Getting better

07-21-2024

So, a company, which is providing security to a significant portion of the internet, managed to cause a tiny bit of chaos this past Friday. From my understanding, one file from an update they uploaded crashed a lot of windows machines out there. Airports, train stations, and a whole host of other businesses and services (that depend on Windows machines) were affected. I'd hate to be the person who sent out that update.

So, this is where I am at freeCodeCamp. I completed the projects Cat Photo App, Cafe Menu, Colored Markers, and the Building a Registration Form project. When it came to the Survey form project, I realized a lot of the stuff I "learned" wasn't sticking. I had a difficult time trying to construct the form in html.

Here's the problem I had. I wasn't using the new concepts I just learned on something outside of the tutorial. I knew how to use them within the tutorial (sometimes with a bit of guidance in the instructions), but I never had to look at a blank page and decide what to type to get the desired effect. I knew of things, but I had forgotten the details -- like which attributes to use.

I ended up going over the older projects. There was a lot of stuff in there I just glazed over -- so, it was new to me. A lot of other stuff started falling into place, such as the different types of input statements and the use of labels. I also learned that I wasn't a complete blank. I did learn quite a bit, and refreshing myself with all the older projects has given me a bit of a confidence boost.

I'm trying to be more intentional with my learning. I'm taking down notes into small markdown files and backing them up onto my GitHub. I got a hold of "HTML, CSS, & JavaScript all in one for dummies." I'm using it as a reference book and diving into the sections which seem a little foggy, or I want more information on. I've also came across a freeCodeCamp video on YouTube, and I'm hoping to use that to supplement my learning experience. Hopefully, doing these things, and actually tinkering outside the tutorial with my own webpages, will help me to get better and not feel like I'm wasting my time.

So, I'm in a good place now...and I'm starting to like Vim.