getting-started.md

About 800 hours into Free Code Camp, you'll earn your verified Full Stack Development Certification. Then you'll build several real-life projects for nonprofits. By the time you finish, you'll have a portfolio of real apps that people use every day.

Waypoint: Create a GitHub Account and Join our Chat Rooms

Now let's join Free Code Camp's chat rooms. You can come here any time of day to hang out, ask questions, or find another camper to pair program with. First you'll need a GitHub account.

Go to Free Code Camp's open-source repository and "star" it. "Starring" is the GitHub equivalent of "liking" something.

Now that you have a GitHub account, you can join our main chat room by logging in with GitHub. Introduce yourself by saying "Hello world!" --> https://gitter.im/FreeCodeCamp/FreeCodeCamp Tell your fellow campers how you found Free Code Camp. Also tell us why you want to learn to code.

Our chat rooms are extremely active. You should change your settings so you're only notified if someone mentions you. Please note that all of our chat rooms are visible to the public. If you need to share sensitive information, such as an email address or phone number, do it in a private message. Keep our chat room open while you work through our challenges. That way, you can ask for help if you get stuck. You can also socialize with other campers when you feel like taking a break. You can also download the chat room app to your computer or phone.

Waypoint: Configure your Code Portfolio

Check out your code portfolio. Click your picture in your upper right hand corner. To activate your code portfolio, you'll need to link your GitHub account with Free Code Camp. Your code portfolio shows your progress and how many Brownie Points you have. You can get Brownie Points by completing challenges and by helping other campers in our chat rooms. If you get Brownie Points on several days in a row, you'll get a streak.

Waypoint: Join a Campsite in Your City

Our Campsites help you code with campers in your city. You can coordinate study groups or attend local coding events together.

Find your city on this list and click it. This will take you to your city's Campsite's Facebook group. Click the "Join group" button to apply to join your city's Facebook group. Someone from the campsite should approve you shortly. If your city isn't on this list, scroll to the bottom of the wiki article for instructions for how you can create your city's Campsite.

Waypoint: Learn What to Do If You Get Stuck

Coding is hard. You will get stuck. Even experienced coders get stuck. The key is knowing how to get unstuck. It takes time to get good at coding. You wouldn't expect to beat a chess master after playing for 3 months. Don't expect to build the next Facebook after coding for 3 months. Keep practicing coding every day and hanging out with other people who code, and you will become a job-ready coder. Any time you get stuck or don't know what to do next: Read-Search-Ask.

First, read the documentation or error message. A key skill that good coders have is the ability to interpret and then follow instructions.

If that didn't help, search Google. Good Google queries take a lot of practice. When you search Google, you usually want to include the language or framework you're using. You also want to limit the results to a recent period.

If that didn't help, ask your friends. If you have trouble, you can ask your fellow campers in our help chat room.

Now you're ready to start coding. The "Map" button in your upper right hand corner will show you our challenge map. We recommend that you complete these from top to bottom, at a sustainable pace. Our open source community is constantly improving our challenges, so don't be surprised if they change or move around. Don't worry about going back - just keep moving forward. You can always go to your most recent challenge by clicking the "Learn" button.