Down & dirty with Frontend Masters

I'm all in on Frontend Masters; after completing Brian Holt's "Complete Intro to Web Development" in a matter of a couple of days, I'm completely sold on their process. This course was meant for complete beginners, so there were parts I had seen multiple times before. However, I learned tidbits all along the way, even in these areas I was already well-versed in. One of the greatest things about watching these videos, including those I've watched on Udemy, is learning shortcuts for vsCode and other developer realms from experienced developers. Each person I've watched uses vsCode a little bit differently and has different shortcuts to make their lives easier, and I try to steal these shortcuts any time I can. Brian Holt had some shortcuts I'd never seen before that I can tell are going to save me all kinds of time going forward. The culminating project was much harder than I thought it would be; this project instructed us to build a calculator from scratch. I was able to create something acceptable with HTML and CSS, but when I got to the JavaScript, I realized I still had no idea what I was doing. There's still a huge disconnect in my JavaScript from being able to comprehend concepts and actually apply these concepts.

Now, it's on to the granddaddy of them all: Kyle Simpson. Kyle Simpson is the author of the book series "You Don't Know JavaScript," which almost everyone seems to recommend. I've been following him on Twitter for quite a while now, and after reading his tweets, I judged him to be a bit grumpy. I've only watched the introduction to "Getting Started with JavaScript," but I can already tell this is far from the truth. He is actually one of the best instructors I've come across with a ton of positive energy. I knew he was incredibly smart and that his opinions are held in high regard, but his tone on Twitter tends to be negative. Everyone has that friend whose tone in their text messages doesn't match what they actually mean, and I'm guessing this is true with Kyle Simpson and tweeting. From now on, I'll be reading his tweets in a different tone in my mind.

So, I'm now 20% into the beginner path on Frontend Masters, but the challenges are just beginning. There are some difficult JavaScript courses coming up quick, along with a very difficult topic in responsive web design up next after Kyle Simpson's course. I've been used to taking 25 to 40 hour courses taught by the same instructor, and I find this format to be really nice after that. Brian Holt's course was about 11 hours and, as much as I liked him, it's great to get a break from him for a while and listen to Kyle Simpson instead. This gives me something more immediate to look forward to, instead of looking 30 hours down the line before I have a different voice in my headphones. I should be done with this quick 2 hour course tonight, and then I get to hear from another great instructor. In fact, besides one course in the elective coursework, every course in this path is taught by a different instructor. As I've said, this path lasts about 40 hours and, on the pace I'm going right now, I should be on to the professional level by next week, where I'll really get into the nitty gritty!

Until tomorrow!