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270 PointsI feel very much overwhelmed now. I can understand but so difficult to follow this section of promises.
As the course advance from callback to promise i feel it very overwhelming. Is this normal or do anyone feels the same? Can i find more directions/resources to learn this part in small bits?
Daniel Cranney
11,609 PointsI came here to comment the same thing. The entire frontend course has been challenging but felt do-able, this really made me feel out of my depth.
Kris Wertman
4,922 PointsYeah, I've been trying to learn JavaScript through a variety of resources and decided to join Treehouse because I feel that it has a better approach to actual learning methodologies. It was shortly after I walked away from the Promises section on https://learnjavascript.online realizing I didn't internalize anything...I've got a masters in education. I can recognize that there is a lot of interest and passion about the subject in the instructors. They're probably trying to take the training wheels off and push a bit faster since we've covered a lot in this track so far. As a teacher in my subject field, I've had times when I wanted to push my students harder when they've gotten a bit of momentum... still it's a fine line between a ride in the park, getting comfortable with street riding, and the Tour de' France. Honestly, students will be just as amazed doing something they understand than trying to wow them with a "cool space site" that they have trouble wrapping their heads around (I've seen this sort of thing on other code learning sites/courses as well, and not so much here, which was a plus for me...). Tone it down, we'll still be here (also, I've been having some straight up bugs with the code in this section following it as suggested... might consider giving this one a rework). Anyway, I'll just have to power through this and look for easier to grasp explanations (my advice to others struggling as well). I'll check out those links Daniel L, thanks.
Jesse Gonzalez
7,322 PointsOverall I feel like I've had a good grasp of most of the JS courses I seemingly forgot but I'm sure when I revisit and refresh myself it will all come back to me so I'm not worrying too much. The previous numbers promises exercise got me feeling good about it but then the next videos quickly diminished my confidence lol. I thought I was the only one feeling bad. Good to see it's not just me lacking but rather the course pushing us a little too much into the deep end. We got this guys. We can revisit this subject here or somewhere else let's push through and finish the courses!!!!
8 Answers
Allison Buskirk
Courses Plus Student 8,601 PointsI'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Dave's AJAX Basics course was well done and much easier to follow — this course, Async Programming with JavaScript, has been really challenging to follow.
Brian Bochicchio
12,272 PointsYeah, I am there too. I don't think the idea of promises is that hard.
I think the example adds some "magic" and complexity that make it harder to soak in. For example, I don't recall us being introduced to map yet and arrow functions are still kinda fresh. Project is cool though.
judygrayland
8,647 PointsI've also felt extremely frustrated and disheartened trying to follow this particular part of the course. I must have rewatched all the videos at least three times and I'm still struggling. I really recommend, though, checking out the three videos suggested above. I, at least, have found them very helpful: Fun Fun Function Promises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d7s3spWAzo
The Coding Train: JavaScript Promises: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRqwX-V7Uu6bKLPQvPRNNE65kBL62mVfx
Web Dev Simplified Promises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHvZLI7Db8E&t=14s
I think it's a good idea to use a variety of resources when you're trying to wrap your head around new concepts. I've really enjoyed Guil's videos up till now and found that he explains things well. But I feel, like many others who have pointed it out, that this section is much trickier than others that have come before it in the Front End course. It introduces a lot of new concepts that we haven't seen before, some of which he does not explain, and it is hard not feel out of your depth....
Charlynn Schmiedt
9,288 PointsThanks for the video links, judygrayland. Those were helpful. For those struggling with this section, I really liked the way this site breaks things down: https://javascript.info/promise-basics
Jeffrey Holcomb
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 17,506 PointsIts normal to feel overwhelmed and disheartened when learning new programming concepts. I'm feeling the same thing too. Keep in mind though that the reason its so confusing is because its so new. Once we get some practice in, things will start to click, just like any new thing we learn in life. Dont be discouraged.
Karina Rogers
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 15,909 PointsI must agree. The rest of the courses have been understandable using the videos and teacher's links. If the concepts of Async JS and Promises are difficult, why mess around with extra features like map, setTimeOut and Error? I understand they are trying to 'bring it all together' but it distracted from the core concepts and resulted in me relying entirely upon outside sources to learn the material
Charlynn Schmiedt
9,288 PointsYou aren't alone — I am feeling overwhelmed by all of this, too. I felt great after AJAX basics, but I don't feel like I know how anything in this section works at all. It's probably an easy enough concept to master, but something is missing that's tripping me up.
JASON LEE
17,352 PointsI feel you. I'm starting to get a handle on it, but this is after spending 18 hours on this topic alone of Asynchronous JavaScript & Promises (not including AJAX) and fiddling around with it. The most confusing part is the combination of everything -- callback functions left and right, the pointer syntax, the .map() method, asynchronous component, trying to distinguish function parameter vs argument in conjunction with all the above and the 'Promise .then chain', etc.
Giles Lewey
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Student 11,349 PointsI'm seeing a lot of comments from people in the front-end course; I'm getting to this lesson in unit 5 of the full-stack javascript course. Personally I find javascript a struggle, not in a bad way though. I get this tightness in my head, which I've begun to realize is a good thing, like my brain's trying to rewire itself. This has been happening a lot with javascript, and happened when I was learning Rails. It never really happened with the other things in front-end. I was talking with a friend who teaches coding about how it seemed a period of suffering was inevitable in coding, and he said 'yeah, a good teacher can mitigate that a little, but it's inevitable. Welcome to the club.' Getting to the 'other side' with JavaScript is hard! Where you internalize things and look back and think, why did I find that difficult? Going through this lesson now I'm thinking 'huh, that's a little confusing,' but I remember a point when I was totally lost. If it was easy everyone could do it and we wouldn't be making the big bucks when we're finished!
Danny L.
10,837 PointsDanny L.
10,837 PointsHey, I know how you feel, it took me a while as well. Here are some supplemental resources that helped me out in order of helpfulness (at least to me lol):
Fun Fun Function Promises
The Coding Train: JavaScript Promises
Web Dev Simplified Promises
Hope that helps