Learning to Fly

Around November of 2013 I was sitting down with a good friend simply talking about life.  Somehow, programming inched its way into our conversation.  I asked him if he knew how to program and he said that he had learned a little bit through codecademy.com.  That peaked my interest.  I quickly asked him to write down the URL so I could get started as soon as possible.  At the time, circumstances wouldn't allow me to start learning how to code until 2015.  I had no access to a computer, except at a library, but I had no time to go to a library.


Well, when the time finally came in 2015, I started to learn JavaScript.  I didn't understand much at the time, but I pressed on and dipped a little into Python and Java as well.  After a few months of off and on programming, I finally committed to truly learn how to code.  I then abandoned what I wasn't understanding and went to HTML/CSS and started to learn very quickly.  My comprehension grew at an exceeding rate!  The more I learned, the more excited I became!  I went through the codecademy courses and built several websites before finally moving onto jQuery.  jQuery was quite a thrilling beast to tame.  To easily make things much more responsive through jQuery was a flight to new heights.


Now that I had learned, in a way, how to "fly with code".  I had the confidence that I could learn any programming language.  I then bravely, and very excitedly, battled JavaScript.  Now that I understood the fundamentals of coding, JavaScript was a breeze.  I looked at Python and Java again and I looked at PHP (which was new to me), simply to see if I comprehended them.  I did.  But, before diving into those two languages, I decided the next best thing I could do was create a portfolio website.


I was really soaring as I created a few websites totally from scratch.  I improved upon the websites I built with codecademy and added them to my portfolio.  I've always wanted to be a video game programmer so I also decided to put my JavaScript skills to the test.  I started simple by building a quick RPG game, rock paper scissors, and fight a dragon game.  I played around with procedural programming and built a dice roller, just for fun.  (I also figured that if I ever played D&D again, I could use my virtual dice, simply because I made them and thought it would be cool.)  After that, I decided to make a BINGO Caller.  My family, as a tradition, plays BINGO during Christmas time.  I figured we would never have to buy a BINGO rolling machine ever again because of my virtual BINGO rolling machine.  On top of that, it looks great!  I am now in the planning process for another game.  Perhaps an investing game?


From learning how to "fly with code", I've learned how to be self motivated, have greater discipline, work harder, work through frustrations, solve hard problems, and rarely leave a project half finished.  It has been a great joy learning how to "fly with code".  I wouldn't give it up for anything.  I love programming and want to make a difference in the world with it.  That's why I'm building what I'm building and learning what I'm learning, all to make things easier for others.