Tag: FCC

Posted in Using, What I've Used

The Road BACK to FreeCodeCamp

Posted on by Steph

and why I’m even going back….

I’m. A very big advocate of first using the free stuff.  If there are free offerings when learning by all means access them.  When I first started to explore my interests in information technology I started with web page design.  One of the biggest contributors to my learning was definitely FreeCodeCamp.

FreeCideCamp assisted in me teaching myself HTML, CSS, and Javascript.  I also began to code Python with the community’s assistance. I did 100 days of code twice with some influence from their curriculum. 

This is also where I first found out about BlackGirlsCode, but I digress…

Once my career in infosec and graduate school really started rolling I really strayed away from FreeCodeCamp–though I still kept and eye on the community/site.  I still advise people to check them out when they’re starting to learn coding, especially since their offering have really grown.

So, now years and two degrees later I find myself back on FreeCodeCamp working through their Data curriculum because data is fun. To be in infotech and infosec is to commit yourself to lifelong learning and discovering things that interest you and maybe how those interests might inform your work. That’s really what made me stroll on back to freecodecamp, because like I said use the free resources before you open your wallet so you can discern between what might be a mild interesting topic or an avenue for career pivot.

Posted in Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday 01/2020

Posted on by Steph

#100DaysOfCode Parts I and II

When I was starting out I did two stints of #100DaysOfCode which is as the hashtag reads  a commitment to work 100 consecutive days on coding. I thought that if I did these it would help me buckle down and work on learning to code and for those days it kind of did, but after the stints I remember feeling kind of burnt out.
As I hype myself up right now to go back and work on Python and getting back into working with this language, as well as, prepping to take the Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer certification (PCEP) – [ I really just want to feel kind of validate in my learning, which is the reasoning behind the exam for me] – I find myself thinking back at these stints of daily coding and what might have gone wrong for me.
Although, I am the kind of person who is good with making and sticking with commitments and structured work/learning, I am also the kind of person who is easily annoyed by monotony. The problem for me with #100DaysOfCode is that day after day it can get monotonous and make people such as myself not want to do the work. This is a personal issue and probably an issue with the way in which I went about doing the challenge. I think that instead of focusing on one book for weeks or one project I should have had concurrent projects which I could have rotated when one go stale.
If I decide to do this challenge again this I think that I will have a few projects going and also have FreeCodeCamp rework / Github Clean up interwoven. I’m still on the fence with whether or not I should do something like this challenge, but some parts of it were very good for me, it made me productive in a way.

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today.”

~ Nolan Bushnel