Side Projects

Copying other sites does help a lot, and you'll learn a lot by trying to perfect them as well. You could also try to accomplish some of the tasks you've done through Treehouse on your own, by not looking at them while you're working.

Beyond that, making your own website, such as a portfolio, will not only be rewarding but it'll give you a clear picture of the overall process in making a website from start to finish.

Thanks Justin. Yes I agree with you on those points. I suppose the hardest thing is bringing it all together. Meaning the different processes a developer goes through from start to finish.

Using Bootstrap for example. Im concerned about using it (while learning) and finding out later that I dont understand it fully. Would you say that when you can scan a website and roughly understand how its put together, then start using Bootstrap?

Hey Chris-

Is there a particular reason why you'd like to use Bootstrap? I skipped learning Bootstrap when I went through the Front End Course because at the end of the day Bootstrap provides a lot of bloat and is really supposed to only be used for prototyping. I don't know what course work you've gone through so far, but I'd recommend finishing the Front End so that you have a firm grasp of everything going on and then go in and break/inspect the Bootstrap code. Once you have the front end skills you can duplicate the Bootstrap grid and other components if you choose to and cut down on the bloat. It helped me to look at the Bootstrap code for things like buttons and menus etc.

In terms of workflow I'm still learning mine, but it helped to start building a few small sites and/or projects. Based on what I've read after a ton of searching a lot of the current flow is: wireframe, gather and lay out assets, build a prototype (with smaller chunks of work in between these main three) I hope this helps and just start building...I've learned so far that nothing about learning to code is a straight Point A to Point B trajectory.

It's not the most glamorous work but there are a lot of non-profits that could always use the help of someone willing to provide their skills and some free time. I highly recommend it to anyone starting off, as you can directly see the impact a good design can have, with less pressure than a paid project might have. It always gives you more of a hand in the client-business partnership which is something that personal projects can't really do as much.

As far as frameworks are concerned, documentation is your best friend. It's good to know frameworks because many companies have set standards for which ones they use. They aren't inherently good or bad, they are simply another tool in our box that we can use as needed (knowing them deeply though can remove most of the bloat).

On a side note, it would be a killer feature if there were monthly labs where non-profits could come for simple work that students could work on somehow. I'm not sure what that would look like, and it would only work on an application basis with low-budget not-for profits not requiring anything too grand.