I feel like a deer in headlights

Hello! I too opened this challenge and thought "where do I even begin!?" Being a newbie coder, I thought it'd be relevant to share my thought process on working through this particular code:

First I scanned the directions for any part that looked doable - step 4 stood out because we have used the prompt method multiple times so far. So I wrote out my 5 questions using "const questionOne = prompt('question here?');" (Obviously this is not my exact code, I'm trying to explain my thought process, not give explicit answers)

Next, using a similar start to the number guessing game challenge, I set let score = 0 in step 1.

Then, using my notes, I wrote out a rough draft of step 6 using querySelector() and innerHTML: "You've earned X points and Y crowns".

Then I was stumped again. Eventually, I figured the only code we've been using is 'if else' statements so I wrote out my answers using that... if questionOne = correct-answer-here then +1 to score. I did this for each question.

Next, step 5 seemed like it also needed a function so I tried to apply my if/else statements to that too. 'if score = 5 then gold medal' else 'if score = 3 or 4, silver medal', and so on.

In the end, I had a working code that asked questioned, displayed the # of correct answers and a corresponding metal. I kinda skipped over steps 2 and 3 but since my code was working, I went on to watch the how-to video to see how I could have improved.

Thanks for sharing your frustrations. Hopefully, this shows that some of us are in your same boat! One small step at a time, right? =]

Hi, odysseywow. You've done the right thing by coming to the community with this. I'd like to share with you that, in my short journey of coding, I too have felt this way before. It seems to be a pretty common feeling actually. We're doing hard stuff! If I have any advice to offer it's this: things do get better. As long as you continue to show up and invest some of your time, things will fall into place. As prepared as that statement seems, this really is the way I've seen things go.​

Here a few things that have helped me personally:

1. Seek out other sources of information. After learning a difficult concept here at Treehouse, I'll usually seek out Youtube videos, books, blogs, etc, to offer my mind diversity in medium and presentation of concepts. Then I come back to Treehouse to redo courses (that's my preference). Usually I'll pick up more information the second and third time watching a course.

2. Build everything. Make sure part of your time is dedicated to hands on coding projects. Build your projects, not tutorial projects. Start small. This is where you'll fail frequently and consistently. Failure is where the opportunity to learn is! This is just another way of learning.

3. Don't over do it. This is a long journey, not a short one. Give your mind and body the rest it needs to achieve these amazing things.

I hope any bit of this helps!

BTW, one other thing I would suggest is try to test challenge code outside of the challenge, when necessary.

One thing I don't like about some/many of the challenges is you don't often get to see the RESULT of the code.

Either that or the "Bummer" message doesn't really reveal what the error is very accurately.

So, I often go here:

https://www.w3schools.com/js/tryit.asp?filename=tryjs_array

And paste in my Treehouse code and see if it behaves as intended or expected (and I often have to add a little extra code that is not part of the challenge, say to log a result to the console).

This way I can actually go through formal debugging procedures to help me pinpoint my error(s).

For Python I go here:

https://www.katacoda.com/courses/python/playground

Anyway, I hope that helps.

Stay safe and happy coding!

Thanks for posting that. It's helpful to see other people don't find this super intuitive. I started reading these comments because I too feel out of my element and not sure how to complete this challenge without additional resources. I don't have any helpful advice but can say that I agree with your comments and it doesn't mean we are not still learning, it just may take a little longer for it all to sink in.

There are some great guides here and adding to that, I would like to underline some other problems;

It seems like you're not sticking with the challenge as you should but rather jumping into the solution once you feel like a "deer in headlights". I subscribe to the fact that everyone sometimes in their lives feels like a "Deer in lights". Back in the days of my new coding journey, I felt like that all the time. Sometimes It would take me days to solve a simple two lines of code Python challenge. One of the things that kept me going to the point where I no longer feel "Deer in lights" is consistency. You only fail when you stop trying.

I would also advise to ask yourself "Why am I learning to code". If you can't answer that question, I recommend working on the answer. Another thing is comfort zone learning. If you're just going through videos without completing challenges, and quizzes and have a practical workflow, chances are you'll not make any progress in learning.

Another thing is giving time to learn not learning when you feel like it. Keep a schedule to every day, every other day or at least twice a week.

The only difference between people who make it and don't is consistency no matter what odds they are up against. You only fail when you stop trying.