How Was Your Coding Journey Like?
Tags: beginners, codenewbie, coding, programming
Published: 2023-11-05 14:54:24

I started out with learning HTML and BBCode (for sites where I could not use HTML) in my office on my office PC in upper secondary school (college) by myself. I created several simple but creative and girly websites and profiles for fun. Later I coded in the company of other girls on a girls only website where I got compliments on my websites, profiles, comments and animated pixel GIFs. My animated GIFs of Tamagotchi characters which I had drawn were especially popular! 

One day I got instantly infamous. I have not always cared about closing my tags. As long as my website or profile looked the way I liked, I was pleased(!). One day when I logged on to the girls only site, my wall was covered with complaints (some where compliments as well)! I was in shock when I realized what had happened. It turned out that the code on my profile had overwritten the code on everyone else's profiles! How could that even happen?! I received a lot of complaints as well as some compliments from people (as they found the unintended makeover of their profile very pretty) and some even said that they have never had such a pretty profile before. I learned the hard way that you should ALWAYS close your tags!

A couple of years later, I got serious into learning a programming language from a book. I jumped into learning C++ from a very thich yellow book on teaching yourself C++. I got stuck deep into the middle of the book but got no help from anybody so I was forced to drop it (at least I got to make a ton of popup windows!). Years later I found out that I could learn coding online from some code learning websites. They did not exist when I first started out! 

Blockly was a rather odd language I encountered when I was first starting out learning to code online from a coding site. I did not understand why they teached us to code with blocks, I went from C++ to THIS?! I stuck with it for weeks hoping it would change somehow. Eventually I decided to learn from other online sites which I found. I chose to learn Python as I heard that was easier (than C++) to learn and I have stuck with it ever since (while also taken the introductory courses on many other coding languages out of curiousity!).

I have also been learning from a book on Python and other books like "Learn to Code: Data Coding Step by Step", "Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding", "Girls Who Code #1: The Friendship Code" and "Codebreakers: From Hieroglyphs to Hackers". I read all the books on coding which I could find at my local library at the time.

Right after I had been learning CSS on Codecademy for 2 weeks, one of my pure CSS images got picked and shared on Popular Pens on X which is an unofficial feed of the most popular and outstanding Codepen Pens. I did not see that coming! I made pure CSS images just to gain more experience with coding in CSS but it was actually very fun to make them as well!

I learned game development on CodeCombat and coded a couple of game levels in Python there which I shared with people so they could try them out. I got some nice and constructive comments back on them.

I joined Hacktoberfest in 2018, 2019 and 2020. I loved getting the t-shirts and stickers but that was when I started to experience the so-called "imposter syndrome".

The #100DaysOfCode on X was a welcome challenge but I struggled to complete it for a long time due to the "imposter syndrome" which eventually got me good. It was only after I had made several attempts over a few years that I finally managed to complete the challenge in the spring of 2023!

I am currently into Python, HTML/CSS (as I recently acquired my own domain with web hosting), working on my Game Dev 2 Final Project, EXA programming (an ASM-like programming language used to solve puzzles in the game Exapunks by Zachtronics) and I am about to beta test a new app for a company! 

PS! 
Due to a severe case of the "imposter syndrome", I deleted all of my profiles which I could remember I had and reset all my progress (and all the games I made) on CodeCombat, but I have since then rejoined most of the sites and I intend to never delete any of my profiles ever again!

How was your coding journey like? Share your coding journey with us!