So I like programming, I'm still at school and I did scratch and C++ last year, and this year I'm going to learn HTML, but I want to learn in advance, and I also want to make a site for something about cubing, I'm not going to say what is it, is going to be a surprise, but I'm a complete beginner, so can someone answer me these questions and maybe help me whenever I need help with it (I know I also need CSS and Java Script):
1. Should I use VS Code?
2. Does someone has a good tutorial?
3. How I'm going to make a timer?
4. How I'm going to make a scramble generator, also for specific scrambles, like 1 move to solved layer or cross or something, or maybe the person put some moves, and to like a solved layer it inputs those set up moves?
5. Should I try to actually learn how the codes work, or could I just follow a tutorial?
6. How does it work with the domain name, I'm going to need to buy the name?
Please If someone is able to help me, at least answer as many questions as you can.
Sorry that I'm late, I didn't get a notification that you mentioned me.
1. Definitely use vscode, since it is the most popular code editor. If you have any issues with the editor it will be way easier to find a solution compared to if you used an editor that is less popular
2. When learning programming, you really can't just use one tutorial. I recommend learning the basics of html using w3schools.com, which includes many lessons about the basic syntax of HTML and then the different purposes of the elements and what to use them for. It also contains lessons on JavaScript and CSS which you will also definitely need to use for making the site. Stackoverflow is helpful for coding problems, and youtube is good for general tutorials when it comes to programming. I recommend avoiding relying on AI too much, because it can cause you more problems than you had originally. You can always ask it questions, but I think you should avoid having it generate code, because that means you won't be able to understand and it will make it harder to change the site or add more to it in the future.
3. Like spencer mentioned, you can track time using Date.now(). It returns the amount of milliseconds that have passed since the epoch, which is midnight on January 1, 1970. You can store the time when the user starts the timer in a variable and then get the time when the user stops the timer, and simply subtract the values to get the amount of milliseconds the user was solving for. You can then divide the number by 1000 to get it the time in seconds.
4. Random move scrambling is simple to implement like spencer said, but random state scrambling will be harder. However, there are many javascript libraries that do provide this functionality, so you could use those.
5. Definitely learn how to program. There won't be a specific tutorial called "How to design a Rubik's cube timer". There will be no tutorial that includes everything you need, you will have to learn to program yourself.
6. There are many free domain/hosting services like spencer mentioned. I personally use vercel, which would get you a (completely free) domain such as "cubetimer.vercel.app". If you want to buy a domain, use namecheap.com or porkbun.com, which will let you get a .com for about $10 or $20 a year. You will be able to use the custom domain with vercel and keep the free hosting!
