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Java Java Objects (Retired) Delivering the MVP Wrapping up

Am I moving too quickly?

I've started the Java track here at Treehouse recently (AKA two days ago). I have enjoyed it up to this point... but I've noticed that I've been having more and more trouble with the code challenges as I progress. Now, I'm someone who wants to work as hard as I can to get good at something.

Am I moving too quickly? I think I might be. Just today I basically went through the entire objects course. What frustrates me is that I feel that there is not enough practice work to be done with each section to keep me busy an entire day. I finish the lesson, there's a quiz and a challenge, and that's it. I wish there were more problems to solve, more opportunities to practice what is taught in each section so that I'm not moving too quickly.

Any suggestions? I clearly have to go back and redo almost all of the Objects course because (while I made it through) apparently none of it stuck.

UPDATE: Well... this is me writing to my past self and to anyone else who feels how I did when I wrote this comment earlier today.

I recommend that you SLOW DOWN. Take it SERIOUSLY each and every apparent "little thing" that is said is important in the videos. It should take you 20 minutes to get through an 8 minute video because you're taking detailed notes, observing what the instructor does, reading additional material, and attempting to create similar code in Eclipse (or another IDE) if possible.

REMEMBER: You are not trying to study up quickly before an exam (well, maybe some of you are)... you are trying to give yourself a STRONG foundation for the future... maybe it's a career you've always wanted! Take your time. You'll be surprised how much better and easier you will learn when you take your time and really push to LEARN and RECALL the information being given to you.

Isam Al-Abbasi
Isam Al-Abbasi
2,058 Points

Hello Wilson Gardner, I recently started taking courses here at Treehouse and I thought I was going good until I reached the part of making the Hangman game and I got lost!! I can see that you had the same problem 7 months ago and I really love to see how you feel now about your study with Treehouse? I'm getting frustrated and and started to think that programming is not for me!! any advises of how to get over this phase please?

4 Answers

Kevin Faust
Kevin Faust
15,353 Points

Hey Wilson,

It all depends whether you have had programming experience before or if this your first. But 2 days to finish around half a track is a bit fast imho. I used to spend quite the time on java during the summer yet it still took me almost 2 weeks to finish the first 2 parts. That was with additional youtube videos and online research.

Just make sure you know everything fully before moving on the next video. There were times where I didn't know everything yet I just went on but I wouldn't recommend it. Revisit the code challenges every few days to keep your mind sharp as well. If you think your going too fast and that the knowledge isn't sticking well, take it slower. Make sure you understand what's going on in the vids and that your able to complete code challenges by yourself.

All the best,

Kevin

Thanks Kevin,

I'm feeling like I need to go back and really take my time with it until I can get the basic concepts down. It's a bit deceiving when you get through the videos and quizzes... it makes you feel like you're prepared when you're really not.

Thanks for the feedback, Will

Mandi Hamza
Mandi Hamza
2,379 Points

While you're running through the lessons open up a second workspace to play around with the bits of code that you're learning. Try to the write code in your second workspace from memory as much as you can, and deviate from the lesson plan (change colors, sizes of things, spacing, etc.).

Once you notice that you're not referring back to the lessons to write your code correctly, You'll start to feel more confident that it's sticking in you're brain.

Thank you Mandi! Great piece of advice! I have to remember that this is a career interest of mine, not just a side project. Bit by bit I need to master it.

Mandi Hamza
Mandi Hamza
2,379 Points

I can totally relate! It's easy to want to move quickly because it feels like you're sprinting towards a new career! I'm borrowing a friends Mac so I can start learning iOS app development. I'm planning to try to piece together some code for the app ideas I have as I follow along with the swift course work.

What are you interested in doing?

I'm all over the place. I first started here on the Android track... but switched over to the Web Design track not long after. I got through almost the entire track, but stopped when I got to the actual design courses (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). I've actually been working a lot in basic web design since I started the track. I wanted to get into "real" programming though, and so I started the iOS Dev track. It was going well, I really liked it... but I realized that while I use a Mac, I have an Android device. I thought... "Well, I'll switch back over to Android Dev." I thought about it, and since Android uses Java, and Java is such a powerful language for more than just app development, I decided to get into Java and perhaps make my way to Android in the future.

Whew... that's a long story. It's been a crazy year trying to figure out where my heart is at... but I think I might have found a home with Java. I just need to take it easy and keep working at it till it comes! What about you? Are you currently in a development career? Working towards one?

Hey there Isam Al-Abbasi ! Speaking from experience, there are a lot of frustrations when you are first learning to code. It's literally learning a new language. There are intricacies that are very difficult to remember, and rules that are very hard to learn the first time going over them. With treehouse there are, at times, frustrations with the content. I felt like the teachers went too quickly, or that the content should have been updated.

However, I also speak from experience that none of that matters. What DOES matter is that you keep pushing forward and don't let anything... ANYTHING stop you from learning how to code. If it's really something you want to do, find a way to do it. I don't care if it takes HOURS of searching around on google... figure it out. I started learning to code about a year ago without any experience... and now I work as a web-developer for an advertising agency. I went through every possible frustration in the book, and at times I did feel like giving up.

I can hate on Treehouse for several things that I'm not going to list here, but at the end of the day they were the one's that got me to where I am. It's a good company and they have a lot of great tools for you to use to learn what you want to learn.

Stick with it. Find inspiration and motivation in your desire to know what you don't know. If you do those things, you can't fail.

Isam Al-Abbasi
Isam Al-Abbasi
2,058 Points

Thank you so much for your answer my friend, I really appreciate the motivation. I think you are right my friend about taking the time and moving slowly! I am reading and watching other resources along side with the videos here and things are started to become much clear than it used to. I will take your advise for not giving up and I will keep moving on as far as I can.

Rachelle Wood
Rachelle Wood
15,362 Points

I can heartily recommend the Oracle Java tutorials in conjunction with this course. Oracle's tutorials are really in depth but lack in examples, quizzes and exercises, whereas this course can't go in as much depth but gives you examples, quizzes, and challenges. I think that they work really well together. I also find that the challenges for this course are genuinely more challenging than most of the other courses on Treehouse. Though frustrating at times, when I figure out how to do them, I feel great afterwards! I am slowly feeling more comfortable programming Java on my own instead of JavaScript despite having taken more Treehouse courses on the latter. In that sense, being challenged and encouraged on with this course is helping me make the choice between front end dev or being a full-out Java coder in favor of the latter. Honestly, if you think you are going too fast through these courses, I recommend "slowing" yourself down with some of the Oracle tutorials ;)

Thanks so much much for the recommendation Rachelle! I'll definitely be checking out what Oracle's got! That seems to be what I've been craving, some additional material to help me understand the concepts better. :)