My Coding Journey

As I code most days for at least three hours, and have done for around the past two years, I thought it was about time I joined in with one of the many online #100-days-of-code challenges.
I am currently on day 11/100 on the freeCodeCamp.org #100-days-of-code Discord Challenge, working through JavaScript Basic Algorithms and Functional Programming at the time of writing. Participants on this challenge commit to coding for at least one hour a day for 100 days, then posting an update each day on the fCC (freeCodeCamp) Discord channel, and interacting with at least two other people on the channel each day. I have so far found it helpful, as having to account for the coding I have been doing, and summarize it, really makes me work to understand what I have been learning.
Although I have worked through the fCC JavaScript course several times before, I have found it difficult to make the learning stick. So, having to think about what I am doing, because I will have to explain it on the Discord channel, is making me pause to think about the underlying code, rather than just work through each exercise and try to get it right, but not necessarily understanding why.
My coding ability has improved so much over the past two years, however, to the extent where I now naturally go to use for loops in most situations to do with array sorting.
The next stage for me, then, is to get equally comfortable with using JavaScript methods on arrays, such as .map, .filter and .reduce.

I found an excellent tutorial about the JavaScript Map Function on fCC the other day, which really helped me nail the underlying principles behind the .map function. I followed the coding steps from the tutor, Nathan Sebhastian, and was able to complete the exercises myself.

So far, so good… Now I understand the .map function. I also worked through the .filter exercises on the Functional Programming section of the fCC JavaScript course, but now I have reached the .reduce function, and am looking for a similar tutorial for .reduce to help me understand the underlying concepts.

Next month, I will be working through the all-new JavaScript course on fCC with the Bad Website Club – I’m really excited to do this, as Ramón and Jess are awesome teachers (and awesome people as well!) and there is great camaraderie between the members and teachers on BWC bootcamps. I’m hoping to really gain a deep understanding of all things JavaScript from this course, and have it become second nature to me. Building a role-playing game sounds a really exciting way to do this!

This style of learning fits in so well with my medical translation work, which I do online four days a week. Long term, my goal is to have the two careers simultaneously, and be a translator who codes. Correction – I am already a translator who codes – make that, a translator who gets paid to code.