The social networking of coding community is an amazing part of being a software dev. I have really enjoyed connecting with new folks through emails and twitter. It's funny that I've also gotten in touch with 2 former colleagues that have or are in the process of making the transition from scientists to software devs! It's been great to share tips about learning resources and experiences so far.
Since I've very interested in learning JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, etc right now, one of those colleagues who has learned JS himself suggested I check out Treehouse for their JS resources. So I did. I have a couple months to check it out for free, so I started today on their Javascript Basics course. I got 1/2 through the coursework today. It's extremely basic stuff right now... beginning syntax, using the JS console in the browser, variables, etc. They have a lot of resources from JS to jQuery to NodeJS to AngularJS, so I'm excited to check it out and see how their material progesses. One thing that really bugs me with a lot of the online resources is that the coding takes place in their own browser based workspace environment rather than locally. I do not like that. I guess it is a ok way to learn the basics, but it bugs me to not have a record of my work and progress locally or on github.
I haven't studied too much Ruby/Rails outside of work this week. I'm pretty immersed in it during the day since it's my full-time job, so it's nice to break that up with learning JS outside of work. I have had some moments lately where things that previously did not make a lot of sense getting clearer in my mind and I feel good about it... I can see that I'm making progress.
