#2: How I got started with Web development
What am I doing and why? 💻
When I decided I was serious about learning Web development, I was determined to find a very comprehensive online course where I could learn fast and efficiently but would still provide detailed explanations for the foundations of JavaScript, CSS and HTML. I knew I definitely wanted a beginner-focused course but I also knew I wanted to go at my own pace and have as much flexibility as possible.
Based on that criteria, I asked my sister-in-law if she had any recommendations for an online course that would fit my requirements since she is an experienced software developer and I had a feeling she already had researched some courses in the past. She had some options and showed me a few of the best possibilities for beginners. All I had to do was to pick whichever had the best learning approach for me.
Here are the two online courses I selected based on their curriculum, syllabus and teaching style.
I began my learning adventure with the Udacity course called Intro to Programming Nanodegree Program. A Nanodegree program is "a project and skills-based educational credential program where you receive a credential affirming your mastery of these skills." If you are curious about this course check it out here.
Pros
Udacity content is high quality. Videos are clear and carefully crafted.
Instructors are people that currently work in the tech industry.
Interactive quizzes and projects.
Projects are graded pass or fail.
One free month trial, where you can explore if this course is what you are looking for or not.
Cons
In retrospect, I shouldn't have chosen this Udacity course as my first Web development course because as much as I wanted to learn JavaScript, I was still trying to figure out what teaching style I liked the most while being very careful with not spending too much money all at once. I found the course very detail-oriented but projects were more difficult than I expected. The course did not provide the amount of repetition I needed to remember all the material. I understand with an online course you can go back and rewatch everything but I was looking for a variety of exercises that would reinforce what I learned in different ways. Furthermore, at the end of many of the JavaScript sections, I found myself confused and later having to ask my partner for more clarification.
After completing the Intro to HTML, Intro to CSS, and Intro to JavaScript and spending $200 for 2 months (normally this course costs $399/month but strangely when you call them to cancel they give you a "discount") I decided to cancel this course and move towards my second choice.
This course by Jonas Schmedtmann covers all JavaScript fundamentals but also dives deeper into the more complex sides of the language. So far, I am enjoying this course because the lectures are paced well for me, not too fast or too slow, it has interactive sections and the course was just updated in October 2020 so the material is based on modern JavaScript. Click here for more information about the course.
Pros
The instructor is really good at explaining the concepts taught in the course.
The course is very comprehensive and covers a greater variety of tools and material than I have seen in other courses.
Javascript is constantly changing and the instructor does a great job keeping the material up to date.
The course comes with lots of extra coding challenges and assignments in a separate PDF file with solutions provided.
Downloadable slides to accompany the lectures.
The course has several complete projects that have starter code and final code for each section of the course.
Dives deeper into modern tools such as NPM, Parcel (module bundler), Babel, and ES6 modules.
Cons
At the moment, I think this course has done a pretty good job at explaining each section of the JavaScript fundamentals. Sometimes the professor makes a few spelling mistakes but nothing that would confuse me to the point I didn't know what he was talking about. (More updates as I move further into the course).
What comes after learning the fundamentals of Web development?
After finishing the JavaScript Fundamentals course, I plan to take either a React course (React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces or UI components) or join a coding boot camp. I still need to research the different possibilities but I believe learning the fundamentals of Web development first will help me excel in the boot camp. Generally, coding boot camps are well over $1000 and I wanted to make sure I would not join and fail just because I didn't understand the material and feel bad because I paid a lot of money but had to quit. I want to join a boot camp with a solid foundation of skills so I know what I am signing up for and understand where I am going.
In the meantime, I also want to continue practicing and improving my Web development skills by creating a game. Here is a sneak-peak of what I am working on.
The goal is to collect resources, find clues about where you are and what the goal is and eventually go on missions. On those missions, you will find different foes, puzzles and finally, something really awesome happens haha. I am still working on the storyline for the game with my brother. He will be writing the story while I build the game. It is a game based on the style and mechanics of A Dark Room.
Thank you so much for reading and if you have any recommendations for coding boot camps please let me know in the comments below.
Have a wonderful rest of the week! ☀️
-Juliana