I Need Some Guidance with Guides

1

Hello Everyone,

I’ll start off by saying I’ve been a lurker here for a while now but today that changes. You guys and gals have been instrumental in my current journey of becoming a professional developer. I’ve reached a dilemma though and so I’m coming to you asking for some help.

I’ve been following The Odin Project’s curriculum to (hopefully) prepare me to land a junior web development position. I’ve completed everything through the Web Development 101 course, so I’m now learning Ruby basics.

I’ve recently hit that all too familiar wall of uncertainty where I begin to second guess myself and the path I’ve chosen. “Is completing this really going to prepare me for a entry level job?”, “The course material seems outdated from the buzz I’m picking up. Is this outdated?”, “Should I focus on Javascript as my first programming language instead of Ruby since I will most likely be using Javascript-based technologies in the working world?”; these are the questions that start to run through my head and I become paralyzed by the idea that I’m missing fundamentals that are going to be expected by potential employers.

So I’m coming to you today to really make up my mind between two curriculums that I looked at when I first started this journey.

  1. Complete The Odin Project or
  2. Complete P1xt’s Guide

Now before you say I should do both or something like that, I plan on completing both and other resources as I continue to learn, even when I get a job. I’m asking you, especially experienced web developers, which curriculum should I prioritize? The goal is to have a solid grasp on fundamentals (computer science, library/framework-independent technologies) and to be a competent developer that can add value to an employer.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? What are your opinions of the different guides? Thoughts, insights, suggestions?

Thanks!

P.S. Like I said I’m new to posting things online in general so feel free to call out my etiquette/formatting for posting here. I’m here to learn.

3

Thank you for the quick reply!

I’m leaning toward The Odin Project since I’m already rolling with it and I’m enjoying it, but I have a few more questions for you (I wanted to send you a PM but I couldn’t because of my trust level, and I figured other people may find themselves in a similar dilemma as mine).

I know you’re the author of the guide I’m pitting against The Odin Project so you’re naturally going to be biased and you obviously wouldn’t have put together such an excellent, thorough guide if you didn’t really believe in it, but …

As a professional developer and teacher, what is your honest to goodness assessment of The Odin Project? What are its strengths/weaknesses? If you were hiring a Jr. developer, and he/she had only done Odin with some other supplementary material, where would you expect their weak points to be?

And if I may ask, how would you answer those questions for your own curriculum?

I know there are a lot of variables inherent in those questions, like a person actually learning the material taught vs. just completing it, but with those aside where would a person realistically be if the just did Odin vs. your guide? Where would they excel, what would they lack, etc.?

The underlying reason for these questions is that I know I will be out of a job by September. Fortunately, I began learning programming skills in January (just found out about the Sep. deadline yesterday) so learning to program isn’t a reactionary pursuit (I really love it and decided to make it a long-lasting career choice back in February), but now knowing I will need to have hirable skills by the end of the summer has increased the pressure.

So I decided to take a few hours today and ask some people, especially professionals, what they would do if they were in my shoes so that I could maximize and prioritize my learning between now and Sep.

Again, thank you for taking the time to help and answer my questions. I don’t know where your drive to help others comes from, but I’m grateful for it.

Thanks!

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Great! That answer gives me some clarity. Thank you.

And no, there’s not a misunderstanding. I assumed your weren’t a professional teacher. I meant that more along the lines of you possessing the “heart” of a teacher. “Mentor” would have been a better would to use.

Again, thank you for your thoughts!

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