I’ve decided to take a break from the Odin Project. Finishing the Web Development 101 course has left me with a decent understanding of html, css, JavaScript, jQuery, and rails; continuing with the Odin Project tackles each one of those more in depth. I decided to take the opportunity to try Free Code Camp before I go further with that.

I started going through Free Code Camp a few weeks ago, and I like to think I’m tearing through it… [given the amount of free time I have, at least!] A lot of the html and css exercises were ones that I’ve done before- I definitely felt like there weren’t that many though, and it didn’t really dig into either of them. It wasn’t that long ago that I covered them in Web Development 101, so I feel like I still have an okay grasp on them [I’m sticking with just ‘okay’ because I know I’m far from being a pro!] I’m still doing each of the exercises, even if I’ve done it before; I feel like it’s a really good refresher, and I might find new ways to do things, and I’m definitely finding it’s going a lot faster this time around!

The highlight so far for me was the Computer Sciences 101 course, offered online from Stanford. I’m a big fan of online courses- I did a course last year about Andy Warhol, for fun, which I really enjoyed, and online courses fit really well into my lifestyle. CS101 is a six week course, but it’s self-paced, so all of the instructional videos and exercises are available at all times. You can pick and choose what you want to cover, or you can go through the whole thing. It took me a full week to complete the first week’s work [there’s a series of videos to watch, each followed by a few exercises], but I managed to finish the course off [the remaining five weeks!] during my last day off […I was on a bit of a mission!] I suppose the course curriculum is pretty basic [it is a 101 course, after all], but I think it’s super important to have a good foundation, and I’m really glad that Free Code Camp included it.

I’m currently working my way through some of the basic JavaScript exercises. Which means I’m back to codecademy… I feel like I’m a lot more determined this time around on these exercises, so hopefully I’ll be making as good progress this weekend as I did last weekend!

I’m still thinking about a new laptop- mine’s quite a hefty 15″ to be toting about, and it does occasionally give up the will to live, but I also quite like being able to afford food. If anyone has any suggestions or advice I’d love to hear it!