Introducing 20 Minute Methods

I posted a video a couple days ago talking about what I feel are three key traits of successful developers.

One of those traits involved being someone that can write code, not copy and pasting it only. Or at least doing the former much more than the later.

I was a copy and paste developer for a long time, relying heavily on Stack Overflow code that I would snatch and then alter to meet the conditions of my own purposes.

Now I'm not saying you can't do this, but you should reach a point where you can produce a lot of code from scratch, talking through it out loud and actually "writing code."

So in an effort to get better at typing code without looking everything up, and in an effort to become better acquainted with the syntax and methods of JavaScript, I am starting a weekly "study" called 20 Minute Methods (and More).

What is this 20 Minute Methods?

20 minute methods will be a series of emails sent out weekly, looking at the individual methods (and more) of JavaScript. Things like split(), map(), slice(), join(), indexOf(), toString(), valueOf(), etc.

Do you know what all of these do? Even if you do, do you understand the parameters and how to use them?

I don't!

I always have to look them up. (Hey, at least I'm honest here).

But I would like to become better acquainted such that I don't have to look them up EVERY SINGLE time I need them.

For example, do you know that string.split(""); and string.split(" "); produce two very different results?!

So Here's The Plan

1. Sign up below to begin receiving emails on any coming Monday. Emails will be sent around 7 a.m. Eastern Time.

2. You will receive two to three teachings a week that will succinctly explain the method, the parameters, and then give you a number of simple and often interesting examples to try in the console.

3. Your goal is to devote 20 minutes to it. Get the feel of typing that method (or whatever else may be sent in the future) from scratch. Get the feel of what the parameters are and do. Try out your own combinations and tests until 20 minutes is up.

4. Then look for the next email. I'm not sure yet how many weeks or months this will go on, but there is a lot to learn in JavaScript and taking it a bite at a time, and attacking it hands-on in your console can only prove beneficial for you and for me.

I will send 2 to 3 a week, and after a little bit, I may start sending out some Code Challenges so be on the lookout for those!