For a while, I wanted to learn how to code. I had failed several attempts to get started. Browsing around the internet I was going from learning the HTML Basics jumping to reading posts on 'How to get started with HTML and CSS'. I ended up abandoning every time because I had no structure and it just seemed such a big task to undertake.

While browsing for these resources I came across the SheCodes Workshops, a company that teaches coding skills through a step by step approach starting from full beginners all the way to automation and advanced features. If you are like me at that time, a complete beginner with no background in coding this could definitely help you getting off the ground with the basics and start coding.

They have different workshops for the level you are at:

I went to the free class they have and it was a good way to get a feel for how the course would be like. I really enjoy learning through video format and I find it easier to follow courses like this, if you prefer reading vs video, this might not be the best option for you. After the free class, I enrolled to the 'Basic' 3 Week Workshop as it was the best for me considering my working hours.

SHECODES BASICS - Review

In this 3 weeks you learn the basic concepts about HTML, CSS and Javascript.

The price of the course is 199CHF (as I am based in Switzerland, but this might look different for you, just check out their website for the updated price).

Overall, I think the value for money on this workshop is great!

You focus on concepts and things that are actually going to be useful for building things later. As noted in their website, this course is great for absolute beginners. Matt Delac, the founder and instructor, is great at explaining abstract concepts in an easy way.

Each week you have different topics to cover and once that you have completed the topic, it will mark your progress so it is easy to follow.

Once that you go inside a topic you can see there are 3 sections:

Learn - an explanation of the concept,

Challenge - you have to complete it based on what you just learnt and

Solution : where you can double check if what you did was correct or not

I think this structure is great as you can first understand the concept and then try it for yourself. Sometimes you don't manage but then you can review the solution and then try again.

Another thing I liked about the course's structure is that you have deadlines for each week and although you are free to do it at your own pace and if you don't manage you can ask for an extension; the fact of having a deadline helped me to push and try to complete the tasks on the given week. When you are learning something new and particularly when is so challenging you need to have the discipline to keep going.

In some other free courses I've tried, lagging behind was my biggest barrier to completion. You have access to the videos and you can do it wherever you want except that my motivation started high the first week and then I never completed them.

At the same time deadlines can be stressful but don't worry, if you don't manage to complete the challenges by the stated deadline you can always ask for an extension. I did it a couple of times when I had very heavy weeks in my daily job. The key is to ensure you keep progressing throughout the weeks.

After I completed this workshop, I realized I actually liked coding and was interested to learn more so I decided to join the next workshop to learn more advanced concepts.

SheCodes PLUS REVIEW

MONETARY INVESTMENT

This workshop was 6 weeks long and the price was 990CHF Swiss Francs. If you are interested in the pricing for your country, have a look directly on their website.

If you have taken the 1st workshop and you liked it and now you are hesitant to commit for the next one, I would definitely recommend you to sign up!

From my experience, this is when the best part really starts because you get to build something by yourself.

TIME INVESTMENT

You need to be ready to put in the time, of course, it can vary depending on the previous knowledge you have and how fast you learn new things. In my case, I had no previous knowledge about coding so I was really starting from zero.

The time investment guidance given by SheCodes is 5 hours per week but I can tell you that in certain weeks (where I had to learn the new topics especially JavaScript), I definitely spent more than 5 hours.

My average was more around 8 hours per week but this really depends on you, how deep you want to go and again, how quickly you can learn.

COURSE CONTENT

In our case, we were building a weather app (my hosting has expired by now but you can see the projects of other students in their website).

During these 6 weeks, we learn about API (Application Programming Interface), how to leverage them and connect them to our own app in order to get real-time data. You go more in detail on HTML, CSS and Javascript concepts as you have more time to do exercises than in the first workshop.

We also learned how to use GitHub and BootStrap, which are tools that developers use today in their daily jobs and that enable you to use frameworks of code already made. Is a bit hard to understand at the beginning as you need to learn them first to be able to use them but with practice it gets easier.

Installing the tools can take a while, mainly if you have older versions of the operating system in your computer but here is where the support through Slack was very helpful as other users where experiencing the same issues I had. Once this is done and you have the tools set-up your workflow becomes smoother and you also start saving your code on the cloud as you progress, which is good not to lose your work if something happens to your computer.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE ON THE SHECODES PLATFORM

The platform remains the same one you use for SheCodes Basics which I describe in the first part of the post.

Apart from having the access to the platform where you see the videos and do the exercises, you get access to a Slack channel where you can connect with with the support team and with other students. They are very helpful and responsive to all questions from software setup to the code itself.

I believe this feature, is one of the key differentiators of this course vs others available in the market, as it really makes a difference in your learning experience. Having support like this when you are learning how to code means that you can actually get things to work and that when you have been stock trying to find your answer for hours, someone that knows what you are trying to build can help out.

THE OUTCOME

After 6 weeks, I have built my own Weather App: EarlyBird 

This might look pretty simple to others, but the process to get there was not simple at all.

While learning how to code, I was surprised to see how frustrating the process can be.

I had a constant feeling that I was doing the same as the instructor and for some reason, mine wasn't working. I would review again and again my code just to recognize I have missed a minor syntax error. Of course all this gets easier when you learn how to debug properly and as you gain more experience. Definitely, there where days I thought this was a very painful process.

Nevertheless, I continued.

And one day without noticing too much, you start understanding more, following things easier. And one day it works! The moment that what you are trying to build works, you really feel that satisfaction and reward for your hard work of having built it yourself.

After this first taste, it became crystal clear that becoming a full time developer will not be my next career move. When I started this course, I really thought I would become one of the user stories of people that ended up switching careers into coding. After being fully immerse in the process, I understood this is not a passion for me and I wouldn't have the curiosity needed to make this my everyday.

Although I am very happy and proud of what I have accomplished, this is where my coding journey ends. 

I am grateful to SheCodes for providing me a great understanding of how these languages work, understanding the back end of websites and digital products has proven to be valuable in other projects I worked on.

Having these skills opens the doors to a world of possibilities of what you can build.