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I'm going to community college to obtain an associate's in French. But the long-term plan is after French, I'd be studying computer-science overseas and while I'm studying French here, my hope is to pursue computer science as a serious hobby everyday so I'm not exactly unprepared when I do get into senior college.

I just need advice because I don't know how to pace myself. Self-learning and meeting major benchmarks when it come to a more project-based approach.

I'm learning web development and I have several projects in mind, but I'm still (struggling) with the first. I can spend so much time on one little bug or 'gimmick' that it makes me wonder if I'm really 'doing it' right. My project is a single-page web application that'll help me get used to the front-end and serve as an introduction for the back-end.

Is there some kind of timeline I should be following or is it just going with the flow? I'm worried that I'll fixate on this or that so much that I forget that I should've done that or this by this timeline.

(sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, I'm new to stack exchange and this seemed like the best place to ask)

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    This is probably not something that we can answer because it is so dependent on the individual. If the goal is to replicate what students taking computer science classes are learning, 'd suggest taking a look at some MOOC introductory programming courses and deciding to do them at whatever rate makes sense to you (i.e. maybe you don't have time to do it at full speed because of your other workload but you could do it at half speed so if the class gives students 1 week to do an assignment, you take 2).
    – Justin Cave
    Commented Jan 10 at 17:48
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    For those who don't know the acronym: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to enroll. There are many, of varying depth, breadth, and quality; no one of them attempts to be the equivalent of a degree program but if you are sufficiently motivated you can get a decent education from a series of them.
    – keshlam
    Commented Jan 10 at 20:50
  • Timelines for learning are immaterial. The only thing that counts is whether or not you are able to solve some business' problems. That is something that only the prospective employer can answer.
    – David R
    Commented Jan 11 at 15:17

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But the long-term plan is, after French, I'd be studying computer science overseas. While I'm studying French here my hope is to pursue computer science as a serious hobby everyday so I'm not exactly unprepared when I do get into senior college.[...] I'm learning web development and I have several projects in mind, but I'm still (struggling) with the first. [...] Is there some kind of timeline I should be following or is it just going with the flow? I'm worried that I'll fixate on this or that so much that I forget that I should've done that or this by this timeline.

My two cents: web-development is but a small part of everything that Computer Science (CS) involves. I'd even dare to say that web-dev is not much "science" at all...

Furthermore, web-dev involves a "stack" of technologies: the frontend (HTML, CSS, JS on the core, and other languages that end up generating those 3 things), middlewares or similar (like Redis, Kafka, APIs in general) and the backend (Databases, the core logic, etc).

Perhaps starting with web-dev as your first approach to CS may not be ideal.

AI, Machine Learning, Distributed and Parallel Computing, Genetic Algorithms, Algorithm Complexity and Analysis, Graphics, Networks, Databases... there are many, many fields and surely more to come.

Perhaps, as someone suggested in comments, taking online courses (free or paid if you want/can), a.k.a. "MOOCs" in places like Coursera, MIT edX, etc. could be a better approach and preparation to the "big picture" that CS entails (learn to crawl before you learn to dance).

Still, taking MOOCs does not compare to the level of a formal University Degree/career, so you'll never be 100% ready and know everything (if you did you wouldn't need to go to Uni right?). However it will help you to start your career knowing how to walk/jog, so then learning to run and dance is easier.

Good luck!

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