We said it before, and we'll say it again: you must complete all required prep work 1 week before your start date. Failure to complete prep work is grounds for potential withdrawal of your enrollment at the Guild. If you're withdrawn we will do our best to find you a future start date once you've completed the Required Prep, but can't guarantee it.
You should set aside 40 to 100 hours for this prep work, depending on your existing experience and skill level.
Sign up for FreeCodeCamp and complete the following sections:
- HTML5 and CSS
- Basic JavaScript
- Basic Algorithm Scripting
- Download and install the Atom editor
- Read chapters 1 and 2 of the Atom Flight Manual
- Complete Codecademy's Learn the Command Line course
- Complete the Try Git course
- Get oriented to GitHub with Hello World, Understanding the GitHub Flow
- Read the Learner Guide section on Cognitive Apprenticeship, including watching this demonstration session
- Read the following sections of the COS Guide:
Watch Karim Bishay's presentation on Feedback (1 hour)
Done with all the required prep? Great! But don't stop there! Continuous learning is a core part of being a developer. Keep practicing by building these fundamental web development skills:
- Reading and writing HTML and CSS
- Reading and writing JavaScript
- Applying computational thinking and reasoning to program design
- Building and deploying basic web pages
- Version control and project management with git and GitHub
- Using a command-line shell to navigate the filesystem and execute commands
- Using a professional text editor for writing code
- Typing, using shortcuts, and other general-purpose computer skills
Your focus should be on developing the above skills. The below tasks are good place to start, but you should by no means consider this an exhaustive list. Always be on the lookout for other resources and places to practice and grow.
- Read 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web
- Read and complete Shay Howe's HTML & CSS lessons
- Read chapters 1-10 of Eloquent JavaScript
- Complete Make a Website, Make an Interactive Website, JavaScript tracks on Codecademy
- Create and publish your own website with GitHub Pages (use this Guide)
- Read and practice the Mastering Issues and Forking Projects guides
- Read Mastering Markdown and practice writing Markdown wherever you can
- Boost your typing speed to at least 50 WPM for regular English typing (any typing program will do, but this one is free: keybr)
- Boost your typing speed to at least 25 WPM for programming language typing using typing.io
- Practice shortcuts using Shortcut Foo, especially the Atom, Command Line, Git, GitHub, Chrome Dev Tools, and JavaScipt Programming Dojos
Check out these other useful FreeCodeCamp sections:
- Responsive Design with Bootstrap (2-4 hours)
- Basic Front End Development Projects (10-30 hours)
- JSON APIs and Ajax (1-2 hours)
- Intermediate Front End Development Projects (10-30 hours)
- Build a Random Quote Machine
- Show the Local Weather
- Intermediate Algorithm Scripting (50 hours)
- Advanced Algorithm Scripting (50 hours)
Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman
- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide
- https://bento.io/grid
- https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming
- https://www.google.com/edu/resources/programs/exploring-computational-thinking/
As you read, research, and study, it is important to connect the data to its application by exercising your knowledge.
Whenever you are absorbing new information (by reading an article, watching a video, etc.), put that information into practice as soon as you are able.
For example, when reading a book about programming, spend some time at the end of each chapter implementing the concepts in code. Give yourself an example to play with, poke at, and ask questions of.
Doing this repeatedly will help to ground the knowledge you gain in actual experience, building intuition to supplement the facts.