Challenges with Coding

Learning coding is a very challenging adventure, but I am thoroughly enjoying learning @AustinCodingAcademy. I think I enjoy coding because of the challenge and problem solving that it takes to be good at it. My biggest challenge has been understanding the different versions of syntax used in JavaScript. We are encouraged to us all the different resources on the web during our learning process, because if you have an issue, someone else has probably ran into the same issue in the past. This is where I find the difference in syntax confusing, because often I have not been exposed to the syntax they are using in how they solved the issue. But over time, I am learning the different ways to do the same thing, and this is becoming less and less of an issue as I progress in my knowledge.

One of my biggest disappointments so far has been trying to learn how to use Unity for some of the game-like scenarios that I want to build. I started down a internet course that used C Sharpe along with Unity. During the course I read many articles that said you could use JavaScript instead of C Sharpe. Since I have been studying JavaScript I decided to stop that course and sign up for one that uses JavaScript. As I started the new course I found out that it was a course that was several years old, and that the Unity stopped supporting JavaScript several years ago. If I could do all these steps again, I would have consulted more with experts on what would fit me best with the path that I am one.

When coding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to increae the amount of visitors (traffic)to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) — including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. Three things you can do are:

1. On-site Optimization. Search engines crawl your site to get an understanding of what it is about, so the information that these search engines find have a big impact on how it ranks your site. Make sure your content, structure, and layout help search engines find your information.
2. Ongoing Quality Content. Make sure your are updating and increasing your content. For example every new blog post you publish is more content for search engines to index on your site, and another potential search listing leading customers to your domain.
3. Off-Site Authority Building. This means building a presence and relationships on external sites and platforms. Search engines evaluates the “authoritativeness” of inbound links from external sources. The more inbound links you have pointing to your site from high-authority sources, the better your received authority, and higher your rank.

Another big issue to consider when building websites is optimization for scalability. Here are some ways to make your code scalable.

1. Organization is very important. Writing code in modules that perform specific tasks helps others understand what the code is doing.
2. Labeling variables with descriptive names instead of generic terms also helps others (and yourself) when troubleshooting issues.
3. Breaking code up into different files that perform specific tasks is another thing that will help with troubleshooting and scalability. For example this week we make router and controller files that specifically handled the tasks that you would expect a router or controller to handle.
4. Ensuring your code uses the most efficient time and space search methods also helps with scalability. For small applications using the most efficient search methods may not be an issue, but as you start handling thousands of customers this becomes very important.
5. Another is to know understand where you are going, or at least where you might want to end up. Often projects start small, but grow and a good brainstorming before you start can help you create code that can adapt to future needs.