Coding is some serious shit, guys.
Yesterday, I made my first website using CSS and Javascript functions. I made a simple page that would build a donut for you based on what type of base you want, what icing you desire, and what toppings you’d like. You’re able to use whichever ones you put in, but I listed examples to make things easier. The Javascript function then goes on to choose from your list of answers and tells you what type of person built your donut from choices that I have written myself. In the example above, you can see that the donut may have been pretty awesome at first… but the person who made it was probably not your first choice.
While the website looks really basic, it was a pretty important milestone for me. It signified the end of my first Treehouse course, and it also meant I tackled my first website that integrated HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This is the beginning of my journey.
Admittedly, the course itself is designed to mostly edit code that was already written. A lot of what I did was tinkering with things that were there, but making it my own. A lot of technology work involves this process, so this is actually really helpful in practicality as well as being a foundation course. But it helped me to see a bigger picture than what I was previously considering.
Coding is a way for me to make something my own. Whether it already exists and I tweak it to my liking, or I’m the sole creative contributor to the project, the end result is what I make. As I’ve previously said, I’ve never been the traditional creative type. Most artists create their work from scratch: they fill a canvas, or they build a sculpture, or they frame, capture, and edit a photograph. I’ve never been very good at building things from scratch. I am really good, however, at cleaning up other people’s messes, and giving things a personality.
When I’m typing out those series of brackets and letters and numbers, I’m creating. I’m putting my own spin on a website, even if I didn’t make it myself. The original file for this project was to create a game called MASH — you know, Mansion-Apartment-Shack-House? I took that original game but I infused my love for pastels and pastries and made something I feel is much more fun.
This made me realize that I’m able to do this from now on. Like, infinitely, forever. If I make coding my career, I’m able to be an artist for the first time in my life. I’m able to take what looks like garbled nonsense to some people and make something beautiful out of it. I can subtly inject my personality and style and values into everything I do, even when working for other people. Outside of potential client work, anything I create will look exactly how I want it to, and be as useful as I need it to be.
This may not seem like a hard concept to grasp for some people, but for me, this is revolutionary. I’ve been coding for approximately 60 hours and I can already feel it changing my life. I feel like I’m being freed, like I can finally have a safe creative outlet. And what if I can turn this into a career?
It’s begun to help me realize what I like. When you have to decide on a random background color for a personal website, you tend to go with your favorite color. You tend to add the elements that you like and the styling that you prefer. I’ve started to figure out what my style is, what I expect things to look like, and what my “brand” is. When I’m creating a personal website as a resume, it will reflect the things that I make, who I am, and what I like. In order for me to present that, I have to know myself.
I had suspected that coding would help me in more ways than just gaining a new hobby or potential job, but I wasn’t really expecting it to benefit me as a person. HTML, CSS, and Javascript are about structure, style, and function. I’m starting to realize that it applies to more than just what’s on the screen.
