Experiencing New Language
28 Aug 2023
The diverse coding world
Within the coding world, there are many different types of language, some being more efficient than others and some not so optimal. These languages that form lines of code, assorted in ways to work in unison, create a beautiful digital landscape that shapes our modern world. I have had my fair share of these languages, with varying experiences, learning what works for me and what doesn’t. These experiences, although can get somewhat challenging, have helped me better understand and adapt to newer languages, one of which is Javascript.
Drawing from experience
When it comes to Javascript, the concepts and processes aren’t that challenging so far. Throughout the exercises that I did in FreeCodeCamp, I enjoyed the way they taught the material. It was done in a way that made it easy to follow and understand what was required out of me to make a code work. They provided concepts that you would need to know for the exercise and started breaking them down into steps. As a complete newbie to Javascript, this experience really helped me acknowledge a new way to learn a coding language and also how fortunate I am to have previous knowledge of other languages.
As I have mentioned before, Javascript is only one of many coding languages that I know. Thus, it only makes sense why I had a lax experience with learning it. I was able to draw on my many experiences in Python and Java to complete those aforementioned tasks, besides the simple learning method. Having said that, if I were to compare Javascript with my previous coding languages, I would not know what to say. It’s still too early for me to take a stance on whether or not Javascript is the best coding language or the worst, although I’m leaning towards the latter since C exists. Some features that I do think add to the flexibility of Javascript are the small nuances. For instance, how data types, like “int” and “double” are no longer a concept or how it is much easier to handle functions. Even though my perspective can be biased, as Java and Python are the coding languages I feel most comfortable with, I still leave my view on Javascript blank.
Practice makes perfect
If you were to tell me to create a functioning code, that I have no prior knowledge of and there’s a time limit, I wouldn’t even try to attempt it. I find the practice of timed coding like WOD very stressful, but I do see the use of it. I think this style of learning is very beneficial, as it makes the user think quickly on their feet and pushes their problem solving skills to the limit. However, it isn’t my cup of tea, as I take my time to figure out what I want to do. I am the type of person to always have a planned schedule, knowing what I want ahead of time. It would only stress me out more, if something completely unrelated interrupted my plans. In spite of that, my idea of WODs aren’t something that I would despise. Yes it’s going to be stressful and make me dread coming to class, but I still find it a fun challenge. I just hope that I can do the same when it comes to learning Javascript. I hope that with enough practice and experiences with other WODs, I get the general feel of things, and it just becomes a simple task for me.