No one said coding was going to be easy.
The Bootcamp is going great. I feel as though I am flying through the modules. HTML and CSS were relatively straightforward, which I now consider lifelong skills I wont be forgetting anytime soon. If anyone else is looking to start coding, I too would suggest starting with HTML and CCS, it was a great way to ease me in.
Then along came JavaScript….
I don’t hate JS, I like it, but it’s proven difficult for this coding newbie. Loops, functions, arrays, .map, .length, and so many other little words and methods, its taking me a while to get my head around them, but I am getting there, slowly but surely. Whilst JS may take me a lot more practice to fully het my head around, I should stress that I am enjoying the Bootcamp, a lot, and the more I learn the more grateful I am for the opportunity. Diversity in tech is important.
There’s a real sense of community throughout the Bootcamp, 50 black women, all coding newbies, going through this TOGETHER. Heart-warming right? We also have some lovely volunteers already established in the coding sector to guide us along the way. I really couldn’t ask for a better learning environment.
Now we have moved on to React, a JavaScript library and….I LOVE IT. Not entirely sure how I managed to struggle with bits of JS and yet I’ve fallen head over heels for React. It’s a great library, its quick, its innovative. All the projects I have with it so far have been a great learning curve. I think React may be the one for me, but who knows? There’s still more languages left to learn in the course.
Sometimes (a lot of the times) I do feel a sense of self-doubt, coding is hard at times and I wonder if I really have the ability and the smarts to do it. I have these thoughts often and they’re always gone by the next day. It’s important I try stay positive and believe I can “crack the code” with much more practice and a lot more googling.
My mentor has been a great help with this. All coding newbies should have a mentor, as my progress so far is a credit to her. I really appreciate her help and insight into a lot of coding matters, and when I am feeling coding-doubt, she always has something practical and truthful to say.
Coding really is all about practice…and googling…since I started the Bootcamp the amount of googling I have done is unreal. I’ve come across great blogs, webinars, conferences, podcasts and so much more. Learning to code has been enlightening despite the difficult days.
If I can concourse JavaScript, surely I can do anything.
side note: I brought a lovely little notebook from Amazon where the cover says “I NEED A <BR / >”. A notebook has never been more relatable after hours of figuring out for loops.
Coding Newbie,
Olivia
