This was just me playing around with some drawings and animations using HTML5’s Canvas in conjunction with JavaScript functions.
Since I am very new to using the canvas, I thought I would start with the very basics. I just focused on play and experimentation, but later if it is fun maybe I will investigate the physics and game-like options the canvas provides. Time will tell what I find fun and interesting….
This site uses the Yandex API for translation. JavaScript functions allow translations to occur without a page reload.
This site used HTML Canvas with JavaScript and was based on this guide. I added more balloon colors, a pop up message when the last balloon has been popped, and the ability to add more balloons.
This is an introduction to The Sedona Method which is a set of simple questions designed to release stress. Built with JQuery and JavaScript with a few well-thought out loops, if-else statements, and conditional logic constructs.
Are you ready for your first programming job?
Take this (somewhat satirical 😉 survey and find out if you are ready for your first developer job. Built with JQuery and JavaScript, it is similar to my Holmes and Rahe stress scale but built even more efficiently and effectively.
When I built my stress scale on 8/3/15 I manually wrote the checkboxes in HTML. Today’s site instead generated the checkboxes dynamically using JQuery by adding the array elements to the DOM (Document Object Model). This is more effective because I can change the checkboxes in one place, with a single line of code. This site is also an improvement because both the text and checkbox can be clicked whereas before only the checkbox could be clicked.
This clock displays the time and city. This site uses the Telize API to ascertain the current city by the IP address and JavaScript functions to detect and display the browser’s current time.
Thanks to Prashanth for information about the Telize API and credit goes to SitePoint for the clock designs.
I will share many free coding sites by explaining my background in a narrative format. Or if that bores you, you can scroll to the very end where I have all the free resources in a list. Here goes…
I first thought of learning programming in June 2012. I started with this free Python learning resource. Time flew by, it was fun and interesting, and it just felt right to me.
I next started learning from Codecademy, specifically JavaScript.
I then started taking courses at the local community college including a year of Data Structures and classes such as Assembly Programming.
I met a classmate who did not have a computer science degree but was working in programming as a QA (Quality Assurance). He told me his cousin was also working as a programmer. His cousin also had a degree unrelated to computer science but instead took a boot camp to earn a web developer job. My classmate said his cousin regretted paying for the expensive boot camp because she felt that she could have learned the material on her own.
I was intrigued by the boot camp concept and that led to my discovery of The Odin Project. This is a free Full Stack Developer Curriculum featuring Ruby on Rails for the back end, with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS on the front end. There is some teaching of JavaScript frameworks but Ruby on Rails is the primary focus. Here is a great guide to The Odin Project.
One of the best things about The Odin Project is the Facebook Study Group. It is a very supportive and helpful group. I highly recommend that everyone interested in learning or sharing programming knowledge and experiences join this amazing group. Members of this Facebook group are also learning from Free Code Camp, which focuses on the JavaScript Full Stack.
One amazing free resource for learning Ruby on Rails that I also mentioned in my Helpful Resources post are these videos which is also connected to this free forum. Another comprehensive free resource is The Ruby on Rails Tutorial.
I have always relied on Google and Stack Overflow for seeking answers and recently I have learned about IRC (Internet Relay Chat) which can provide free help in real time.
One of the best ways to learn is by meeting people, both experts and newbies, and Meetup is great for this. I have learned from watching demonstrations, asking questions, and doing presentations at Meetup events.
List of Free Coding Help
P.S. I am not denigrating nor discouraging paid resources. I absolutely am in favor of great teachers getting paid for providing excellent value. I am simply providing a list of great free resources for anyone interested in or needing free material.
This site is a simple explanation with demonstrations of JavaScript Closures.
Since JavaScript does not have private variables closures are needed. For more explanation about the counter and closures check out W3 Schools. Also here is some additional information about the closure using calculator (no pun intended).
Although this site was not very exciting nor interactive, it was a great learning experience. I was much more attentive and engaged using and modifying the code, as well as trying to explain the concepts in my own words, than I would have been had I just read and tried to memorize. I think the lesson is that in order to learn coding concepts, I need to ideally build something that applies the concepts, but at the very least play around with the code and try to teach it.
Find the difference between two dates or find a date in the future by entering a number. Built with JQuery UI.
Enter an ingredient and get recipes and nutritional information instantly. This was made using the Edamam’s Recipe Search and Diet API which provides access to over 1.5 million recipes from over 500 sites.
This was my second time using an API. I learned much from Apps from scratch. This time was different because I kept getting an error messages until I realized that I had to use JSONP instead of JSON. I also had to use a callback function to prevent errors.
bryanttunbutr 