So this a peek into how I discovered the whole idea of what front end web development was and how I began practicing my skills in order to soon transition into the field of web development/software development.I already told my story on how I transitioned from web design into front end, which you can read HERE, but this is more of how I discovered front end and am learning and developing my skill.I will explain some of the tactics I am using to help gain the fundamentals of some of the concepts and hopefully some of my techniques can be beneficial to you.
So how I discovered front end exactly is what I would call serendipitous. As I said before, in the past I was focusing more on the web design aspect, primarily using Wordpress for my development. I got to a point where I wanted to do more customizing and backend work without the need of necessarily a CMS.Therefore, I wanted to know what made up websites or how websites where made.I began my search and I learned some of the languages that made it up, yet I wasn't sure which languages where needed specifically for what I was trying to do or needed to focus on.My research beginsFunny story. So years prior my brother found this website named treehouse, that would teach me exactly what I was looking for, as well as other subjects, but for some reason I brushed it off.Years passed and somehow I remembered the website he told me about not to mention I been seeing it come up recently in my feed due to the videos I been watching.So I decided to take another look at it.I felt like I had struck GOLD!Why didn't I jump on this years ago?They had a 7 day trial period. Who wouldn't take this offer?Without wasting any time I signed up for the trial looked around the site and they helped me to find what I was interested in and led me to the track of front end web development. I began taking the courses and it was like a light bulb went off in my head.This is what I've been looking for and who knew there was a name for it.I began watching the videos and doing some of the assessments they provided and seemed to just all make sense.I was hooked and only $25/month! It was well worth the investment. Especially how simple the created the curriculum for the tracks to be digested and consumed.
I've heard it once said that "skill is only developed by hours and hours and beating on your craft" by Will Smith as well as "repetition is the key to master any skill" author unkown.I began learning the concepts and in my mind I thought I understood how it worked but the question to ask was...Have I truly begun to learn mastery of the subject?Months had past and when it came to creating a simple webpage I found myself referring back to the videos as if I was starting over again.
It was then I decided that I need to take this thing seriously. If I not only wanted to learn these languages and become proficient in them I needed to practice and not only practice but deliberately practice – a term I learned from the book "GRIT" by Angela Duckworth.Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with going back and having a reference point, but I wanted to at least master the basics. Let alone focus on one programming language and become an expert in the field and that would not happen unless I put in the work.So I decided Javascript would be my programming language and I would practice in some form and fashion everyday to keep and attain my new found skills fresh.
Hopefully this technique will help others.Reading the book "GRIT", which you can find on MY RESOURCES PAGE, and it just talks about how successful people and the greats achieve their success through the idea of deliberate practice and pushing themselves to the next level.For me I took that idea and applied it to web development. The only way you really learn something is by doing it right. So why not take what I know and repeating it in a fashion until it becomes in a sense second nature.To start off, I began with the fundamentals or the basics. For example, in order to learn the structure of an html document, you know <!DOCTYPE html> and all the nested tags within and <html>tags. I began creating the basis of an html file and kept creating the structure over and over again until I understand what the main components were needed in a page.Not only that, but I began to learn how to view other developers source code and learned how they structured their site and played around with that.Where I really felt this deliberate practice is helping me is in JavaScript.Because Javascript seemed to be the hardest of the languages I'm learning in front end web development, everyday I started taking baby steps. The small concepts I been learning from this book "Javascript for kids", also in MY RESOURCES page and been copying and typing out the function over and over again.I not only copied the syntax of the language, but I took some time to understand the concept of what I was doing.Since javascript is build up on the basics of variables and functions, I said I will take these baby steps and repeat everyday in some form and build up on what I learned from the day before.For example on how I do this.I like to study Chinese, which I still am, but since I been focusing on front end heavily right now I put it on hold.How I practiced my Chinese writing, I would take one character and write that one character like 5-10 times that day. The next day I would rewrite that same character 2-3 times. Then after I would add another character and repeat the new character 5-10 times.The next day I would rewrite the the 2 characters from the previous day 2-3 times and then learn the new character and so on and so forth. I did this until I could remember the old characters without having to think so much.I took this same concept and applied it to Javascript, building upon each building block or my weakest points.First a variable, then a variables keyword and then how to store a value in a variable and until I can use operators to find a new value of the variable and so forth.This training and process to take my time to grasp these concepts and fundamentals has helped me tremendously.I can see Javascript functions and begin to conceptualize what is happening
Hopefully how I explained my training regimen makes sense.Basically take these core fundamentals of the language, or basics, of what you want to learn and repeat and write them on a daily basis until they stick and you can fully repeat them 100% without error. Better yet, without having to refer to any reference and you have a good concept of what your doing.When your done with that phase you can move on to the next aspect you want to learn and continue to push yourself until your fully confident in your skills.Again a great book I would recommend in order to better grasp this concept is "GRIT".You can find it HERE.So that's about it! How I discovered front end web development and how I began to dive into the subject. I found a real interest and dare I say a passion for this skill. Everyday I am thinking of ways to better myself and figuring out ways I can use it.Exciting to tell you the least!Hopefully my technique can help someone as well as inspire someone to get into front end web development.
