Second Guessing

In the last post, I was pleased with myself for accidentally anticipating an improvement to a tutorial project which turned out to be the next task, today I’m pleased with myself for discussing the pros and cons of onclick= vs addEventListener() then having that same discussion turn up in the next tutorial. I take it as an indication that I am correctly immersing myself in the subject.

My approach to this learning is to watch all the tutorials, and any that involve code, type along with them. Usually they are followed with a task to extend them so I do those or invent my own. I’ve also started trying to reproduce versions of other websites I see that I’m interested in.

I also listen to a few podcasts about the subject. Often good podcasts seem to get more detailed and technical over time, so I search for any that do occasional episodes on beginner topics. Even if a lot of it is over my head, you do start to pick up on the industry buzz about things, and learn some of the names that can be helpful for searches later. I’m currently cherry picking old episodes of JavaScript Jabber.

The last thing is these posts. I’m fully aware that most likely they’ll never be read by anyone but me, but the process of writing them does help clarify my thoughts, and the knowledge of a potential audience gives me a sense of accountability I wouldn’t have if I was just saving them to a directory. They do even occasionally help me – I’ve been back to some of the git ones when I’ve forgotten things!