What’s the FCC front-end Cert and why should you care?
If you want to become a web developer, the front end is a great place to start (front end means the code on the website that is inside your web browser). If you have never even written a piece of code in your life then fear not because FreeCodeCamp has you covered and can get you (YES YOU) started TODAY! Even if you already have a little experience FCC can help you gain more skills or break out of tutorial after tutorial wasteland.
The FCC front-end curriculum is an experience set up to teach you the basics of coding. There are a series of lessons and coding challenges that you complete as you progress and gain more skills. The grand prize is that along the way you’ll create 10 projects and complete 5 master Algorithms. Don’t worry though you’ll be prepared to tackle these projects which come at the end of the learning sections. What is AMAZING is that YOU can have PROJECTS that YOU built to show employers to HELP YOU GET A JOB and get PAID! With these projects there is no copying code or having a tutorial show you what to do. You will get a user story which just a list that details what your projects should do and how they should function. As you complete projects you will build confidence that you can code and create things. You will gain real experience and you will actually understand the process.
Why is this for you?
If you are just starting out or if you have been stuck in so called tutorial purgatory(doing tutorial after tutorial) then this is for you. Real projects that YOU code mean REAL progress. In real life you can’t just watch a tutorial and automatically know everything. There are just too many factors in play. You need to actually understand the process and write your own code. If you find yourself watching too many tutorials then you never break out of this and that’s why doing your own projects can be so difficult. Having a guideline for what the functionality should be and then you figuring out how to create it will break you out of tutorial abyss. Yay!
How do I start?
Go to https://www.freecodecamp.org/, and create an account. Go to the curriculum section and start from the beginning.
What cool stuff do I get to build?
You’ll make some awesome projects like a JavaScript Calculator, A Pomodoro Clock, Random Quote Generator(this one was fun and my personal favorite) and more. https://coltonhibbert.github.io/random-quote-machine/
What cool stuff do I get to learn?
By the time you’re done you’ll know a good deal of HTML, CSS, JavaScript. You’ll also get to learn a front-end framework like React.(React makes building web-pages easier)
How long will it take me?
The front-end certification is broken up into 3 sections.
Each section takes about 300 hours to learn.
Section 1 is Responsive Web Design. It will Teach you HTML and CSS and you’ll also build your own (yes your very own) projects.
Section 2 is Algorithms and Data Structures Certification. You will learn JavaScript(it’s the language that tells websites how to run and do cool stuff when users type and click on things). JavaScript is SUPER powerful and can do so much more than that but you get the idea. You’ll get to go through problems that you solve with JavaScript. At the end as a mark of showing that you know your stuff you will complete 5 master algorithms. This is where you get to prove to yourself and others that you( yes YOU) know how to solve problems.
Section 3 Is the front-end Libraries Section. You’ll learn React or another front-end Framework of your choice and build those cool projects like the JavaScript Calculator we talked about earlier.
You’ll get to build 5 projects that you(yes YOU) will be proud of because you made them. All of the projects from section 1 to section 3 have a test suite(a set of tests) that check to make sure your project is functioning the way it should. That is one of the best features because you can gauge your progress on these projects.
How hard is it?
The FCC front end certification can be challenging at times because web development is a challenging field. With that challenge comes satisfaction from leveling up and becoming better. It took me roughly 9ish months to get through all of the challenges and projects. It is all about putting in the time and effort. FreeCodeCamp wasn’t the only thing that I worked on during period but I do feel the time estimation that FCC gives is fairly spot on, especially if you are newer to programming.
Will FreeCodeCamp teach me everything?
FCC is a great resource and will make up half of your learning curriculum and most importantly provide a clear path and structure. You will still need to work on additional resources to supplement your learning. I recommend Andrei Neagoie’s Complete Web Developer:Zero To Mastery https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-web-developer-zero-to-mastery/. Since that course is on Udemy I would wait until there is a sale so you don’t pay an arm and a leg. Instead of scouring endless hours on what to learn you can get the most important things you need from these resources right here and get started today!
In conclusion FreeCodeCamp is an awesome way to develop your programming skills and I hope you gained some insight into how beneficial the material and especially the projects are.