It has already been 8 weeks since I started learning to code, and more than half of my Bootcamp journey has already passed. In this blog, I would like to share some of the hurdles I have encountered and simple tips to overcome them.
Learning Curve
When studying design and conducting the project with a team, there is definitely a learning curve. At first, I expected that my skills and self-confidence would increase as I gained experience, but that was never the case. As I went through the Boot camp, I thought that this learning curve could be applied to all fields, including studying coding.
For example, as in the graph above, I was optimistic about my journey of Bootcamp until I was doing pre-work in phase 0 before the Bootcamp started. I have often heard from some people around me that 90% of the development is done through Google Search, and only 10% of coding knowledge is required. Up until this point, I was very confident.
But when Phase 1 started and taking the first Javascript frontend class, my confidence plummeted. Everything was more difficult and painful than I thought. It was a stage where I had doubts about whether I could finish this 15-week program. It wasn’t even clear how to ask people about unresolved problems because I was constantly questioning whether I understand the concept itself.
And now I have reached Phase 3 and I am gaining knowledge about how to control the database and how to connect it to the frontend. It is true that as the experience was accumulated, the understanding of the overall concept increased. But in fact, it still feels like all my knowledge has been shredded. I think it is necessary to practice drawing up a bigger picture to be connected and to come to an understanding of the overall function.
Some Hurdles
1) When designing, the service flow and UI design style vary according to each project and the target user. Obviously, a reasonable design should be done through user research, but there is no right answer in design. With that said, it is possible to apply the designer’s individuality, the style pursued by the company, or the current trend. But the coding is different. Minor syntax errors can cost you hours, and there is always a certain right answer in implementing a function. It was not easy for me to think about development logic.
2) Design tools are very diverse, but if you have a design you are thinking of, you can implement the same results with different design tools. For example, using Sketch or Figma tools, even though there is a difference in the efficiency of collaboration within the team or the ease of prototyping between two different design tools, the same result can be obtained in terms of UI and visual design(The time and process it takes to get the result are definitely different). However, the output of the code is different depending on the language used. Since different grammar or syntax is used depending on the language, it is necessary to continuously check and study.
3) As an advantage and a disadvantage, you can get a lot of information through Google Search. The image below is the result of my search for a Javascript callback, and I get about 50.2 million pieces of information. As I do not have much experience in coding search yet, I am not good at efficiently searching for the code information I need. In addition, the process of filtering the information I am looking for is still difficult because the code written varies depending on developers, the method of solving, and the efficiency of the code.
What I realize
- When searching for Javascript, HTML, CSS code, you first look for information through a few reputable sites. For example, since MDN is one of the most reliable websites, you can search for codes efficiently by adding MDN in front of the search term.
- I decided to admit that I will never become a coding master in a few months. Coding cannot always be a big part of my life as a profession. I think it is important to study with a constant interest in coding even after the Bootcamp is over and even if I continue to live a coding-free life as a designer.
Thanks for reading!
