This tech reporter tried her hand at actually doing tech things

As Technical.ly Delaware’s lead reporter, I love writing about the First State’s tech scene. It’s always interesting — in many ways, it’s exciting — and I find myself constantly learning.
But here’s a little secret: I’m not, nor have I ever been, a tech person. My background is in newspapers, and the majority of my experience was covering crime and breaking news.
So after spending the past several months writing about so-called tech people and all of their cool projects and endeavors, my interest was piqued enough to check out Girl Develop It’s full day of HTML/CSS coding class this weekend.

Hard at work! @gdiwilm @paulinemrubin @lruebens pic.twitter.com/zCglOffRN5

— Megan Anthony-Keogh (@MegAnthonyKeogh) May 7, 2016

Here’s what I learned:

• First off, I have a lot more admiration for coders. Because wow, there is a heck of a lot of knowledge and skill that goes into coding, and I really respect people who can create so much innovation by starting with a blank text editor. (We, btw, used Sublime.)
• Girl Develop It knows what’s up: It’s great to be in an all-women environment when you’re learning this stuff. Everyone was supportive and helpful with one another, and I wasn’t afraid to ask questions. (I asked a ton of questions.)
• It’s exciting to learn a new skill, and I’m not alone: The classroom’s age range was wide, and the backgrounds of the women were just as varied — from ladies looking for career changes to some who wanted to keep up with their kids to those who were simply curious about what this whole coding thing is about.
• This is gonna require some repetition. One class does not a coding master make. I nailed some of the basics, but I have a long way to go (absolute positioning … explain that again?!).

It is a start though, and I’m looking forward to tinkering with it and learning more. The organizers at GDI are helping move the practice process along with a Code & Coffee Study Group session the evening of May 16 at 1313 Innovation.
http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Wilmington/events/230935249/
This weekend’s instructor, Elizabeth Cottrell, also had a bunch of great recommendations for furthering coding education:

Courses

• Codecademy: interactive platform where you code along with prompts (free)
• Treehouse: video-based content with interactive code challenges ($25/month or free with some library memberships)
• Kahn Academy: (free)
• Envato Tuts+: ($15/month)
• How to Become a Web Developer course: (free)
• 30 Days to Learn HTML & CSS: (free, but from 2011)

Reference (aside from Google)

• Mozilla Developers Network (MDN)
• Intro to HTML
• HTML Reference
• CSS Reference
• W3 Schools
• CSS Positioning 101: grom 2010, but still relevant
• Front End Developer Handbook: broadly outlines and discusses the practice of front-end engineering — how to learn it and what tools are used when practicing it

Blogs

• CSS-Tricks
• A List Apart
• Smashing Magazine
  

Development and Design Podcasts

• Shoptalk
• The Web Ahead
• Web Design Agency Podcast