I believe that my programming skills have greatly improved in that at the beginning of the semester, I came in knowing absolutely nothing about programming. Then, as the semester progressed, the class introduced the different elements of HTML and JavaScript. I quickly learned their purposes and how to integrate them to create a functional website. In addition, I am now somewhat able to recognize the codes that are written and manipulate them to fit with my purpose. Examples include declaring variables and understanding their purpose so I can apply them again throughout my files.
The most important thing for me to improve my programming skills is to enhance my ability to see the big picture of how all the code would come together. What I usually ran into as I delved deeper into my codes was that I lost track of where my starting point was alongside the endpoint. I often get tunnel visions that lead me to fail to see how a specific section of my code fits the overall structures. For instance, when applying the server side to the client side and vice versa. I could add comments to my codes more often to help me feel less lost as the codes quickly pile up in my files.
I did learn a lot from WODs, but I still need to go back to the screencast from time to time to refresh my memory. I usually skip over some steps that make my page fail to work, and I use screencast as a tool to help me backtrack my process and put me in the right direction.
The lab has been a nice building block to put what I learned into practice. However, there is a lot to take in, and I am not confident completing them without additional help. There are areas that confuse me, and I did my best to go through the motions and learn from previous labs to help me find the right approach for the next one.
I have learned a lot from Assignment 1, but the steps did not come naturally to me. I spent many hours going through trial and error to determine what features worked and what did not. I created multiple variations of Assignment 1 to test different things. Ultimately, I am somewhat ready for Assignment 2, and I would like to eventually reach the finish line to see the end product when everything is finally put together.
The class has been good for my learning. Given that there are a lot of materials to learn and absorb, I was able to catch up and use these tools for my assignments, as there is supplemental help that allows me to get back on track. I believe that help is critical in making the experience much smoother. So cultivating different ways of getting support would be a welcome component in doing well.
The videos were the most helpful for me because I don't pick things up quickly. Having the videos lets me absorb the information at my own pace that I am comfortable with rather than trying to race with the materials all in one go. The materials from this class are all brand new to me, so having the videos to break it down makes it easier for me to grow my understanding.