Just a quick vent session after hitting my first(of many) wall with JavaScript
Rewind two weeks ago, I started taking a highly rated js course on Udemy. This is my first programming language so everything covered has been 100% new information. Initially I was able to retain information, and logic quickly(see previous post) When a coding challenge came up I felt prepared. I knew what to do step by step without assistance. After solving the challenge, I was even able to expand on it, or find a more efficient way of doing it, etc.....
until now
Section 2 covering the basics was going pretty smooth, or so it seemed... It tackled basic function declarations, expressions & arrows, how to call a function within a function, arrays, objects, for/ while loops. I could still internalize and understand the lessons. I could practice the methods afterwards and get things to work. however, when facing my challenge at the end of the section I became humbled beyond expectation. I realized quickly that I could not do any of the things I had just "learned".
I suppose there is a difference between learning and recalling
When faced with so much information, its hard to decide when to move on, and when to double down on a concept. I think back on learning CSS and time wasted memorizing things that I can look up in 5 seconds. It also seems apparent that Professional developers are constantly looking things up. It also seems to be true that people who are great at anything have a seep understanding of the fundamentals of what they do. That being said I'll probably just go back over anything in the lesson that I don't recall, hammer them down to the point of execution without assistance, and move on. It's just difficult because the desire to move on to the next thing is beckoning.
The best way to learn for me
The moment I began rapidly learning CSS was when I began building things of my own with it. The relentless will to try over and over to make something work has been my most powerful learning tool. The rub with JS is lacking enough knowledge to really build anything. I have only spent brief periods in dreaded tutorial hell, only to resurface unscathed. Now walking a plank over the flames, the desire to move on to a phase when I can build is growing by the day. Tutorials don't bore me per se. However, there's just another level of excitement when bringing an idea from my brain into code, struggling, and the sweet reward of seeing it work in real time.
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