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Since the last blog post things have definitely moved quickly again.  It’s been just over two weeks and the pace has slowed slightly since last time.  We had another task and another deadline.  Similar to being thrown at HTML and CSS with our responsive design templates we were set for a crash course in JavaScript in order to validate an HTML form.  Most of this was simply checking if there was indeed something written in some text boxes.

The real challenges come from making elements reacting to one another, a learning curve that again had be more worried when things did work as opposed to not.  Again it soaked in soon enough and in the past week and a half since we finished up our deadline we were exposed to a learning tool that is extraordinary in scale and quality.

Pluralsight states their mission is to “Publish high quality online training courses for professional developers, IT admins and creative artists. Every day.” They live up to that claim completely and then some.  With hours long courses that get into the real meat of the languages and concepts they teach, it sounds like something that would feel insurmountable where you would have no idea of where to “start” but the reality is that it is an easy to begin process that caters to all skill levels.

Beginner mistakes I made in that first piece of JavaScript work are quickly disappearing and the quality of my work and the things I am capable of doing are increasing all the time thanks to comprehensive courses for HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.  Those three won’t be the only languages I learn but going forward I can see Pluralsight being absolutely vital to my development in learning more.

The scope of my work has been entirely web based thus far but the fact that I am quickly building a better understanding of a third language within a month is hopefully good news for the Antelle Academy and myself personally.

The pace is quick and as far as I can tell Joe and I have been keeping up, we both know the targets that have been set and what we need to do to stay on course to meet them, Exams are looming despite still being quite a far way off.  It’s certainly a motivator to know the long term deadlines, it gives some purpose to what we come in and do every day.

If you did tell me it’s been four weeks since I started I wouldn’t have believed you, personally I’ve found hitting a nine to five rhythm quite easy after months of part time work.  The progress in those four weeks is another motivator, I look back at what I made in that first week and it looks barely recognisable to the work I can put out now.

If anyone who is starting out in programming, at Antelle or on their own, reads this I hope it’ll be clear that those awkward things you’ve made to familiarise yourself with the languages your learning are just that, test runs and trials and aren’t indicative of where you might be in a matter weeks if not days.  Throw yourself into it and try to improve and streamline things and you’ll see how the quality rises very quickly.

Thank you again for reading the Blog.

Ben Thrussell