A lot of people around me are into programming, either as their job or as a passion. It’s a skill I wanted to learn for a long time, but I always told myself I could never do it. It’s one of those things I was convinced I could never be good at. However, during my course to become a Life Purpose coach, I realized that that was just BS (my belief system). So, when I was setting goals for myself for 2020, I thought it was time to at least try and teach myself how to code. I firmly believe that we can teach ourselves anything if we’re willing to put in the work. Maybe I’ll never become the best programmer out there, but that doesn’t have to be the goal at all. I want to get better at my work, learn an awesome new skill and have fun creating beautiful websites.
JavaScript
I’ve learned some HTML and CSS by working on my blogs and customizing them a little. I always really enjoyed that, so I decided to learn a language that will help me design even better websites. That’s why I chose JavaScript. JavaScript is used for web design and allows you to create an interactive and dynamic experience for the user of a web page (or sometimes a mobile or desktop app and even games). It’s a widely used programming language and therefor has lots of sources and a big community to learn from. It also has good career opportunities because there is a big demand for JavaScript programmers. It’s also a beginner-friendly language because it’s relatively easy to start with. Overall, JavaScript seemed like the perfect start for me.
If you’d like to find the perfect language for you to start learning, you can check out this video:
Codecademy
I started using Codecademy and set myself a 30 Day Challenge to do a lesson every day. What I love about Codecamy, is that they make coding super accessible to beginners. Their instructions are very clear and I love the pace of the course. It’s not hard to follow and you learn how to implement what you’ve just learned instantly by doing exercises. These exercises make sure you really get it. They’re not tutorials, but rather little tests. They do help you out with hints if you get stuck though. Their courses are truly beginner-friendly, but I bet they’re also amazing if you just need a refresher.
Next to their website, they also have an app that allows you to review and practice on the go. This way, you never have to miss a lesson, even if you don’t have access to a computer. Perfect if you’re trying to stick to a daily challenge!
The best part about Codecademy? It’s free. So you can try out coding for nothing and see if it’s for you. No strings attached.
Codecademy Pro
Codecademy also offers a pro version for those of us that really want to get serious about learning how to code. When you create your account, you get a free seven day trial. The pro version offers a lot of benefits like choosing a ‘career path’ that will automatically enroll you in all the courses you need for code foundations, computer science, data science or web development.
There are also a lot more practical assignments available in the pro version. The Introduction to Javascript course is free, but with pro you get access to more (and more challenging) exercises. Overall, I think the pro version is definitely worth it. However, right now I’m sticking with the free version until I finish the free courses. If I’m still enjoying coding then as much as I am now, I can definitely see myself upgrading to learn even more.
Learning To Code
Teaching myself how to code in JavaScript for the past 30 days has been a very positive experience. I love it more than I thought I would and I can see myself improving every day, which is very satisfying. I always love learning new things, but I tend to give up quickly when I am not good at something right away. It’s a little challenging at times, sure and it’s frustrating when your code doesn’t work the way you thought it would. However, I really enjoy the problem-solving aspect of coding and if your codes eventually runs smoothly, it’s a great feeling of accomplishment.
30 Day Challenge
I love challenging myself to try out and learn new things. I regularly do 30 day challenges for this. However, I love coding so much that I decided to extend the challenge to doing 100 Days of Code. I’m currently at day 36. I can’t wait to see where I’ll be at the end of those 100 days!
What programming language would you be interested in learning? Or is there something you always wanted to do but told yourself you couldn’t do? Let me know in the comments!
With much love,
Maud
