Scrimba "Learn JavaScript for free" course review

So I just completed the Scrimba "Learn JavaScript for free" course and they encourage you to write a review of the course so here is an overview of my experience.

How I went through the course

I went through the lessons in the order they were laid out and made a point of solving the challenges directly after learning each topic so that the subject matter sticks in your brain. They do mention that this is important to do and that completing the coding challenges gets the concepts in your muscle memory and this really is the case, particularly when learning coding concepts.

I also tried my best to complete at least one lesson and coding challenge per day, even if it was just a small three-minute lesson as I found this keeps your learning ticking over and I found that it kept me thinking about the coding challenges when I was just doing other stuff.

What I liked

Integrated coding environment

First and foremost, the integrated coding environment. You watch a short screencast on a topic and then you click on the cast and the screen automatically turns into a coding environment for you to solve a code challenge directly related to the subject have been taught, very impressive!

This means that you don't need to mess about setting a separate coding environment and editor which can sometimes create an obstacle between your learning, which can be tricky enough when you are trying to learn.

The course instructor, Per, was also very good. He was friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about this topic and I feel this is very important when teaching a subject like coding, which can sometimes get very dry and complicated. If it isn't taught with passion and personality, the subject can quickly become dull and overwhelming.

I also liked the bite-sized lessons, they weren't too long and focussed on one small concept at a time. Again, this is important when learning to code as your brain can very quickly be overloaded with information when learning to code any new language.

What I didn't like

Nothing, it's the best JS course I've ever done. If I want to be nit-picky, the audio quality could be a bit better so if they invest in better mics the subjects being taught would be a bit clearer to comprehend, but it wasn't a show stopper in any way

What I'd do differently next time

I would blog about the journey (maybe at the end of each section) and also take screenshots of successfully completed code challenges. It would have been good to see a journal of what I'd done and how I'd solved the challenges.

Setting a diarised time of the day, every day, and setting a target for what lessons challenges I plan to complete would also help if I was to do the course again. I think getting in the habit of completing the coding/learning in a set time, each day is a good habit to form as you just get out a do it, without thinking about it.

Finally, I'd have saved the coding challenges and apps I'd built locally, so I could add them to my portfolio.

Newbie tips

As I said above, just do a little bit every day, just show up daily and your knowledge soon builds. Also, build a real application on the side in conjunction with doing the course. This is the best way to cement your knowledge to build your own little app!