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JavaScript Object-Oriented JavaScript: Challenge Rendering the Game Build the startGame() Method

Out of my depth..

Been learning code over the past couple of months and wading through javaScript. I thought I understood OOJ but I can't seem to get any of these challenges correct at all. I have watched other guides and tutorials but I try then see the answer and I have no idea how I was meant to get it :/ Not really sure if it's just me and maybe I'll keep watching things or is it me just being hopeless?

Dude, I'm right there with you. I am a new coder going through the fullstack track and I switch between understanding and totally lost pretty often lol. I guess it comes with the territory of being a beginner. Keep it up though. You gotta be and before you're good ;)

10 Answers

Jonathan Grieve
MOD
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points

Hi Henry,

The feeling that you're "out of your depth" or "not good enough" for this is perfectly natural so don't be too downhearted about this. To be perfectly honest with you, these are feelings I struggle with every single day and the trick is to just stick at it when this happens.

If you're feeling like you're not as good as one particular programmer, know that they are probably thinking exactly the same thing.

What I suggest for you for now is to just do as you say, go back through the instructions and the supplementary content this course builds on and tackle each question bit by bit. And when you've done it, do it again until it sticks!

You've got this! :)

Thankyou! Nice to hear someone else say they struggle a bit so I know I'm not alone with it! I will definitely revisit some of that section again and hopefully it'll stick :) Thanks again!

I know that feeling too, sometimes it can be frustrating and a struggle. I then try to be a little more patient and give myself some time to let concepts sink in.

Matt Coale
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Matt Coale
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 17,884 Points

Feeling the same! Literally so lost, but my plan is to push through, pick up what I can, and revisit once I get more experience at it.

This challenge is particularly difficult as well. I've barely got any of the challenges correct. It's hard to imagine the outcome of each challenge as well as you don't see a DOM demonstration of each challenge working.

It all comes together at the end.

I'm finding it more productive to have an attempt but they quickly see the solution so that I don't lose too much momentum.

Keep going, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is 4 in a row if i keep going at this rate :)

Trevor Maltbie
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Trevor Maltbie
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 17,021 Points

You are not alone in this feeling. I feel very confused and unsure of myself right now. I haven't been able to solve nearly any of the prompts Ashley has presented either! However, I'm too far into this to quit now and I'm going to push forward. I want to become a web and software developer and no one told me this was going to be easy. I will continue on with this challenge and then go through it a second or third time from scratch.

Literally how I'm feeling. Almost feel like giving up, but I guess this is all part of the learning process

Jonathan Grieve
Jonathan Grieve
Treehouse Moderator 91,253 Points

It is! Don't give up! You'll be proud of yourself when you finish what you're making! :-)

Stephenie Venter
Stephenie Venter
4,561 Points

I don't know if this is helpful to anyone but I also felt like I will never be able to grasp this challenge. I realised though that it was partly because I have a specific project in mind which is why I'm learning JS and this is so far from what I'm excited about doing that I found it hard to even attempt to focus on it. What helps me is still going through and attempting the challenge but also building little elements and components on my local machine using VSCode with live server preview so I can see step by step what happens in the browser every time I save. The concepts from this course sinks in so much faster and it motivates me to keep going. I also find it extremely hard to work with HTML and CSS that was already provided, for me it just seems easier to grasp if I just get stuck in and write it myself.

Nick Huemmer
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Nick Huemmer
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 26,840 Points

Henry Hardwell I'm right there with you. This is a slow-going course for me - taking me several days to get through it. I'm trying to take screen clips and notes as I go along and write out what I think is going on, sort of like using the rubber duck method. It. Takes. So. Long. to do it this way, but hope that I'll have a better understanding and in the end by going slow it will take less time since I won't have to go back.

I don't think that I'm dumb (or really that smart) or lacking aptitude but a lot of JavaScript takes me time to understand and figure out. This stuff isn't like picking up an instruction manual and just being able to read through line by line and figuring out how to make it work.

It seems like this stuff would be difficult to teach as well because explaining it plainly can get wordy and when it's explained concisely with jargon it's hard to understand! What's a newbie to do?

Hopefully, by being persistent and working on things over and over again and asking lot's of questions the concepts will sink in.

Don't know if this helps, but seeing a lot of similar comments here is reassuring.

Tim Stride
Tim Stride
13,355 Points

I had not heard of the rubber duck method until now, but I have probably been doing it because I have been making copious notes as I went through the JavaScript track. Like you say, it means slow progress but it is the only way I can now have a reasonable sense of what is going on in this particular challenge — by looking back to my notes on OOJS and even back to the JS basics courses early in the track to remind me about arrays, loops, etc.

As someone else commented, it can be especially difficult if you don't really have the vision of what the end result will look like and what each piece of code does on the web page. I have been helped by the written notes in each step about the specific method or whatever that needs coding as it gives a prompt what to focus on, otherwise I probably would be lost.

Same here! I was feeling all good before I got here, now I literally don't know what to do on each step, there are a lot of contents that are not covered, and I'm stuck in here for more than 2 weeks....

Crystal Vesely
Crystal Vesely
14,500 Points

I read most of these comments, and the first time I went through this practice, I felt completely at odds with my training thus far. Left me feeling completely lost and like I had missed something. But then I went back and redid loops, arrays, etc basics and then I attempted this challenge again and noticed that I understood some of it. Then I redid the challenge a 3rd and got further on my own. Then a 4th time lol, now I am on my 5th time and nearly understand most of it. Make sure you study the areas that confuse you until you understand why it’s the solution. So hang in there! The solutions seem so easy the more you understand it.