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Discussion on: Codecademy & freeCodeCamp: Beginner's Journey

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kingdopamine profile image
kingdopamine

Hi Brian,

I'm a beginner. I've just completed the paid Codecademy web development course. Your experience sounds identical to mine. I'm quite disappointed that by the end of all that toiling away, all I could do in the end was "read" code; I do not feel at all like I can "write" code or think the way a professional coder does. I believe what you are saying is that by the end of freecodecamp, I will feel like I can indeed "write" code; is this correct? I want to begin FCC but I absolutely can not bear the idea of toiling away at another course and in the end to feel like I've gotten nothing out of it again; if that happens, I'm pretty certain I will give up on the idea of becoming a web developer. I'm also very curious to know what you've learned up to now since the submission of this very helpful article; what resources have really helped you to improve and really grasp the ability to think like a coder? Thank you so much for your help.

Kind Regards, James.

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bbarbour profile image
Brian Barbour • Edited

You will get something out of it, I believe that. Repetition is often the key to learning. Do as much as you can. Repeat the same lessons, one, two, three or more times if you still feel uncertain.

Attack your learning from different angles.

I've done this, and don't regret it. At this point I'm highly confident and comfortable reading any and all JavaScript. Also, I can write code with relative ease, it feels like a natural expression of thought.

The only way you will get that and comfort with the code is to practice mindfully. I remember feeling like you did, that moment of uncertainty almost made me quit. Push past. Trust me, with time and exposure that feeling fades and it code no longer feels alien. Think of it as slowly rewiring your brain and the way you think about problems and software that solves them.


Since this article, I am a full time professional developer. I've built fullstack applications (server to client-side) in Javascript.