Taking notes

I think everyone learns differently so what works for you might not work for someone else. The most important thing to focus on here is learning for your own style. I took some java programming classes in university and I wrote out the code snippets and then defined them or discussed how they worked in a paragraph after that. I used Microsoft One Note to do this. My textbook for the class was very thorough and easy to understand though, so I was basically just redefining directly from the textbook. Sometimes writing does help me cement knowledge.

I do not take notes as I learn along with Team Treehouse lessons though. Often there is links referenced that takes you to documentation about the programming where you can lookup coding from there. What I learn on Team Treehouse is usually put into practice in my own personal projects ASAP. That is how I cement my knowledge from here.

Hey Brian!

As Jennifer Lee has pointed out, everyone learns differently.

I personally also take notes on each course that I do. I originally started out by writing basically a step-by-step guide on how to make everything I've been learning, but this is a lot of work to do, and I don't actually recommend it. Now, I still take notes but I only record things that I thought were interesting, and that I should write down if I want to come back to it later. Or, things that I found were complicated to understand, so I wanted to write in my own words an explanation to how something works. Finally, I also record things I didn't know beforehand - by this, I mean that if you already have something down in your notes and you remember it well enough, don't bother trying to write an explanation again, you're just wasting time!

I just use Google Docs to write down my notes however, you may find you learn better by physically writing things down, using flashcards or by some other means. Also, check out your learning style, it may sound a bit gimmicky but, it works! Some people learn best visually, such as diagrams and pictures, and some people prefer just lots of text. Others like listening to information, in which case, try writing down some notes and then using a text-to-speech system to hear your notes. Finally, you may be a kinaesthetic learner. If you are, this one's a bit harder so choose a backup of visual or auditory but also try to get out there and learn with other people. This may mean going to classes, finding a bit of Work Experience (No harm in asking!) or even working in a hotdesking space in technology, which is great to talk with people doing the same thing as you.

Hopefully this should help you out and if you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know and I'll see if I can help :)

As part of the prerequisites for Code Louisville (a grant-funded local coding camp I joined), I was given 3-4 weeks to complete a "30-40 hour" track covering career field basics, HTML basics, CSS basics, and JavaScript basics. Most of the heavy lifting was done the last 1.5 weeks, truthfully, and while I took great notes (~230 pages in Word) having to chug new information was a factor, fatigue was a factor (especially the final weekend), etc. As a result, I didn't absorb as much information as I expected, so I am getting a head start on the course material (41 hours per Treehouse) so that I can go at my own pace. So, like others have said, think about how you learn, go at a pace that works for you, learn in an environment that works for you, and make learning the priority (which means progress, not perfection). Good luck!