Learning to Code is Worthwhile and Possible

Jessica Berrett
Sep 4, 2018 · 4 min read

The Short Version

It is challenging and stretches analytical thinking.

There are SO MANY resources to learn about it and get help.

There are a lot of ways to practice the different languages.

The people in the community are so willing to share their knowledge.

It’s obvious to see what a valuable tool it is to have.

The Longer Version

It is challenging and stretches analytical thinking.

If I were a dog, I’d probably be some sort of collie because they need to have enough physical and mental stimulation to be happy, otherwise they get destructive. I like challenges and learning to code has certainly given me that. It makes me happy to think that it will keep evolving and I’ll need to keep learning with it. Currently I am learning JavaScript and it is difficult for me to wrap my head around it, so I’ve had to push myself very hard to keep trying to UNDERSTAND the concepts rather then rush through and just get a line of code that works. The best way for me to learn these concepts better is to really dig into the definitions, dissecting sentences I don’t understand, as well as deconstructing/reconstructing pieces of code so I get what part belongs where and why.

There are SO MANY resources to learn about it and get help.

I’ve talked about this before in the way of how many websites there are (FreeCodeCamp, Codecademy, W3Schools, Mozilla) but really I am astounded how many meetups there are so you can meet people in person. Youtube has a vast amount of tutorials, plus GitHub, Slack, and StackOverflow can help with specific questions.

There are a lot of ways to practice the different languages.

A big part of this week has been learning how to debug Javascript, for which the majority of the time I used ChromeDevTools. I was confused at first, but it is so valuable to learn how to use this free resource. So far I know mostly how to use the Sources, Element, and Console tabs the best and am excited to learn how to use them better. This tutorial about Debugging JavaScript with Chrome DevTools really helped me, I recommend following along and using the demo provided as you read.

Also Repl.it , CodePen, and JS Bin are great resources in addition to text editors you can download. I use Atom, but enjoyed Brackets as well. Everything I listed is free to use and download.

The people in the community are so willing to share their knowledge.

There are the actually websites, and then there are the people you interact with on the websites. Ever since getting into this online community I’ve been so blown away at how helpful and polite the majority of people are. I was really nervous to ask questions at first because I’m new and don’t want to sound like an idiot, but the Bloc’s Slack workplace has helped me to put myself out there. I also have found that Repl.it has a great collaboration space where you can ask questions and share your code when you need help, as does JS Bin.

It’s obvious to see what a valuable tool it is to have.

In math class I feel like my teachers always kept me going by saying that it will be relevant later in life. While I don’t use the pythagorean theorem daily like they made me believe, I do believe that math is used in our everyday lives, and the most important skill gained from those classes are problem solving strategies. As a previous teacher I know how valuable it is to know why you’re learning something and how it will be worthwhile. It is plain to see that technology and tech industry are continuing to progress and that the ability to code is so desirable and advantageous in almost any field, including finance, medical, business, and education. I don’t know exactly where I will be when I finish this developer course, but I have a few ideas and am confident that my level of skill will directly correlate to how sought after I will be as a job applicant.

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