We ask that all students take this preparation work seriously, regardless of prior education or code exposure. While most students adjust to the pace and intensity of the program over the first week or two, some students find that the adjustment period can create a cycle of incomplete work, struggle, and demoralizing outcomes that takes much longer to break.
We want you to have the best outcome possible, which is why we're asking you to go through this material on your own, in order to develop familiarity while practicing using your laptop as a development tool.
Focus on putting in the hours and dedication, but don’t worry about comprehension! This may seem counterintuitive, but our instructors will cover the material again, in different ways, while adding more practical knowledge applications.
Avoid skipping, skimming, or skimping out on prep work. Invest in yourself and your future career by taking the opportunity to expose yourself to some of the vast amount of information available online.
The purpose of this prep work is to give you exposure and familiarity, not comprehension or competency. It is likely that you'll have way more questions than answers. The material may go over your head, things may still not make sense, and you probably haven't gained the ability to execute the material on your own. That's ok!
You are being exposed to knowledge, syntax, and language-- which is not the same thing as knowing how to do something. The goal is for you to gain some base familiarity and pattern recognition, which will help you during actual class time when these topics are discussed in-depth.
Prioritize the terminal and git tutorials, but don't go so deep that you sacrifice getting JavaScript, HTML and CSS exposure.
This prep work is mandatory and counts as 5% of your Code 102 total course grade. You'll have the opportunity to report your progress on these assignments shortly after you've completed the enrollment process.
Code 201 requires students to complete this prep work assigned for the program. This prep work gives enrolled students a clear, step-by-step guide for what they need to achieve before they start classes. We understand that some things will still be confusing and may not make sense. That's ok!
Expect to spend a minimum of several evenings and a weekend day or two to get everything completed. Allow yourself more time than you think you will need so that you can take breaks and work at a methodical pace without rushing or trying to cut corners.
The estimated time to complete all of the prep work outlined below (not including breaks) is from 23 hours to 78 hours.
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If you spend only an approximate 23 hours on the prep work, it would take you about 4 hours a day for 5 days.
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If you spend approximately 45 hours on the prep work, it would take you about 6 hours a day for 7 days.
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If you spend approximately 78 hours on the prep work, it would take you about 5 hours a day for 16 days.
| Essentials | Extra Info | Time To Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Complete: 1-Minute Typing Test | Once completed, take a screenshot of your results. You will need to get at least 35 WPM and an accuracy of 85% or greater to be able to participate at Alchemy. You can re-take the test as many times as necessary. | 1-2 minutes |
| Complete: Computer Setup Guide | See below for notes | 1-2 hours |
| Email your instructors and introduce yourself: [email protected] | Please attach screenshot of successful typing test results. | 5-15 minutes |
| Slack: Download Slack and introduce yourself | Please upload a photo of yourself, and we welcome you to list your preferred pronoun next to your name here in Slack (top left drop down bar, select Profile & Account, choose Edit Profile and then include your pronouns under Display Name (she/her, they/them, etc). |
10-20 minutes |
On successful completion of the Computer Setup Guide you should be able to:
- Have a terminal with a Git-compatible prompt.
- Type
git --versionin your terminal and not receive an error. - Be able to open VSCode from the Terminal or Git Bash by typing
code .. - Have a GitHub account on Github.com (please select a professional username, employers will be looking at it!).
