The latest articles on DEV Community by jennajlee92 (@jennajlee92). https://dev.to/jennajlee92 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F233208%2Fe4ca8788-5d5a-48aa-8578-be950a49fe48.jpg https://dev.to/jennajlee92 en jennajlee92 Wed, 01 Apr 2020 04:59:17 +0000 https://dev.to/jennajlee92/my-takeaways-from-10-days-of-learning-to-code-2fk4 https://dev.to/jennajlee92/my-takeaways-from-10-days-of-learning-to-code-2fk4 <p>Using the Power of Habit to Change My Schedule Slowly</p> <p>*I shared this post on Medium on March 13, and I thought I'd share it here because it's motivating me during the depression of quarantine.</p> <p>Having spent the past 10 days tweeting about coding on Twitter’s #100DaysOfCode, here are my takeaways:</p> <ol> <li><p>Coders are super friendly and generous.<br> It may not seem a big deal, but the level of support people give when you’re struggling, or even when you’re doing well, is so heartwarming. In no other community of people do I feel such a level of comradery.</p></li> <li><p>Learning to program is like learning a new language.<br> At first, you have no idea what people are talking about. By the fifth day, you can figure out the gist of what some people say. And each day, you learn a little more. It’s like going into a dark room with a lamp that’s getting progressively brighter.</p></li> <li><p>You’re still a massive newbie.<br> Even after a couple of days of spending 1 hour or more on focused learning, you still have a LOT to learn. You’ve only got the syntax down, and those people who put up their projects/games on Twitter still seem like gods.</p></li> <li><p>Coding everyday is becoming a habit — and an addiction.<br> You get bored playing games and watching YouTube videos. After the ‘aha’ moments of figuring out a small coding problem, passive activities seem blander. You’d rather spend your time outside of learning talking with people or doing chores. Or reading. Which you haven’t done in a long time now, come to think of it.</p></li> <li><p>Coding helps inoculate you against doing hard things.<br> In a world that’s obsessed with easy victories, you now begin to grasp the lure of working hard at something for a long time — and the utter satisfaction of wrestling with a problem until you solve it.</p></li> <li><p>Coding is a deeply social activity.<br> Google is your friend. Asking for help on Slack or reading things on Stack Overflow or Medium becomes second-nature. Sketching on others’ GitHub repositories is a thing. These things all enable you to learn more than you could on your own.</p></li> <li><p>Everyone should learn to code!<br> I don’t know if I’m in the early romance stages of my relationship with coding or what, but I’m excited. Maybe a little too excited…</p></li> </ol> 100daysofcode