Coding: All Progress is Good Progress

My Coding Journey (Week 5)

This week I have made progress. Not much progress, but some. And all progress is progress.

I haven’t had much time to study but I am moving forward, learning new concepts, and laying foundations that I can build on later.

I would love to make steady progress by setting aside regular blocks of time to study every day. But, life! Working and raising a young family means that, for now at least, progress will be irregular and unpredictable.

As long as I keep going, I will head in the right direction. And I am getting comfortable with that!

Motivated by Feedback

Although progress has been slow, I have been spurred on by feedback I have received online.

I was touched by the words of one person who kindly shared on LinkedIn that they had applied for the Code First Girls Nanodegree after reading one of my posts:

When I started documenting my coding journey I had hoped that one or two people might read it. I hoped that it might even help some people to make the decision to learn to code. But, over the past couple of weeks, I have wondered whether documenting my journey is the right thing to do; whether it is too personal, too introspective, or might seem vain.

Reading this positive feedback, and knowing that my experience might help other people, makes it feel worthwhile.

Also this week, Codecademy shared one of my Instagram posts, along with a quote from the second article documenting my coding journey.

I’ve been so encouraged by this, partly because Codecademy thought my words were worth sharing, partly because of the number of people their post would have reached, but mainly because of one person’s comment about how my words had encouraged them to think about taking up Computer Science again after failing the subject at school:

More generally, this has got me thinking about how beneficial it would be to have a digital repository of stories about how people have got into tech. I’m lucky enough to work in a job where I can hear these stories first-hand, but there would be such value in a vast virtual compendium of personal experiences from people of all ages, all genders, all backgrounds. People with different starting points, different paths, different destinations. But all leading to tech.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?! Or maybe something like this already exists?

There would be such value in a vast virtual compendium of personal experiences from people of all ages, all genders, all backgrounds. People with different starting points, different paths, different destinations. But all leading to tech.

Week 5 Content

This week I have been learning about reading, writing, and updating files using Python. The Code First Girls Coding Kickstarter course introduced the topics, and I consolidated my knowledge by working through the Codecademy Beginner Python course. It feels good to use Python to create new txt. and csv. files, and to read and append new text to existing files!

I also covered APIs and pip for the first time. I don’t understand these yet so I will need to read more and practice in these areas.

Goal for Week 6

I feel as if I have covered a lot of material quite thinly this week. I have felt the same about some of the previous weeks. So, during Week 6, I am going to focus on revision. I will return to the material I have already covered, retake some of the quizzes, and redo some of the exercises.

I think this will help me to appreciate how much material I have covered. It should also help me feel more confident as we start our group projects in the Code First Girls course this week!

I’m quite nervous about the group projects, as lots of people on the course have prior experience of coding, whereas I am a complete beginner. But I am also excited about making a start. After all, I am a Project Manager, and I do love projects!

My weekly coding articles

Week 1: Hello World

Week 2: The Joy of Learning to Code

Week 3: Coding Like a Mother

Week 4: One Month of Coding

Week 5: All Progress is Good Progress

Week 6: Learning to Code: Practice and Projects

Week 7: My First Coding Vlog!

Week 8: Learning to Code in 8 Weeks

I hope that sharing my own experience might encourage other people (and especially women) to explore coding or other tech topics.

About the Author

Dr Elena Gorman is a UX Designer specialising in User Research. Before changing careers into UX in 2022, she worked as a Project Manager, including for tech-related initiatives, such as the TechUP Programme at Durham University, for The Alan Turing Institute at Newcastle University, and the Creative Fuse North East project at Northumbria University. Elena is also the Co-Founder of Women in Tech North East, a free community of over 800 women and non-binary people who are interested in tech. Elena has a PhD in Theology from Durham University and has published research on female martyrdom in early Christianity.