Mindset

This requires a somewhat different mindset and learning approach from, probably, most or all courses you’ve taken in the past. Learning to code doesn’t require a lot of memorization, but instead it requires a lot of hands-on practice — actually writing code (and making errors and debugging them, as discussed in the next section). Let me break down that previous sentence to emphasize two things:

1. You shouldn’t be trying to memorize the content during the lessons. Instead, try to follow the logic of what’s going on, and expect to use reference material from the lessons (slides and chapters in this book) when you’re working on exercises and assignments.

2. Expect to spend a lot of time practising coding. In addition to the materials provide din this course, a number of students have found it useful to practice using other free tools on the internet, such as Coding Bat and Code Academy.

Here’s a quote from Chantel, a student who took the first-ever version of this course in 2020:

I do find that there is a learning curve when it comes to starting to learn coding. It is something I am not super familiar with and making sure that I’m taking my time to really grasp the information I am taking in has posed as a challenge. I am used to reading information from a textbook and just memorizing facts, definitions, and data for test. It is different to actually apply the information that I am learning – it is a different learning style that I (currently) enjoy learning. I think this is something many students may find they need to adjust to.