Javascript: Entering New Territory
20 Jan 2023
My Learning Journey
You can never be too comfortable in computer science. Once you are about to settle into your comfort zone, everything in computer science changes. New coding languages are developed, technology and computer parts are advancing, and there is always more material you can learn. Being in computer science pushes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to enter new territory. As soon as I am comfortable with one programming language, I have to switch and learn an entirely different language.
For the past several years, I’ve been programming in C, C++, Java, and HTML. I was just getting comfortable programming with these languages until I had to learn a new language, Javascript. Learning Javascript is a bit of a struggle because there is so much material to learn and a new syntax to memorize. Learning a new programming language has always been difficult for me but after a couple of weeks I start to get the hang of it and become more comfortable with the language. Compared to the languages that I know, Javascript has a more relaxed syntax compared to Java which I like and I also enjoy the fact that it can go hand in hand with HTML, which is my favorite programming language. For certain computer science jobs, I could see Javascript being very handy for programmers.
Although my career and heart is in cyber security, I started learning about the various fields in computer science. Software engineering has never piqued my interest but it is fascinating to learn about it in class and what future software engineers are going to do in their careers. Software engineers need to know most programming languages but I believe that Javascript will be very useful for them. Javascript is a user-friendly language and it goes hand-in-hand with HTML and CSS which can make a website highly dynamic. Knowing the language and being able to implement it are two different things and there are multiple practices to help you become a better coder.
Athletic software engineering is a great way to practice Javascript or any programming language in general. Athletic software engineering combines physical fitness values with programming techniques. One of these combined values is to speed code to be the first one done with the code just like an athlete trains to be the first one to finish the race. A great example of this is called Workout of the Day (WOD) which is when a Javascript coding program is given and the class only has a certain amount of time to finish the program. This gives the students a sense of urgency to finish the code before the timer goes off as well as an ego-boost if they were the first one to finish the project. It is a useful skill to have but as someone who has been coding slowly their entire life, it is such a dreadful thing to do. It is very stressful for me and I do not enjoy doing them but hopefully when the semester ends, I’ll be a bit faster than I was when I first started.
Conclusion
Even though I hate getting pushed out of my comfort zone, I know this will help me grow as a computer scientist. Learning Javascript or any new programming language is a struggle in the beginning but with lots of practice and patience it will get easier. Athletic software engineering and WODs are designed to help me become a better programmer. These challenges will soon turn into skills and that is my goal for the end of the semester. I hope to show huge advancedments and be able to overcome these challenges.