Vivek Agrawal
@vkweb
Past freeCodeCamp's JS curriculum contributor here 👋
I personally don't like the present freeCodeCamp curriculum. Quincy (founder) has plans to change this in recent future. Till then let me help you learn to code in a more effective way.
See, when I started learning to code, I read many tutorials, watched some youtube videos, did some freeCodeCamp as well, to me, none helped much.
Then I stumbled on cs50 a free course from Harvard -- cs50.harvard.edu/x
This changed everything for me because they left me on my own to build stuff with their problem assignments (they are practical!) and when I look back I realise that the right way to learn to code is:-
First, watch / read concepts. See how they get together to make a small thing.
Second, you yourself make a small do-able project. Don't focus on making too many, making even one but making yourself will give you the required feedback to your mind that you are actually learning. Use Google / Claude to ask lots of questions, but write by your own in the beginnings.
Third, steadily build up on other areas. Like you start with HTML, CSS and then JS and then Python for backend. Then making a full-stack blog maybe.
Essentially, stop freeCodeCamp and focus your energy on doing CS50 -- it will make you a deep-rooted developer.
Disclaimer guys:
I ain't connected commercially to cs50 or freeCodeCamp. I have been a past contributor to freeCodeCamp and have taken CS50 myself. So all of the above is my personal experience and personal opinions. Doesn't reflects freeCodeCamp's views or CS50 views.
Let me know @sandra what you think of my thoughts!
Loved the design of zenpen. Zlatko, I have been looking ways to improve my design eyes / skills, any resources you can recommend me?
Thanks buddy!
- am building cryptography-for-devs.github.…
If you just want to train your eye to spot good design, I‘d say just be exposed to good design, whether listing various showcase sites, going to café that have a modern, well-thought interior, visiting events that are design-related, and the like.
But if you want to understand what makes a good design… well, nowadays, there are even too many resources, and it‘s easy to get overwhelmed. What specifically would you like to learn? For example, in my case, I wanted to make Zenpen a reality, so I picked Webflow for that, which mean I needed to learn more about Webflow‘s way of making websites.
The more specific you are, the more I could help. Generally, I believe most people find video formats easier to consume when it comes to learning things. So, any design channel on Youtube should be helpful.
Thanks for the tips! I wanted to learn good-design in general for website UIs , any resource around that?