Learning to code

I've wanted to learn how to code for a long time. 

A colleague suggested that I start CS50x, an introduction to computer science course presented by Harvard University. 

"It's a very extensive course," he said. "Most computer languages work in similar ways, so you'll be able to apply what you learn to anything."

"And you can do it for free!" 

Well, I was sold!

CS50x provides lectures and problems which test your understanding. There's no satisfaction like the satisfaction of seeing dozens of little, green smileys telling you the code you've submitted works. :)

Halfway there (sort of)

According to the lectures, I'm over half way through the course. I've learned;

  • the basics of programming in C (almost overcoming my confusion around pointers and memory allocation
  • different types of data structures (I conceptually understand linked lists and tries more than I actually understand them)
  • Python ("Why is it always snakes?")
  • SQL (now I want to convert all of my work spreadsheets into .db files)

I'm really amazed at how much distance I've covered in 8 weeks - uhm, sorry... 5 months!

Web programming

Week 8 sees me start working on web development using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Since I work with websites every day (as a UX Designer), I thought I would fly through the problems set for me in this module. But it's so hard! 

I'm currently hung up on adding JavaScript functionality to specific HTML elements. I know that JavaScript is used to build a responsive website, but I'm finding it very difficult to get my JavaScript to talk to the HTML which is on my page. 

I'm still enjoying the course, but as it gets harder, I've started spending less time on it. I'm determined to finish the course - since I want to create my website from scratch (I'm currently using Google sites and a ready-made template). I hope that by blogging about it, I can create some sense of accountability.

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