Category: Uncategorized

JavaScript 30 – Day 4

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Array cardiooooo! Thanks to Wes, I can say I got some cardio in today, because goodness knows I didn’t get a jog in. 😬 I digress, let’s talk about all the array methods!

Overview

Array methods were the star of this day. Map, reduce, sort and filter were used to manipulate some predefined data, each one getting a little more challenging.

What I Learned

While I have been exposed to all of these concepts, including destructuring and arrow functions, I have only extensively used map and filter. Since those were at the beginning, I was doing pretty well. Even the first sort I did fine with. Then reduce I came to a screeching halt as I have only used it a handful of times.

Biggest Challenge

The sort and reduce array methods for sure. Reduce more so than sort. I need to get a lot more practice in with these methods until I can visualize them in my head like I can with map and filter.

Future Iterations

I think the best way to iterate on this in the future is simply to revisit it and test my skills. See how far I can get without watching any of the video. Then see how far I can get without looking up documentation. I can’t remember the last time I looked up the map method because I use it so much and know it well. I want to get there with all the methods.

Planily Update

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

A short recap: I am creating a family-focused collaborative meal planning app for my LaunchCode capstone project.

To do so, I am utilizing a spring and react tutorial from spring.io.

I finished part one today, and I thought I would write down a list of questions/topics to research further.

Here goes!

  1. CommandLineRunner – beans are created and registered
  2. cURL
  3. IANA and how it can help grab metadata about the entire service?
  4. In depth look into webpacks
  5. Sourcemaps
  6. The tutorial provides a custom client.js file, a way to make REST calls. They suggest Restangular as another option. What are others?
  7. On the same note, what is a HAL document?
  8. Understand the links found within the cURL queries better.

I’m looking forward to diving in depth into part two tomorrow and creating a longer list of questions. Not gonna lie, sometimes the things I realize I don’t know make me feel really dumb, but then I realize it’s actually an opportunity to learn, so then I welcome the questions piling up.

Liftoff LaunchCode Capstone – The Beginning

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

The time has come!

I have finished all three units within CodeCamp.

I have studied Java, built my final assignment, and I am ready!

It’s the final Capstone!

My final project is going to be a collaborative meal planning app with a focus on family. If you want to follow along, here is my github repo.

I want to create an environment where everyone will be able to add meal suggestions for the week, but only the admins (parents) will be able to add it to the calendar. Everyone will be able to see all suggestions and vote for their favorites. And, although this may be a lofty goal, I want to add functionality where they can upload, link to, or create from scratch their favorite recipes upon suggesting a meal. I would also like to add admins the ability to assign meals to a specific family member for cooking.

We had an entire day yesterday of career readiness, where a couple of companies and former launchcoders cane to talk to us. One of the pervious launchcoders mentioned that his company codes front end in React and back end in Java.

Mind blown. I was about to code my entire project in Java, and then immediately jump into a second one with full stack javascript to get more practice with React. It never occurred to me that I could do both at the same time.

Thankfully, I only coded one template with an enum for days of the week. It’s not too late for me to scrap it and start from fresh with the same idea. I’ll update the README and be good.

I really like rough sketches for wireframes as I can quickly resketch them when I want to update them or get a better idea for display.

“Just” An Average Developer

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

Last week we had a visitor in class who was sharing her perspective as a woman developer. One point struck me pretty deep when she was talking about how a professor in college told her she was “just” an average programmer, that he didn’t think she shouldn’t pursue this interest, but instead pursue one she was better at.

As women, we tend to justify ourselves a lot in our language, with our performances, and all around can find ourselves tending to strive toward perfection. If we aren’t perfect, we aren’t good.

Because of her professor’s comment, she didn’t pursue programming at the time, but she did circle around back into it.

It resonated with many of the women in our class. I, myself, have circled back around to programming several times now, and have kept myself from advancing because I’m “just” an average developer.

Hearing the same tale from someone else got me thinking: What is wrong with being “just” an average programmer? Is the world not full of professional average programmers? Is there some disadvantage to being average? Would being an elaborate, clever, and top-notch developer help in the long run?

I don’t know. Depends on your goals, perhaps. If you’re working by yourself, sure, be as clever as you want. If you live for bragging rights, go for it. If you’re a perfectly average programmer, your team is going to be able to read and work with the code you’ve written without wasting a ton of time trying to figure out what you’ve done. Even if you’re only working with yourself, are you going to appreciate your cleverness as much in three years when you have to rework that codebase and try to figure out what you’ve done?

Again, I don’t know the answers, but I’m going to say being “just” an average programmer has a lot of benefits that society isn’t necessarily going to throw a party over. And that’s okay. If you remember that being average means you can be successful and happy, and you don’t let it hold you back or let your imposter syndrome worsen, revel in the fact that you’re average. Know that your drive, your personality, and the very essence of characteristics that make you, you, is what people really want to work with above whether you’re clever or The Greatest Programmer Ever.