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Ask DN: Should I learn to code?

over 7 years ago from Dan Wilkinson, Web Designer

  • Joshua Crowley, over 7 years ago

    Yes, I was in a similar spot to you ! I've pursed code and haven't looked back.

    I'd start by learning JavaScript. The trick is folding code into stuff you do now, so that you're always learning and this is quite viable with JavaScript, because there are so many environments/tools you can use it in.

    I highly recommended making a couple of little hobby project using https://www.meteor.com/. You'll learn about databases, server/client concept, command line tools - just basics you can apply to any environment.

    You're also probs ready to play around with http://framerjs.com/ - which is a lot of fun and will help you tease out tricky concepts around coding.

    I'm starting to learn Swift now - would say it's still quite advanced for anyone with zero development experience. But I think Apple want to make it easy for you folks like us.

    Finally, you need to be able to show people stuff as you go, so you can enjoy it and feel good about your effort. Also find some friendly dev to eat lunch with.

    1 point
    • Todd Padwick, over 7 years ago

      I would be concerned that jumping straight into Javascript would be too daunting for someone new to coding. I would suggest getting to grips with html and css first would be a more comfortable learning curve. Then start involving jquery which is a good starting point with js. And for 90% of websites, its all you need.

      2 points
      • Joshua Crowley, over 7 years ago

        Sure - you'll need to learn some HTML and CSS to do anything in the browser. That goes without saying. But that's just markup. It's trivial to learn the basics and barely an introduction to programming.

        I think designers (myself included) spend a lot of time learning front end techniques that are actually really tedious and hard. I don't think we need more designers that can front end - I think we need more designers that understand what coding is about holistically and can augment their design process instead of trying to do two jobs.

        0 points