I just finished with JavaScript Syntax pt 2, and while I felt pretty good going through the lessons, there were 3 projects at the end, and I was able to do about 95% of one of them on my own. the other 2 i felt completely lost on, and constantly consulted AI for help because i had no clue where to start, or what steps to take, when to create a variable, etc. it really beat me up and Im wondering, if i continue, am i just going to make things worse and get more lost? or should i accept that im not going to absorb everything and solve problems by getting help as they come to me? id love to advance and move to the next step but i feel like a total dummy upon realizing how incapable i was when it came to those final 3 challenges. can anyone relate or offer me some direction? i dont mind putting the work in, i just dont know where to put it. If i should go back and do this thing all over, that’s totally OK. I just feel super discouraged after all that work and realizing how little I can implement.
thanks!
stevemckinnoncb you said it yourself. You got 95% right. That equates to a very high pass by pretty much any examination standards I know of. That means you’re doing really well.
As for advice I would say this. Probably for the whole time that you are actively programming you will have times where you feel the way you described. Every time you do, remember that while it might be frustrating, the act of problem solving when you don’t immediately know the right course of action or even direction, makes you a better programmer. So rather than beat yourself up about it, remember that when you feel that way you are actively improving so feel free to give yourself a pat on the back for tacking a tough problem head on instead!
Whilst you are learning I would avoid using AI to help you with answers for the reasons above. It can be a powerful tool but AI are prone to make mistakes too and when you are still learning you might not be able to spot those errors. Feel free to experiment but don’t begin to lean on it like a crutch.
If you really want to improve beyond Codecademy I’d highly recommend working on some projects locally. They can be whatever takes your fancy. Also, reading other peoples code is extremely helpful, you will see other ways of solving common problems. Open source repositories are a great way of accessing other peoples code.
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