Month: September 2016

So my focus really has been on JavaScript these past few weeks. I’ve had a complete change of mind-set and it’s paying dividends for me (well I think it’s paying dividends).

I think my experience is similar to many from my background. That is from a visual design background. Learning HTML and CSS was a very pleasurable introduction to the web development world and then the first stages of learning JavaScript was akin to experiencing a slow, mental car crash. I remember going to the pub following the first JavaScript class at GA. Lots of confused, furrowed brows and pained expressions. We had sailed trough the early stages of the course and suddenly we have to confront mastering functions, loops, objects, methods and expressions. With hindsight, for a part-time course introducing students to web development, there was only so much ground you can cover in mastering JavaScript. It was a pretty tough initiation as I recall.

So I guess I was guilty of focusing in on what I really liked. Ensuring the webpages I was building were visually stunning and ensuring the code was semantic and following best practices was my early focus. But it slowly dawned on me that I needed to learn JavaScript to a really decent level. At almost every web networking event I attended, the message was simple. You’re not going to succeed in the world of web development without mastering JavaScript. The message was unrelenting.

I have made good progress recently in developing a good working environment. I’ve spent time focusing on Gulp, SASS, Compass, Bower, Node.js and CSS frameworks. But I recognised I really needed to up my JS knowledge. So I’ve devoured JS tutorials and exercises all over the web. Lynda, Tutsplus, Code School, Codecademy, the Mozilla Developer Network, github, StackOverflow, CodePen and Udemy have helped me enormously in giving me a solid mastery of basic JavaScript principals.

Now, I just need to focus on moving on from this basic knowledge to intermediate level. It’s challenging but greatly rewarding. How Objects interact with the DOM no longer confuse me and I actually enjoy dealing with Functions. My fellow students would smile hearing me talk so positively when it comes to JavaScript. I’m in a privileged position where I can have a couple of weeks off work to really speed up my JS skill level. The next few weeks I sense will be very productive for me.

I’m a bit of an old hand when it comes to online development video tutorials. I could give you a pretty good review of all the most popular sites which offer online courses in just about every area of web development.

I’ve used sites such as Lynda, Udemy, CodeSchool, TutsPlus and Code Academy extensively. Looking back now, as I’ve become more experienced, I’ve become ever more aware of the varying quality of the teaching. But on the whole, they have been very good for me and my education in learning how to code. The course at General Assembly gave me a good basic foundation of knowledge and the courses have further advanced my mastery in the field of web development.

One course I’m about to finish has been especially good and a real help to me in consolidating my understanding of a number of key areas which I need to learn to an advanced level. From the Udemy website and titled Git a Web Developer Job: Mastering the Modern Workflow by Brad Schiff, it outlines how the tutor puts together his well-honed work environment in building a website. I have completed courses on Git, Node.js, Gulp, object-orientated JS, BEM (which I’m not really sure about), webpack, Babel and responsive design. But in this course, all these features were used in coding a single page website within a really solid, easy to set up work environment. You are also exposed to areas such as automatic sprites, CSS animation and post-CSS. It’s a 15 hour course and with a discount, I only paid £10 access for all 61 lectures.

It has given me another boost to my confidence and I’ve learnt so many new tricks. The aim of the course is to ensure that good working practices are followed; clean, semantic code building a website which loads quickly and works across all browsers. Will certainly look out for any further courses by Brad. This course offers excellent value for money. Even more experienced developers would benefit from taking the course.