Super beginner -- Super overwhelmed

You Can Do This!
#1

Okay, so I’m just beginning in this journey and I am feeling super overwhelmed. I do not have a background in any sort of programming and I feel like the lessons use a lot of code that they don’t necessarily explain and the concepts are so focused that when I got to the programming challenges, putting all the ideas together in a fluid was seems very obtuse and intimidating.
I’m wondering if this is a pretty normal way to be feeling right now. Like, I get that I’m trying to learn something that is very complex, so I’m hoping that the way I’m feeling is just part of a learning curve that can be pretty rough at first.

Any perspective and/or advice is greatly appreciated!
-tfgb

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#2

Absolutely normal. The teaching is very brief, there is no repetition, and then periodically a challenge will pop up that will expect you to remember everything and often go one step further. I don’t think most people will find that a great way to learn. It would be like, instead of having weekly guitar lessons and practicing inbetween , just go to lessons every day and never practice!

I’d suggest looking for lots of extra, easy problems using the concepts you learn and getting plenty of practice in. Then you will be more solid before moving on. Like in Math class… those problem sets at the end of each chapter we had to do?

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#3

it is VERY NORMAL. Don’t even second guess yourself!

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#4

Thanks a bunch! That’s good advice. I think it’s also intimidating because the examples they give for the solved challenges look so good compared to what I’m actually producing. I decided to just let that go and try to just focus on fulfilling the expectations of the challenges, which is allowing me to get through some of them.

Any recommendations for practice exercises? I LOVED doing those math challenges! I would love to find something that worked kind of like that for coding. :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

Hi there @tfgb! welcome!

I can really understand your feeling because that the way I felt in the beginning of my journey. ( not THAT far away)
Its completely normal when learning something new, especially in such field like IT\coding.

you need to know that Google will need to be your best friend and if you have any questions you’re more than welcomed to raise them in the forum!

also this concept will make easier for you to research and ask questions:


Good luck in your coding journey and keep us posted!
#6

yes, I practice stuff from https://www.w3resource.com/javascript-exercises/javascript-basic-exercises.php just about every day. There is a ton of exercises to practice on that site. Don’t skip the comment section where other people share their code. :slight_smile:

#7

It is absolutely normal. It happens whenever someone starts learning to code.

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#8

Thanks a bunch for the words of encouragement!

#9

I developed an app in C++/SDL2 and feel the same way ! Learning JS is very different then C++, so I had to unlearn and it is very unintuitive. So you’re not alone. You’re still at the first module , so don’t worry. A good thing is that you won’t have to unlearn principles first. Most of all try not to feel intimidated. You’re here, you’re learning so feel proud of that. And remember, it takes YEARS to learn a new skill, give yourself that time.

#10

Omygosh! That is sooooooooo normal! You have no idea just how normal that is! I struggle with that alllll the time…but at the end of the day, things get better again.

#11

Take the concepts from a lesson & play around with them, don’t jump straight to next lesson.

If the lesson taught you to print “Hello Word” on the screen, then expand on it a bit. Try to print different texts, changing the font, or try to print something in backwords, whatever you can think of.

And learn to google everything, even the smallest thing. Like “how to reverse text on javascript” and almost always the answer will be there.

Programming relies on small incremental growth, each time you solve something, fix a bug, create something etc, you get a hit of dopamine and you will become addicted to doing more and more coding :upside_down_face: