A few weeks ago, I started a 3-month intensive full-stack programming course at General Assembly. Full-stack is simply a fancy way of saying I’m learning web development and design (the “front end”) as well as server, application, and database programming (the “back end”).

I thought the first few weeks would be pretty straight forward. It’s been anything but. My mind has been stretched in many ways: first, by learning a lot of vocabulary and new syntax; second, by applying object-oriented and functional “paradigms” that string together disparate actions into a coherent body; and third, by thinking in a very explicit, step-by-step way so that the machine I’m working on can interpret my instructions. I’m amazed how tough this is for me, even though I’m writing very basic code.

So far, I’ve been exposed to primarily front end languages: JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, and CSS. Hard-core programmers don’t even consider HTML or CSS as code, but it looks like code to me when I’m writing it. I didn’t really know what either was before I started this course, but it’s pretty simple: HTML is used to “structure” a web page, while CSS allows a developer to “style” the page. Neither is particularly difficult to grasp, but manipulating pages and making them look good is both a skill and an art.

JavaScript, on the other hand, is a programming language. Many people confuse JavaScript with Java, but aside from sharing a similar name, they are pretty different. JavaScript is the language that powers the web: it enables webpages to have functionality. If a user clicks on something on your webpage, what happens? That’s JavaScript.

It’s been fun learning JavaScript as well as jQuery – a library that simplifies writing JavaScript. JavaScript is considered one of the “lighter” programming languages to learn – and doesn’t carry the gravitas of learning something like C++ or Java – but it’s deceivingly simple. From what experienced programmers tell me, JavaScript has its quirks, but these quirks – when wielded properly – can produce powerful programs. In fact, according to a recent Bloomberg article on code, JavaScript is the world’s most-used computer language. Here’s what basic JavaScript looks like:

I struggle quite a bit when using JavaScript to manipulate the CSS and HTML of a page. Nonetheless, I’m astounded that in three weeks I’ve managed to write several programs, including:

• A stopwatch
• A calculator
• A To-Do list
• A game called ‘Snake’
• A game of ‘Tic Tac Toe’

I won’t post these programs since I’ve received plenty of help from my instructors, peers, and online material. The code I wrote is also plain awful and riddled with bugs, so I don’t feel comfortable sharing these just yet. But as I continue to get better with programming, I look forward to sharing some of my projects on here.

Back to coding.