Right Idea, Wrong Code
03 Sep 2020Putting in the Hours
I once heard that in order for one to master a skill, they must put in 10,000 hours of work. I have to admit that I still have a way to go until I achieve my 10,000 hours of coding. Although I am a computer science major, programming is still quite a new subject for me. I am constantly learning new concepts and new languages. Honestly, it can be a little overwhelming at times.
Despite the challenges of learning how to code, I love it! I always loved to logical aspect of programming. Creating a program is like creating a very detailed list of instructions for a computer to follow. With the right code, you can have a computer do anything you want it to do. However, the process of writing out code has always been challenging for me. Often times I understand how to solve the problem in pseudocode, but have difficulty translating that into an actual programming language. Part of that has to do with me not having much experience coding. I started my freshman year learning how to code in Java. I then started learning C and a bit of C++ in my Sophmore year. Now as a Junior I am taking on a new language: JavaScript.
The Journey
As mentioned, programming is still quite new to me but I do have some experience with other programming languages. In previous years, I have created various programs in Java and C. Being familiar with other programming languages has made learning JavaScript much easier as much of the knowledge translates. I noticed many similarities between the languages I already know. For example, JavaScript has similar object-oriented programming ideas that I first learned from Java. So far learning JavaScript has been easier than learning my previous languages because the core principles of coding remain the same. Everything is familiar such as creating classes, creating assignments, using for loops, conditional statements, constructors, and so on. Most of the new concepts I learned are what functions are available such as push() for adding an element to the end of an array. Also, one thing I like about JavaScript is that there are no pointers. I find it easier to write code quickly in JavaScript than in C.
Practice Makes Perfect
Having to do the WODs (Workout of the Day) for ICS 314 has really helped me in learning how to use JavaScript. I’m still having a difficult time completing them in a timely manner, but I learn best hands-on. In the past, I learned the most from my programming assignments. This is because my code never works on the first try. After troubleshooting and analyzing my code, I learn from my mistakes and come out much more knowledgeable. I also find the WODs to be a very good experience for when I go to programming interviews in the future.