| Essentials | Time to Complete |
|---|---|
| This tutorial is for everyone, even though the word "Linux" is in the title! The same commands work in Windows and MacOS terminals as well. A significant aspect of creating software is interacting directly with text files. One of the most efficient ways to do this is through the Terminal, or Command Line. | |
| Read: 1. The Command Line | 10-15 minutes |
| Read: 2. System Navigation | 10-15 minutes |
| Read: 3. Files | 15-20 minutes |
| Read: 4. File Manipulation | 15 -20 minutes |
| Essentials |
|---|
| Read: Basic Git Commands With Examples |
| Essentials | Time To Complete |
|---|---|
| Section 1.a: Intro To JavaScript | 1-2 hours |
| Section 1.b: Variables | 1-2 hours |
| Section 2: Conditional Statements | 1-2 hours |
| Section 3: Functions | 1-2 hours |
| Section 4: Scope | 1-2 hours |
| Section 5: Arrays | 1-2 hours |
| Section 6: Loops | 1-2 hours |
| Section 8: Objects | 1-2 hours |
| Essentials | Time To Complete |
|---|---|
| Section 1.a: Intro To HTML | 1-2 hours |
| Section 1.b: HTML Document Standards | 1-2 hours |
| Section 4: Semantic HTML | 1-2 hours |
| Essentials | Time To Complete |
|---|---|
| Section 1.a: Intro to CSS | 1-2 hours |
| Section 1.b: Visual Rules | 1-2 hours |
| Section 2.a: The Box Model | 1-2 hours |
| Section 2.b: Changing the Box Model | 1-2 hours |
| Section 3: Display and Positioning | 1-2 hours |
| Section 4: Color | 1 hour |
| Section 5: Typography | 1-2 hours |
| Essentials | Info | Time To Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase Web Design with HTML & CSS; JavaScript & jQuery book set by Jon Duckett | ||
| Complete the following readings: | Do not strive to methodically read and retain every single word. Instead, aim for an understanding of the big topics and orientation to where the details are so that you can find them when you need them. | 2-3 hours |
| (HTML & CSS textbook) Chapter 1 | "Structure" -- Be sure to complete the associated discussion assignment in our Learning Management System | 20-30 minutes |
| (HTML & CSS textbook) Chapter 8 | "Extra Markup" -- Be sure to complete the associated discussion assignment in our Learning Management System | 20-30 minutes |
| (HTML & CSS textbook) Chapter 17 | "HTML5 Layout" -- Be sure to complete the associated discussion assignment in our Learning Management System | 20-30 minutes |
| (HTML & CSS textbook) Chapter 18 | "Process & Design" -- Be sure to complete the associated discussion assignment in our Learning Management System | 20-30 minutes |
| (JavaScript textbook) Chapter 1 | "The ABC of Programming" -- Be sure to complete the associated discussion assignment in our Learning Management System | 20-30 minutes |
| More |
|---|
| Read/Reference: 14. Cheatsheet of Terminal Commands |
| More | Info |
|---|---|
| Watch: The Coding Train: GitHub | This video goes over the concepts of commits and repositories, as well as an overview of the GitHub User Interface. |
| Watch: The Coding Train: Git & Intro to the Command Line | This video aims to give you a brief introduction to the Command Line and show you some of the most frequently used commands. |
| Sections 1-3: Learn Git Branching | Introduction to Git Commits, Branching in Git, and Merging in Git |
| Complete: Git Tutorial, A Comprehensive Guide |
| More |
|---|
| Section 9: Classes |
| Complete (any) 10-15 exercises: JavaScript Exercises |
| Read: DOM |
| Read: Eloquent JavaScript PDF |
| Complete: Intro to JavaScript: Drawing and Animation |
| More | Info |
|---|---|
| (HTML) Read: HTML Tutorial | |
| (HTML) Watch: Scrimba Video Tutorial by Eric Tirado | |
| (HTML & CSS) Complete: Intro to HTML/CSS: Making webpages | Complete up through and including the Web development tools section |
| More |
|---|
| Section 6.a: Grid |
| Section 6.b: Advanced Grid |
| (CSS) Read: CSS Tutorial |
| (CSS) Watch: Scrimba Video Tutorial By Eric Tirado |
If you finish the above prep work and have VS Code installed, try going through these tutorials using the VS Code Editor with the Live Server extension.
If you do not have a VS Code environment working you can also use a JavaScript Environment hosted on Repl.it.