Hey everyone! I'm super excited to join the challenge.

1. what has worked - maintaining a record of what I learn everyday helps me keep motivated and be consistent. I feel happy and satisfied when I code and can also learn many new things!
2. what hasn't worked - when I take a long break from a project and then return back to it, I find it really difficult to regain the lost momentum and end up not finishing it.
3. long term goal - crack technical interviews
4. short term goal - get comfortable and consistent with solving coding challenges.

Hello everyone!
I am excited and nervous about joining this challenge.

1. What has worked in the past was when I had a clear vision of what I was working on and I was learning how to do something new. Especially when there are a lot of resources available to help when I got stuck.
2. What hasn't worked, when my requirements aren't clear and I don't really understand the technology I am using or what design pattern I am using and not having anyone to bounce ideas off of.
3. Long term goal is to reach MVP on my current work project and find a side passion project for myself
4. Short term goal - maybe get brave enough to find a Github project to clone and maybe contribute to.

Hello everybody!

It's been awesome reading about all of your experiences, a lot of them hit really close to home.

Very excited to be getting started with #CNC2021! Here are my pre-mission reflections:

What's working, and why?

1. Planning: whether it's breaking down steps to solve a problem or using Figma to create a mockup, planning always makes the building experience more enjoyable and less intimidating

2. Stepping Away: after learning about the diffuse mode I've learned to step away from a problem if I'm getting nowhere, rather than bash my head against it repeatedly. It's incredible how many problems I solve doing the dishes, or going for a walk

3. Breakthroughs: contrary to stepping away, there's a wonderful reward in facing a tough challenge and solving the problem attached. Whenever I feel stuck and demotivated I like to think about how I've chipped away at projects in the past and come out on top

What isn't working, and why?

1. Perfectionism: the reason this was such a problem for me was because I adopted an all-or-nothing mentality and would frequently opt for the latter. It's also ridiculous to expect myself to be writing perfect code as a beginner!

2. Lack of Clarity: the direct pain point that comes from not planning. Telling myself to, "build X" hardly ever works out, I need to clearly see all X's bits and pieces to make sense of where I'm headed

3. Delaying Feedback: this one leans a bit on the perfectionism issue. Since finding a mentor, and going through code I'm busy writing with them, I've realized that I wanted to keep it all to myself until it was 'perfect'. It's far better to be sharing throughout the building process and getting the feedback when it matters

Long-term goal:

The next 6-12 months are all about getting my first gig as a developer. Whether that's full-time, interning, or building websites for whoever needs one. Right now I split my time between working and learning; the thought of being paid to code/learn is a dream!

Short-term goal:

Over the course of this CN challege I aim to have my personal portfolio built, in React, and hosted to share with potential employers/clients.

Thanks for reading! I look forward to everyone's next update.

Hi!

1. what has worked - I have finished Coursera's Machine Learning, with 98% roughly. The main reason for success is that I dedicated myself to it completely, maybe even at the cost of being with my wife. Three months of doing homeworks, actively taking notes, doing assignments. Also, Tim Corey's youtube series on .NET development about building Tournament Tracker App - I have done it by doing excercies half an hour a day, coding along with the videos, built the whole app, learned a lot, but later forgot much stuff because the course lasted several months for me.
2. what hasn't worked - learning python on Udacity for several years, start for a few days, then didn't work on anything for a few months, than again, and again...
3. Long term goal - to be able to build something from scratch, to sharpen my understanding of Machine Learning and Web Development.
4. short term goal - learn React/Node/.

Determine what has worked.

Think about the times you've been happy with what you've coded — jot down three things that went well.

• Doing lab assignments which adhere to how my profs want it
• MyCMS-the cafeteria app I worked on during my CEF fellowship
• The features I built for Arike

Next, jot down three reasons why that was a happy coding session.

• I liked working with the Ruby on Rails Framework and learning how to build a system that incorporates everything.
• I got enough resources to understand what I had to do.
• I was motivated by the fact that I might have something on my Github profile

Determine what has NOT worked.

Write down three things that you were unhappy about.

• I did not have enough time to think things through.
• I could not understand how to turn certain algos into code
• I assumed that I simply cannot do certain things with my knowledge at that time.

Next, write down three reasons why those unhappy things happened.

• faced Impostor syndrome because I was thinking that I am not that intelligent to grasp the concepts needed
• Certain stuff like resolving bugs were taking too much time stressing me out since I wanted to beat the other students in finishing my webapp
• I did not listen to classes well when my prof thought the algos

What are your long-term goals?

• To come up with quicker solutions for implementing alogrithms in the language best suited for that purpose
• To participate in hackathons
• To get selected for the MLH fellowship
• To fill my Github profile with various projects

What are your short-term goals?

• Learn best coding practices like documentation
• Learn tips and tricks for getting things done faster i.e. increasing my productivity
• Decide on tech stacks that I would need to learn and know about the best way to learn them

hello all. hope everyone is well today. I am Joe. I have been attempting to learn to code for about two years now seriously. Off and on for a few years before that.
so, what has worked? This is a tough question since I feel like nothing really has worked and that's why I am here. However in an extremely vague sense simply coding every day, be it 30 minutes or 4 hours just making myself do it consistently has helped.

