Moving right along

So far I am almost done with A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript. It is going well and I have about 100 more pages to go. I really am glad I chose this way to start with my journey into JavaScript. I know many people learn frameworks like jQuery first before really knowing JavaScript so I think this will really help down the road.

I know when I first set off to learn how to code I thought that I would just become a ruby on rails developer and that would be that. After really digging in and seeing what learning to code and being a web developer was all about, I realized that it isn't about being a this or that type of web developer but just being a web developer in general. You need to see what technologies are working for what applications. You need to plan your app before you even choose a framework to use. Why start a project and get half way into it just to realize that a completely different framework should be what is used? I find it for this reason that I need to really know the basics like HTML and CSS which I feel fairly comfortable with and of course JavaScript. I also need to be adaptable though so I can build off the foundation I have and get an understanding of how different frameworks work. I don't want to get too ahead of myself but I do think knowing express, node and angular would be great tools in the bag. Understanding mongoDB fairly well would be highly beneficial. Then of course you have ruby on rails as well. I already know that GO is an emerging language to watch out for so staying current with what tech is coming out and knowing how it works and differs from what is being used currently, will keep you from eventually putting yourself out of a job. I know some stuff will come and go quick as everything's constantly being improved upon but it's good just to stay current.

Great meetup

Last nights JavaScript meetup was great. The presentation was building a node app. and was really cool to see the process. With having my little experience working on rails, I was able to see and understand what was going on for a change and even more cool than that was, that it was in JavaScript and not Ruby.

I am really glad I started the Smarter Way to Learn book last week because it has already helped a ton and I know the information is really sticking. So far I'm about half way through the book and still learning a ton! I know I may not finish it by my Friday goal but after really getting into the book, I want to get as many miles as I can out of it. Either way I should be done this weekend and then it will be on to Learning Web App Development.

A Smarter Way to Learn

Over this weekend I made it about a quarter of the way through the book A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript by Mark Myers. All I can really say is that the book is awesome. I feel like the information is really sticking. The book has 89 chapters and I have read through 22 chapters so far. A chapter is about 2-3 pages long and then you go online to the corresponding website where you complete 20 exercises for that chapter. Some exercises are a bit repetitive but thats not bad because I have remembered everything that the book has covered so far. My goal is to finish that book by this Friday.

I put in about 10 hours both on Saturday and Sunday and continued my 4-5 hours all week. This week I am going to try for 5 hours of study time everyday and at least 10 hours each day on the weekend. I know that if I keep pushing myself and keep learning that all the hard work will pay off. 

I'm still looking forward to the JavaScript meetup this Wednesday evening. There are always good presentations and I personally learn a lot every time I go.

JavaScript

Lately I have been giving more thought to getting a good knowledge base on JavaScript. I know regardless of what job I may have in the future, I'm still going to need to know it and I would like to be proficient with it. I do think being able to handle front end development is important and will most likely be a valuable asset for any development team. I also would really enjoy getting a tech job so I will be closer to where I need to be career wise and still keep studying. I am so sick of driving a truck and that gives me so much motivation it's kinda funny.

With that being said as of 4am this morning I have started reading A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript by Mark Myers. It is a great book with a bunch of exercises to do. I hope to make a huge dent in it this weekend. I will also be reading Head First JavaScript Programming by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Robson. This is also a great JavaScript book that I think should get me pretty far. After I have these two books finished I will move onto Learning Web App Development by Semmy Purewal. I am excited for this book because I will get my feet wet with some node. I think so far that this will be a good start. I'd really like to get more into node so I can work with rails or node depending on what kind of project I'm going to be working on. 

So far I still really love the Ruby language but JavaScript isn't too bad. I do think knowing some Ruby before js has helped a lot in understanding programming. I remember at first looking at Ruby code and having no idea what was going on or what I was really doing. Now things are starting to come easier. 

On Tuesday this week I went down to Boulder for the Ruby meetup at Pivitol labs. The meetup was great and there were two really informative presentations. I always love going to the Boulder meetup just because there are so many great people there! Next week on the 25th I will be going to the Colorado Springs JavaScript meetup. It will be nice to go to a meetup here in town for a change. As much as I do love the boulder meetup I dread the drive. Two hours of driving from the Springs to Boulder through rush hour traffic followed by the drive home through road construction after working all day and getting up at 4am to study just makes for a horribly long day. Anyways I would say it was a great week and I accomplished a lot so I'm pretty happy with my current progress.

Boulder Ruby Meetup

On Sunday I finished HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett which was a great book! I feel that it really helped everything to sink in and now I am becoming more comfortable with reading and writing HTML and CSS. I can look at a page and understand what's going on and why. I know that's pretty basic stuff but I felt from the very start when I set out to do this, that I would start from the basics and work my way up. I have a good start on ruby so far and rails I have gotten a great taste of as well. I think my next steps will be to finish One Month Rails and figure out how to get past the current road block with that project. After I complete that I would really like to dive into the Rails tutorial.

Tonight I'm going to the Boulder Ruby meetup right after work. It's about a 2 hour drive but well worth it. I really do feel that I learn a lot from everyone at the meetups and I'm looking forward to still going to as many as possible. Colorado Springs has a few good meetups, I attended one of the JavaScript groups and learned a lot about node. I also would like to get a better grasp of JavaScript so this morning I'm going through the JavaScript chapter in Learning Web Design by Jennifer Robbins. It's a really short chapter but holds some good information as a brief js rundown. I have a few JavaScript books on the shelf that are next on the agenda after my One Month Rails project and Rails tutorial. Maybe I will throw it in there just to mix things up a bit.

I'm still studying at least 4 hours a day which I think for now I will stick with. I think that's a good amount of time balancing between work and family. 

HTML and CSS Review

This week I have been brushing up by reading HTML and CSS: Design and build websites by Jon Duckett. I have about 150 more pages to go and feel that my HTML and CSS skills have come along way and I have retained a lot of the information I have previously studied.

I am still studying for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night.

Labor Day!

So this last month has been quite hectic with my hand injury. The whole process so far just trying to get this whole thing taken care of has been such a long drawn out process. Anyways I really don't want to blog about that tonight.

I just got back from our family Labor Day trip back to Lake Tahoe. Tanya , Gemma and I went back for Gemma's 4th birthday which was on Labor Day. We spent Sunday Celebrating her birthday at Donner Lake with her cousin on the beach and had a great time and got lots of great presents. On Saturday we took a trip up to Lake Tahoe where we ate at the Fire Sign Cafe in Tahoe City and then went to the beach where we had some more fun in the water. I am now back early due to work while Tanya and Gemma stay until Saturday morning when they fly back.

I'm currently working on One Month Rails again picking up where I left off. I have been bad about posting and will start updating more. My current goal is to study 2 hours every morning before work. So far I am not doing too bad. I am a bit slower with needing to rest my hand here and there do to pain in my joints but I just do some reading up on css to fill in the time.