It’s a Numbers Game…

A Quick Update

I’ve been quite busy lately.  So busy (and actually productive) that I can’t bring myself to feel guilty for not posting more regularly.  I’m currently attending classes full time, and I’m studying programming and German in my free time.  I’m also building a board game with a friend.  Some days I only have 30 minutes to spend on code.  Other days, I lose track of time trying to build a GUI (graphical user interface) to display character information for the aforementioned board game.  Just for fun.  I’m just trying to make progress where and when I can.

Progress Report

I’m still working many of the same resources and programs I’ve previously shared.  On Codecademy, I completed the HTML/CSS courses and the JavaScript courses.  I’m currently working on their JQuery modules.  For Programmer’s Creed, I’m going through the JavaScript videos.  Oh.  And I’m actually building things. Simple things like a number guessing game and a personal web page that is nowhere near complete.  For one, it doesn’t look good across all browsers.  I think really only Firefox likes it.  But, it’s a step in the right direction.  And one day it will be a real website!

The best thing about working on a personal project is that it shows you where you have gaps in your knowledge.  Many times, after completing a Coedecademy lesson, I’ll think that I understand something pretty well.  And then I try to implement it into a project.  And I realize that I have a broad idea of how it is supposed to work, but I don’t know how to actually use it.  I love these moments!  They give me an opportunity to research and play a bit more and really understand a concept.  Create a project and play around.  You’ll be forced to learn.

Coder Spotlight:

Riley Hilliard

I take pleasure in reading about others’ successes and learning how they achieved their goals.  Since his own writing explains it clearly, I won’t go into too much detail.  But I want to point out that Riley started out doing much the same of what we are: online modules, self-study, and building personal and, later, friend’s projects.  Make it a goal to start your own portfolio and add things to it consistently.

Please read his article on How I Learned to Code in Under 10 Months.  And check out his personal portfolio too.

In closing

Set a goal for yourself to create one project in the coming weeks.  It can be a single HTML page complete with CSS and a few images.  Or it can be a number guessing game.  By the way, here is the tutorial I followed to build mine.  That should provide you an hour or two of fun.

Until next time!

HTML/CSS and Typing Practice

HTML and CSS

We’ve been working on HTML and CSS on Codecademy.  Perhaps you’ve been following Programmers Creed on YouTube.  The point is, we are learning.  We’re progressing.  And that is awesome.

Personally, I’m still working my way through the Codecademy HTML/CSS module.  I’ve been a bit slow since I have family and friends in town, but I’m putting in little bits of work at a time.  Crawling forward is better than stagnating.

During the past week, I have been working on building a personal website.  I’ll link it when it is launched.  It’s a slow process, but it’s a great learning experience.  There are a ton of things I don’t know about how to build a website, but a quick search online has continually proven to answer my questions.  If you feel stuck or have questions (like, perhaps, about how to center a nav within a div without it affecting other parts of the same div!), check out stackoverflow.  The community is extremely helpful, and chances are that your question has already been asked and answered at least once.

I plan to finish the HTML/CSS module by the weekend. And then it’s on to some JavaScript.

Typing Practice

After putting in a good amount of time writing code in HTML, CSS and some JavaScript, I’ve learned that I kind of suck at typing.  “Suck” may be a harsh word, but I’m definitely less efficient than I’d like to be.  Especially when it comes to the special characters: { } , [ ] , ( ) , | , – _ , = +.

In fact, the name ‘lobsterhands’ came out of my frustration at trying to type these special characters.  I felt like I had two awkwardly large and highly inaccurate claws trying to type code.  So I need this kind of practice a lot.

If you, too, would like to improve your typing, there is cool website created specifically for programmers: Typing.io.  It asks you to log in using Google, which can be a downside for some but it works for me.

Exercise example

The exercises are straightforward.  You type over printed text and try to be accurate.  Simple?  Yes.  Easy?  Depends.  After you complete an exercise, you are shown a lesson summary which displays your accuracy (or inaccuracy) along with your typing words per minute (wpm) and a few other things.  Overall, I’d say Typing.io is a great resource to increase your typing speed and accuracy.

In closing

Keep up the good work.  Every little bit adds up.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Beginner to Advanced Guide to HTML and CSS

Beginner to Advanced Guide to HTML and CSS

This is an awesome, free resource to help as you go along your Codecademy or CodeAvengers HTML and CSS paths. Shay Howe’s guide to HTML and CSS is a great reference to use as you work on building your website.