and recreate it using more and more complex CSS techniques - though they may then not be able to do anything more interactive/dynamic.

I always want to learn EVERYTHING about every subject I want to learn - but it doesn’t work. I’ve realised that to really progress, I learn things as and when I need them. If I’m working on a project and I need to learn some more involving CSS to achieve the look I want - then I’ll learn how to do it then. For now, I can do without knowing it.

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Yeah that’s a good point. I’m really more interested in actual development (js and other actual languages). I guess I’m just trying to get myself into a professional roll as soon as possible and when I feel ready, and that seems to look more like a design job at this point. I’ve been scoping out jobs on craigslist, and all I’m seeing are design-centric jobs marketing themselves as front-end development. Honestly, I don’t think I even know what a true front-end developer job looks like. It sounds like they’re all a combination of design and development, and that’s what’s causing my lack of confidence.

If development is what you want to do more than design, then don’t worry too much about learning more CSS.

I know what you mean about the job descriptions, a lot of them sound like they want a web designer - they need someone with an understanding of design, who can create static artwork - but then also turn it into an interactive website.

I always think of it that way - web designers can essentially design and create an interactive, but static site. Front-end devs are more involved in creating the functionality of that site - updating content based on user interactions, generating the layout programmatically so that it too is dynamic, connecting to a database/API and retrieving content to display - that kind of thing.

That’s my very simplistic breakdown of it, but I think it’s valid. Design or Development - you can do a bit of both (I know, because that’s what I do) but there is a point whereby you have to be one more than the other.

EDIT: When it comes to job listings, all too often I read a listing and it sounds like they want 3 different roles filled - but they only want to pay 1 person. I remember one position that wanted a Developer with C# skills, but they should also be familiar with email marketing campaigns and should be able to create layouts for print. Developer, Marketer, Designer - 3 roles, 1 salary

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Awesome. Yeah I’ve always heard it’s better to specialize than to know a little bit about everything. Do you have any advice as to what I can do to continue to learn front-end? Any sites you recommend that push beyond what FCC covers?

Thanks so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

I’m not too far into the FCC curriculum myself, but I can see that it covers A LOT!

I have actually stopped myself from looking for other sites, because they all teach the same content - some (like FCC) just do it better than others.

I’m forever being told by the devs in my team that I should find a project of my own to create and build upon. I’ve not yet come up with an idea that I am excited about enough to push forwards with it - though as a step towards that I found a number of courses by Eduonix on Udemy. They do a whole bunch of them, I’m currently doing this one just now - https://www.udemy.com/projects-in-html5/

The projects are the ideal things to practice with - each one teaches/includes different techniques and the code along videos give you some insights into the approach that the instructor takes when building a site from scratch.

Once I get back into the swing of things, I shall be looking to create a project or two of my own and start using the additional skills I have learned to build something of my own.

The only thing I feel 100% confident about is that I will never feel 100% confident when applying for jobs.

One thing that jumps out in your comments about job postings is to consider the source. The types of jobs that are posted on Craigslist are often “I want someone to build my website” one-offs. I doubt you’re going to find many credible development positions advertised there. (If you want to do some of these to fill out your portfolio, go for it.)

On job postings more generally-
Companies suck at writing job postings. They typically tend to be a generic marketing-written paragraph about the company/product followed by a listing of every technology that they can think of associated with the job. They are also wildly optimistic about experience levels. If you feel like the gist of the job description fits you, ignore the inconvenient details and apply anyway.

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That’s actually exactly what I’m looking for! I have the same problem too, coming up with an idea for my own project. I’ve been searching for free APIs but noting seems all that appealing to me. The more projects I build though, I think the more confident I’ll become. I want to have a really solid portfolio. Some of the FCC projects seem pretty valuable, but others don’t seem dynamic enough, or end up with that ‘wow’ factor. I guess that’s partially on me. I’m trying to incorporate more CSS animation, but that gets back into CSS haha.

Thanks again, dude. This chat has been super helpful.

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This forum has been very helpful to me too1
Thanks guys1

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You never will.

…and if you do, it’s a red flag that you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough.

There’s always something new to learn, just beyond the horizon of your ability. :slight_smile:

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That site may be useful for at least seeing a CSS Anim technique that you want to use/try/learn - again, don’t worry about learning all of it. Find what you need for the project you have in mind, apply it and let it add to the overall experience of someone using your project app/site.

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Finding or coming up with a project on your own can be quite difficult, but how about finding a local club or company online that you like, and try to remake the whole thing on your own?
Afterwards you could try contacting them to let them know that you’ve redesigned their website in hopes that they’ll like it and want to use your work (and maybe even pay you)!

I found a couple of websites for companies in my city that don’t actually work, so I am going to attempt recoding and redesigning them. I think it would be an interesting learning experience :slight_smile:

This is one of the projects I’ve started myself.

I have a very particular view on responsive sites, I always hate it when I view a site on my laptop, or a larger screen and what I see is a stretched version of the mobile site. A lot of traffic to these sites is surely from mobile browsers, but surely that doesn’t mean the experience should be neglected for the larger screen based user - should it?

I’m sure I’m not alone in this point of view. Right? Someone else must think the same way. Maybe.

I decided to start reworking sites that I come across that usually have at least 1 of the following:

  1. Excessively large fonts - it’s like I’m reading a website for the visually impaired, you know like a large print book
  2. Menus that are hidden by default

Why do these things make me so mad!?!!?! Anyway, I wont go on.

Finding things online that are broken, or outdated can indeed be a good way to find projects to try for yourself.

Make the web a nicer place - and don’t forget about desktop users!! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I suggest you take a look on this course from lynda.com. They got a lot of advance stuff there. This is a few course that really help me grasp the core concept in css.

https://www.lynda.com/CSS-tutorials/Making-Sense-CSS-Box-Model/372544-2.html
https://www.lynda.com/Web-Interactive-CSS-training/CSS-Page-Layouts/86003-2.html
https://www.lynda.com/CSS-tutorials/CSS-Styling-Navigation/90367-2.html

You can get a free account using your public library id.

you have to keep working i did my simon game simple and got my certificate last month here is some help with the simon game if you need it https://youtu.be/bRNrr0wiM_4

As far as my opinion is that Confidence can be gained just by practice, more You can read books, look up things on the net etc or you can also visit Build Confidence Course it will be very helpful, i will recommend this to all