Gauging My Progress
As I step through The Web Developer Bootcamp, I am beginning to realize just how much I’ve learned the last two years and how it is beginning to codify in my brain.
I am coming from a Humanities background but I have always had technical chops, working with circuits was a thing I liked to do; improvising is fun.
I was, a long time ago, a Computer Networking major but decided that I wanted to build computers instead of administering them. Before class started I chose Electronics Engineering Tech at my local 2 year. I did very well. I got an A in my first class, being the only black person as well, by the middle of the semester, the only female. This was the early 2000s.
I’ve always had technical chops. In fact, I taught myself electronics over the course of two years and was competent enough that my physical science professor wanted me to help her teach the electronics section. She was a physicist and my hero.
I prefer being an autodidact, if you haven’t guessed by now.
Translating Hardware Chops into Software Chops
I just played around with circuits and diagrams of those circuits with basic logic structure knowledge. I had and have the ability to learn logically complex things. The fact that it has taken me two years and 5 CS classes as well as learning on my own makes me feel really silly. I have always been the smartest person in the room. It is quite humbling to struggle with something that you feel you should get right away.
Sometimes I look at other newbies and see they struggle with simpler concepts than I did. It makes me feel better 1 but I also want to help them become competent.
The Web Developer Bootcamp and Leveling Up
I have been studying for two weeks practically non-stop. I am seeing so much progress that it encourages me to keep going. I can ask relevant questions of the material, when I get stuck instead of running to Stack Overflow or Slack/Gitter first thing, I open up Dash Docs and read the MDN, which is beginning to make a lot more sense to me.
I can write simple algorithms much more easily than just a few months ago. I don’t know what happened or what switch flipped but I am really, really happy.
Being Happy For Other Developers Success, However…
I see developers all around me getting jobs. I am happy. I am really happy for them. This isn’t a fake happy. It is how things should work. You never begrudge another’s success.
I do, however, feel a pang of longing when I see the tweets and YouTube videos. I am waiting for my turn.
The helpful thing for me right now is knowing I am about a little over a half a year from being ready to apply for developer jobs. It is the solace I need to not get discouraged.
The Code
Some of the things I worked on.
Arrays
//Print Items in an Array in reverse //
function printReverse(arr) {
return arr.reverse();
}
printReverse([1, 2, 3, 4]);
// Refactor to print on new line
function printReverse(arr) {
for (var i = arr.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
console.log(arr[i]);
}
}
printReverse([1, 2, 3, 4]);
// isUniform //
function isUniform(array) {
for (var i = 0; i < array.length - 1; i) {
if (array[i] !== array[i + 1]) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
// sumArray //
function sumArray(arr) {
var sum = 0;
arr.forEach(function(element) {
sum += element;
});
return sum;
}
// max //
function max(arr) {
var maxValue = 0;
arr.forEach(function(element) {
if (maxValue < element) {
maxValue = element;
}
});
return maxValue;
}
Objects
//Movie database for object practice
var movies = [
{
title:: "Taxi Driver",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 5
},
{
title:: "The Social Network",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 5
},
{
title:: "Steve Jobs",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 4.5
}
];
function stringBuilder(movie) {
var result = "You have ";
if (movie.hasWatched) {
result += "watched";
} else {
result += "has not seen";
}
result += '"' + movie.title: + '" - ';
result += movie.rating + " stars";
}
movies.forEach(function(movie) {
console.log(stringBuilder(movie));
});
As I step through The Web Developer Bootcamp, I am beginning to realize just how much I’ve learned the last two years and how it is beginning to codify in my brain.
I am coming from a Humanities background but I have always had technical chops, working with circuits was a thing I liked to do; improvising is fun.
I was, a long time ago, a Computer Networking major but decided that I wanted to build computers instead of administering them. Before class started I chose Electronics Engineering Tech at my local 2 year. I did very well. I got an A in my first class, being the only black person as well, by the middle of the semester, the only female. This was the early 2000s.
I’ve always had technical chops. In fact, I taught myself electronics over the course of two years and was competent enough that my physical science professor wanted me to help her teach the electronics section. She was a physicist and my hero.
I prefer being an autodidact, if you haven’t guessed by now.
Translating Hardware Chops into Software Chops
I just played around with circuits and diagrams of those circuits with basic logic structure knowledge. I had and have the ability to learn logically complex things. The fact that it has taken me two years and 5 CS classes as well as learning on my own makes me feel really silly. I have always been the smartest person in the room. It is quite humbling to struggle with something that you feel you should get right away.
Sometimes I look at other newbies and see they struggle with simpler concepts than I did. It makes me feel better 1 but I also want to help them become competent.
The Web Developer Bootcamp and Leveling Up
I have been studying for two weeks practically non-stop. I am seeing so much progress that it encourages me to keep going. I can ask relevant questions of the material, when I get stuck instead of running to Stack Overflow or Slack/Gitter first thing, I open up Dash Docs and read the MDN, which is beginning to make a lot more sense to me.
I can write simple algorithms much more easily than just a few months ago. I don’t know what happened or what switch flipped but I am really, really happy.
Being Happy For Other Developers Success, However…
I see developers all around me getting jobs. I am happy. I am really happy for them. This isn’t a fake happy. It is how things should work. You never begrudge another’s success.
I do, however, feel a pang of longing when I see the tweets and YouTube videos. I am waiting for my turn.
The helpful thing for me right now is knowing I am about a little over a half a year from being ready to apply for developer jobs. It is the solace I need to not get discouraged.
The Code
Some of the things I worked on.
Arrays
//Print Items in an Array in reverse //
function printReverse(arr) {
return arr.reverse();
}
printReverse([1, 2, 3, 4]);
// Refactor to print on new line
function printReverse(arr) {
for (var i = arr.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
console.log(arr[i]);
}
}
printReverse([1, 2, 3, 4]);
// isUniform //
function isUniform(array) {
for (var i = 0; i < array.length - 1; i) {
if (array[i] !== array[i + 1]) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
// sumArray //
function sumArray(arr) {
var sum = 0;
arr.forEach(function(element) {
sum += element;
});
return sum;
}
// max //
function max(arr) {
var maxValue = 0;
arr.forEach(function(element) {
if (maxValue < element) {
maxValue = element;
}
});
return maxValue;
}
Objects
//Movie database for object practice
var movies = [
{
title:: "Taxi Driver",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 5
},
{
title:: "The Social Network",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 5
},
{
title:: "Steve Jobs",
hasWatched: true,
rating: 4.5
}
];
function stringBuilder(movie) {
var result = "You have ";
if (movie.hasWatched) {
result += "watched";
} else {
result += "has not seen";
}
result += '"' + movie.title: + '" - ';
result += movie.rating + " stars";
}
movies.forEach(function(movie) {
console.log(stringBuilder(movie));
});