Hello World! I am a 30-Year-Old civil/construction engineer, learning to code for the first time. I am sharing my journey and learning here.

Table of Contents

• An Unwritten Rule
• Work Overload & Coding
• Sleep Deprivation
• Self Doubt
• Regular Experessions
• CodeNewbie & Tech Jokes

An Unwritten Rule

I have been learning to code for more than a couple of months now. I have realized that it is an unwritten rule that anyone who is learning to code for the first time would make a portfolio website. I did no different. The moment I completed my Responsive Web Design Certification, I publicly committed myself to create a website in a month. I shared my website link in my last post, but there was no CSS on the website, but now I have completed my website. It's just a single-page website but might change it in the future.

Work Overload & Coding

The organization I work for recently won two new projects. There was a lot of work at the office (I am a Construction Engineer and have a non-coding job). The work hours would extend till very late in the night, but I've managed not to break the streak, and I have learned and practiced coding every day for an hour.

Sleep Deprivation

Because of too much work at the office & coding, I couldn't sleep enough for almost two weeks. I won't say it is entirely because of additional work at the office. I could get enough sleep had I managed my time more efficiently. I am aware that I am not managing my time efficiently and looking for ways to do that.

Self Doubt

After completing my portfolio website, Jai (my developer friend & mentor) asked me to read about formatting code from Google Javascript Style guides. I skim read it a couple of times, and I couldn't understand most of it. I felt that I had completed all the basic Javascript and ES6 coding challenges on freeCodeCamp. Even then, I couldn't remember most of it.

I called Jai up and told him how I was feeling, and he asked me to calm down. He told me that it was absolutely okay not to remember all of the things since I'd always have the option to go back to it and see how a particular thing worked until I had a good grasp on the topic. That same day he shared a video link with me about the same topic. The video explained the topic very accurately, and then things started making sense. It also helped me revise my basic Javascript & ES6 and hence my faith in my coding skills restored.

Regular Expressions

I found Regular Expressions comparatively easier than basic Javascript & ES6, but I did get stuck a couple of times. Regex101 was a great help. It tells you the meaning of the operator you are using. I couldn't figure out how to apply the flags at first, but then I found that at the end of the text box where you enter your regex, there was an area that lets you apply the flags. The other issue I faced with Regex101 was that I was putting the '/' twice. In Regex101, backslashes at the beginning and the end are already included.

CodeNewbie & Tech Jokes

For someone new to the coding world, there are a lot of things to understand. And more often than not, you find yourself in a position where a group of people is talking about some tech thing, and you don't understand a word. Though the tech world has been friendly to me till now, I wouldn't deny that I do feel a fool most of the time. The thing that hurts most is not to get tech jokes.

I remember an instance when I shared a joke on RTX 3090, and I didn't get the joke. I first felt terrible, and then I took it to Twitter to ask people what the joke meant. As always, the tech world was kind enough to explain the joke. I guess feeling bad for not knowing something won't help; embracing your ignorance and seeking help would, though.

Join the discussion

I would love to get some feedback here.

• Are you also doing a full-time non-coding job? How do you manage your time more effectively?
• Have you ever had doubts about your understanding of coding as well? How did you deal with it?
• Did you get all the tech jokes? What is your advice for someone who doesn't?