Introduction

Learning JavaScript can be difficult for wanna-be developers with no programming experience, as it was for me. But I find FreeCodeCamp's "Algorithms and Data Structures JavaScript curriculum" a great place to begin. Before starting this curriculum, I only had a little experience. I knew how to work with HTML and CSS, but the curriculum helped me understand programming concepts and apply them in JavaScript.

In this article, I will share my experience with the program and how it helped me understand the basics of JavaScript. 💻

Learning Experience

Description of exercises and challenges

FreeCodeCamp's JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures curriculum is designed to help inexperienced developers like myself understand the basic concepts of the language. The curriculum starts with simple exercises that help you understand the basics of JavaScript. With the interactive syllabus, I quickly grasped the basic concepts of the language. These were the first steps when I finally thought I could become a real front-end developer.

As I progressed through the syllabus, I found the challenges to be more and more difficult. The harder exercises test your prior knowledge and make you think critically about the concepts you learn. It really improved my JS skills and gave me the confidence to tackle more difficult problems.

Comparison to Harvard's CS50x course

The end-of-curriculum certification projects reminded me of the weekly exercises from Harvard's CS50x course, which I started taking while working on the FFC curriculum. I found the practices in CS50x quite challenging, but that may be due to using C instead of more familiar JS.

Taking the CS50x simultaneously made it easier for me to understand and apply the programming concepts, but it still required a lot of hard work and dedication. Overall, the curriculum was a great introduction to programming and a solid foundation for further learning.

Final Certification Projects

The final part of the JavaScript curriculum is a series of five certification projects. These projects are designed to test the knowledge and skills I have acquired throughout the course and help me apply them in real-world scenarios.

The projects were challenging but also very rewarding, as I could see the results of my hard work. After I submitted all my challenges and claimed my certificate, I realized I could solve some of them better. For example, I didn't have the best knowledge of regex, so that's one problem I would solve better if I did it again.

Overall Impression

Positive aspects of the curriculum

• Fundamentals of JavaScript: The curriculum taught me the fundamentals of JavaScript. It was easy to follow and understand, which helped me to grasp the language quickly.

• Challenging exercises: These exercises helped solidify my understanding of the language and gave me the confidence to tackle more complex problems.

• Course Interactive: I refer to more interactive courses, so I love that the FCC curriculum is more interactive than many programs I have seen. Scrimba, my favourite platform with many free exercises, is the only more interactive site for dealing with code. But, I have to keep in mind that FCC is nonprofit.

Excitement for the next curriculum "Front End Development Libraries"

The JavaScript course was a great starting point for me, and I am excited to continue learning more about JS and front-end web development.

Value of the FreeCodeCamp JavaScript certificate in the job market

The certificate is a great way to showcase my knowledge and skills to potential employers on my LinkedIn and CV. It shows that I have a solid understanding of the language and can apply it in real-world scenarios. I am sure that I need to do more projects on my own, continue learning, and practice my learned skills. I hope that the certificate will make my LinkedIn profile look brighter. 😁

Conclusion

In this article, I shared my experience with the JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures curriculum on FreeCodeCamp. I discussed the curriculum's exercises, challenges, and final certification projects and compared it to Harvard's CS50x course. I also highlighted the positive aspects of the curriculum and its value for the job market.

Overall, I highly recommend this curriculum for any junior developer looking to learn JavaScript from zero or improve their skills. It provides a comprehensive and well-structured foundation for further learning, with challenging exercises that help solidify understanding. The certification projects are challenging but rewarding and help apply knowledge in real-world scenarios. If you're looking for a resource to understand JS and improve your skills, the FreeCodeCamp JavaScript curriculum is a great place to start.

I hope this article is helpful to anyone who is deciding what course to take and also to potential employers to know more about the curriculum. 👩‍💻