Self-guided Learning

Tessa Thornton

@tessthornton

Patience

Learning to code is difficult but rewarding

It might be a different kind of challenge than you've tried before

Learn by Doing

Pick a project that gets you excited

Let your project guide your learning

You might not want to work on a personal website or portfolio if your focus is on learning

Don't let yourself get distracted by indecision, insecurity, and self-criticism

Code as frequently as you can

Even if it's only for a few minutes

If you don't have time to code, read some code. Or read about code.

Repetition is key

Follow a tutorial. Then do it again.

Read a book. Then read it again.

Build something. Then rebuild it. Make it better.

Ask for help

Pros love to help enthusiastic beginners

So do fellow learners

Many of your questions have already been answered

Take advantage of interactive resources (if that's your style)

• Code Academy (Free)
• Codeschool ($29/month)
• Treehouse ($25/month)

Read some books! (if that's your style)

• HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites
• Dive into HTML5
• Eloquent JavaScript

Follow some tutorials

• Code.Tuts+
• CSS-Tricks
• Sitepoint

Have fun

Be kind to yourself

Be proud of what you've created