What hasn't worked? my attempt to understand what I am trying to build. I often find myself getting lost researching how to make something happen or function properly. Before I know it I'm so frustrated I want to walk away.

My long-term goal is to eventually work at either NASA or Space X and contribute to the preservation of our species through software.
My short term goal is to
gain som useful experience so I ca land a job at all.

Heya people!
I am quite excited to join this challenge, hope things work out +

What has worked:
I enjoyed it of course. I may have spent a lot of time in it. I learned a lot, not only about code about how to think.
why:
I had a really good source (cs50). I was using things that was know to me and was in my brain and I was able to see it through. I kinda knew the path.

What has NOT worked:
I have tried 100daysofcode, it didn't turned out well. I couldn't give it time daily, there are reason of personal and social types. I tried hackathons, in my first one, I was
a part of pretty beginner group, they turned out to be much beginner than me. Other times I couldn't participate with much enthusiasm due to the time difference. I have a lot of reasons and excuses but I wish to get above them all and get into a habit of coding daily.

Long-term goal:
To be a good Android App developer, enough good to be able to turn my ideas into apps. Get better at Java. And we'll see what the future holds.

Short-term goal:
Currently to focus on Android Studio. To be able to devote time to it and always come back. I also wish to find good tech-mates to learn together:)

Hello everyone, super excited to join this challenge.

1. What has worked - following a guided course material/course platform.
2. What hasn't worked - Not setting aside time to learn and build consistency, which makes building on top of the knowledge gained hard.
3. Long term goal - Be productive and consistent
4. Short term goal - Grow problem-solving muscle

I'm cautiously optimistic about joining. I'm hoping that community support helps move me toward my goal.

1. What has helped me code more: Nothing much, frankly. I coded daily until I was about halfway through bootcamp. Then, I became exhausted and overwhelmed. I dragged my way to completion, but never felt reinvigorated. Coding daily for long periods of time has been impossible since then.

2. I've tried lots (partnering, taking courses, following tutorials, taking a coding break for a few weeks etc.,) but eventually I feel overwhelmed by the concepts and upset by my lack of perceived progress.

3. Long term goal: Find a job

4. Short term goal: Feel less overwhelmed when coding. Finish some JavaScript coursework, apply for 10 jobs even though I don't feel ready.

Hi Everyone!

I am using FreeCodeCamp and The Odin Project (highly recommend) as my curriculum for learning full stack JavaScript web development. I too am struggling to stay motivated. Below are my own reflections, but I see similarities in many of the other responses.

My two main successes have been making a conscious effort to make coding part of my daily/weekly routine and keeping things simple.

I get stuck and lose motivation when I go beyond the scope of the project I am asked to do. My current project is for a To Do List that is supposed to cover some basic OOP concepts such as classes, factory functions, and SOLID programming. I turned it into learning how to build an MVC program with events. It's so complicated and so much self-learning that I get overwhelmed and the successes I was having get undermined.

My goals are to get into a regular routine of programming again and focus on breaking the project into the smallest necessary problems. Then I can get small wins, stay motivated, and get to a functional app with less stalling.

In the long term I want to round out my coding fundamentals, become fluent in some frameworks, and build a capstone project that others can use and I will be proud to share. I think this will give me the motivation to start seeking a web development career (preferably one where I can work from home at least part time).

Good luck everyone and hope to continue reading your posts!

Hi guys! Lets do our best

What has worked:

• I think I read some people mention they've used the Pomodoro technique also but what I did was in my notes app put in a tomato emoji for every 25 minutes. Even on my laziest days after work I would at least try and get one 🍅
• Knowing what I want to work on. Sometimes I just open VS code and don't know what to do lol. So having something I've badly designed on Figma, an idea for a project or at least something I want to learn from one of the courses I've bought gives me some guidance. I feel like it also gets me excited because I knew what I wanted to accomplish

What hasn't worked

• Not having a plan. I've mentioned up above but sometimes when I've sat down to make something I just sit there confused lol
• Above leads me to just not building anything. I feel like if I get stuck on something I can definitely have a clue what I'd need to learn next, but than it just goes to a project graveyard.

My Long term goal:

It's pretty simple but I'd like to be writing code fulltime. I just want more time to write code to learn more as opposed to my call center job right now lol

I'd also like to make something useful for people to use within my hobbies of gaming. The idea isn't really there yet, but when it pops up in my head I'd like to have some idea of how to plan it.

My short term goal:

right now my short term goal is to definitely FINISH a project. I can't build a portfolio if I've got nothing on there

Hello, everybody!
My name is Valters and I am fairly new to coding world. I am trying different things to learn and improve, so I am quite curious to see how this challenge will go.
I must admit, I feel a bit anxious about pressing the "Submit" button for this comment, but well - what's a challenge without some nerves, right? :) So, here it goes - my raw, unedited reflection on the pre-mission questions.
Successful coding experience:

1. “Word guessing game”: o I managed to make a draft final version of the game o I was experimenting with concepts freshly learned o Learned about loops, EventListeners, etc. of JavaScript o I was happy that it was kinda working. o I had fun while working on it – I wanted to see if I can put in practice what I have learned and make something on my own. o I worked on it for a week or so. o I liked that I could see how do different concepts work in practice.
2. Test writing for Visas Iespējas o I am doing some basic things, which I can understand o I am building on basic knowledge and tool given to me – learning to find answers on my own in documentation and online. o I have support system of VI programmers team. o I like to see the practical result of my work
3. Website creating for “Turība” course. o I liked to see, that I can create something simple but more or less nice looking only after few months of learning programming o I liked that I could do things differently as taught in the course o It was my first experience of trying to create something from scratch. o I started to learn to look for answers online

Unsuccessful coding experience:

1. Java Bootcamp: o I couldn’t see practical application of the language o The practice project was difficult and not really interesting for me o I didn’t know for what kind of help to ask o I did simple task for basically 1 week o I didn’t feel like I am doing something useful o I was in panic; I didn’t want to “pull down” the team o I didn’t sing up for some task which I could do, e.g JavaScript code for database/table field validation o The challenges we needed to solve involved more understanding of technologies, than programming language itself o I spent some of the time just being lazy o I was not excited by Java
2. Following tutorials: o Mainly, I don’t finish them o I don’t know what to create with the things I learn o I stop following just before things are taken to the next step, become more difficult.

Long term goals (by the end of the year – in 8 months):
• Being able to earn most of my money by coding
• Being able to work most of the time remotely
• Working on creating websites
• I would like to be able to create a simple website for somebody else on my own
• I would like to work in a supportive team

Short-term goals
• Go to my Wordpress profile and actually create something
• Improve my test-writing skills
• Start learning more advanced concepts of JavaScript

Hi guys! My name is Diego, I'm a frustrated chemist from Brazil. I am very happy to embark on this journey with you! Feel free to talk to me if you need anything, two newbies think better than one.

-What has worked:
The consistency.
Good resources (like the CS50).
Putting personal project ideas into practice.

-What has NOT worked:
Taking very long breaks between courses and projects, resulting in the fact that when I came back from a break I didn't know as much as I used to.
Refactor my code several times and end up giving up for lack of direction.
Don't compromise and go all-in.

-What are your long-term goals?
My main goal is to be able to express myself through my code, to bring my ideas to life. I also want an entry job as a dev when I feel ready.

-What are your short-term goals?
Focus all my energies on learning, and practicing.
develop good communication, be present in environments that contribute to my growth as a dev.

-How does it relate to your long-term goals in Question 4?
I believe that learning intensively and participating in the community will give me good experiences that I can take to a work environment.

Hello, I see some common patterns in the answers - agree with many of you!

What has worked

• Having achievable goals and a clear plan to meet them. There are various levels of this, from the bigger broader goals, to smaller milestones and tasks that work towards the goal (including setting daily intentions), and the structure to help work through these knowing that if I do A, B and C I will get to D.
• Having support when stuck (or quality resources) that will help me get unstuck. Ideally people who know more than me, who can jump on a video call to look at my coding onscreen, a second set of eyes; but relevant clearly communicated resources like video walk throughs and tutorials can also be really good (if you can find one that matches your problem).
• Challenge well matched to skill ability - not trying to do something completely over my head.

What hasn't worked

• The opposite of the above! e.g.
• Trying to do stuff well beyond my ability, losing a lot of time, not understanding or knowing how to bridge the gap.
• Lack of good support or resources, or wasting time with the wrong resources (such as out-of-date techniques and solutions).
• Indecision and lack of clarity about path forward... particularly when struggling with new concepts, indecision about whether to do more learning/tutorial/walk-through type resources to improve my understanding of underlying concepts versus trying to apply them in practice, and whether to focus on strengthening what I have already learned or learn something new (such as Redux or backend technologies).

Long-term goals

• Learn full-stack (currently I am a beginner in front-end web development)
• Build a solid portfolio of projects showcasing skills
• Secure a quality part/time job at a company with a great workplace culture and support to skill up along a career path.

Short-term goals

• Become confident with React.js & complete some more tutorial projects
• Learn basics of Redux
• Complete 3 sprints of a volunteer web app I am working on (which uses React & Redux).

Hi All, i'm super excited to be working on the code more challenge!

1. What has worked? Producing code the proivded an end result I was happy with - keeping me motivated to keep learning. Daily coding has kept me interseted in the topics that i'm learning. Following a guided course has allowed me to systematically work through the topics that I wil require to become a Front-end developer.
2. What hasn't worked? Trying to learn too much too quickly, not taking in the full amount of information i'm learning and encouraging burnout. Putting too much pressure on myself to not make mistakes even though i'm still new and learning. I don't feel as though i'm going to be good enough to become a developer so I sabotage my efforts.
3. What are your long-term goals? I want to start a front-end developer role ad keep developing my skills as a developer.
4. What are your short-term goals? I want to finish the front-end developer course on codecademy and ensure that i'm networking to get a new role.

Thank you all, and I can't wait to join you all on this challenge!!!