Prepare for Prime and level up with these free-online resources
Tips for starting:
1) Start learning and writing code: We recommend incoming students to continue to explore coding resources and practice coding as much as you can. A general rule is to code each day (if possible), if not multiple times a week.
2) Begin making connections: We encourage incoming students to explore more about the industry - podcasts, youtube videos and networking conversations are all great way to expand your awareness and understanding of careers in this field.
3) Familiarize yourself with your Apple Computer: We standardize on Apple (Mac) computers - start learning how to become more proficient on your device. Check out our macOS Getting Started Guide.
Starter coding resources
-Technical Foundations
- (1 hour) Khan Academy's Internet 101 tutorial.
- Learn the Command Line (parts one and two). Building a basic understanding of command line is important for later topics like Git, software module installations, and web servers.
- (2 hours) Level up Tuts' free How to Make Your First Website. This will reinforce HTML and CSS from your resume challenge, share several new tricks, and introduce the concepts of web hosting and FTP (file transfer protocol, i.e., a common way of uploading files on the web).
JavaScript Foundations
Learning JavaScript is like learning a foreign language. Your goal in these foundational tutorials is to simply familiarize yourself with basic "grammar" and get used to the process of typing out small amounts of code. It can be a lot of new things all at once, so give yourself plenty of time and patience and remember you will not need to memorize content. Don't get down on yourself for having to look things up and refer to examples; that's how everyone begins their learning journey!
- (10 hrs) Complete Codecademy's Introduction to JavaScript track. If you get stuck on any exercises, read the comments below for solutions to keep progressing through the tutorial. It's all about building familiarity with concepts at this stage.
- (10+ hrs) FreeCodeCamp's Basic JavaScript Introduction. Now that you've had an opportunity to see basic coding concepts once, take another review in a site that introduces JavaScript in a slightly different way. You'll pick up additional understanding and reinforcement on this new language!
Taking Code Writing Skills Further
- (many hours) Edabit code challenges. Only tackle the "Easiest" JavaScript problems. Writing code gets more complicated, fast, just like writing in a foreign language. Look up concepts and syntax as you work through your code, that's doing it right! Finally, give yourself credit for your practice; upload your solutions to a GitHub repository called "JavaScript Practice".