Top Down Learning Vs Bottom Up Learning

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

So there has been some confusion lately concerning my attempts at learning tech. A front end language always seemed like the most logical place to start, yet I would feel too bored and restless to concentrate on the lessons. Oddly enough, I was flying right through a course that taught ethical hacking until I hit the paywall and had actually found the course quite addictive. Similarly I had previously studied a computer science course that starts with bits and bytes and how and why they work. I found that course engaging as well and had advanced far enough to correctly explain why an imaginary electronically operated train had derailed by viewing the code which was in 1s and 0s. I eventually quit that one not because of a lack of interest but due to feeling like it was pointless due to not knowing where the code is actually input and perhaps also feeling as though it was perhaps useless without other coding languages. I had been simultaneously studying JavaScript from two different sources. One of those sources had kept me more engaged due to it's gamified lesson format with short completable challenges, but sadly the app was discontinued. The other program felt tedious and while it was thrilling to first see an image that I had coded pop onto the screen, I just couldn't keep at it. Additionally, some of my code built drawings were rather pathetic. It's kind of weird trying to draw something blind. It's like the computer age version of trying to draw a sketch with pen a paper with a blindfold on only now you have to write a lengthy paragraph in order to do it. Anyway, I have been researching why this could be and apparently some people do actually learn better in this seemingly backwards manner due to high levels of curiosity and a drive to understand the hows and whys of a system.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

 

[Judge]

I eventually quit that one not because of a lack of interest but due to feeling like it was pointless due to not knowing where the code is actually input and perhaps also feeling as though it was perhaps useless without other coding languages.

Good observation, Faye.

This is where learning coding, HTML markup and cascading stylesheets along with graphics done all at the same time can be quite rewarding. That whatever you are creating you can see through a browser. On both an aesthetic and functional level. Nothing more rewarding than seeing your code not only look good, but do exactly what you intended.

Thinking back on those days, had I attempted to learn such things piecemeal and without purpose, I would have lost interest in it as well.

If you try again learning multiple skills you can actually apply with a single objective in mind, you may attain a different and better outlook of such things.

 

[Outdated]

This is where learning coding, HTML markup and cascading stylesheets along with graphics done all at the same time can be quite rewarding. That whatever you are creating you can see through a browser.

This Hands On approach is how most of us learn, myself included.

When it comes to programming and languages most people start at a very early age - as young as 9 or 10. They don't start out formally, they start by playing video games on a real computer instead of a console. On a real computer you can edit the programming of the game, and if a game gets too tough that idea enters the kid's heads and they start tinkering, trying to give themselves better chances. This is also exactly how I started.

So a lot of these kids have a very good grounding in how programing works and are usually familiar with a couple of different languages before they finish high school. There's even different extracurricular activities specifically for kids that are in to this sort of thing.

Code Camp | Australia's favourite holiday & after-school fun!

 

[Judge]

So a lot of these kids have a very good grounding in how programing works and are usually familiar with a couple of different languages before they finish high school. There's even different extracurricular activities specifically for kids that are in to this sort of thing.

Code Camp | Australia's favourite holiday & after-school fun!

Yep. I met a lot of such kids working as a corporate web designer for computer games. Those in-house developers...so young and making all that money back then. A strange, yet fun working environment.

Of course in those days computer programming was still considered on the frontier of technology occupations.