This morning I unwound from another intense week at Epicodus with an exploration of the city. It was nothing too adventurous -- just a visit to the east side of the river from my downtown apartment. But during my walk, I decided that maintaining a blog that reflected on things I have learned and experienced would probably be a good idea. So here she is.
The first two weeks of study were devoted entirely to Javascript, with a bit of jQuery, html and css to turn the scripts into functioning pages. We developed our skills by diving right into creating applications with our pair on the first day. It was pretty exciting.
I was less terrified on the first day than I would have been if it were not for the pot-luck Michael threw the night before. I got to meet most of the other 59 students that I would be working with over great food and a few beers. This really calmed my nerves. Turns out that I wasn't the only one who was nearly a complete newbie to the world of programming.
When the first day finally did arrive, we created a script called "Queen Attack". We had to write a js script that identified when the queen could attack an opponent in chess. My partner and I worked together to devise a solution to this problem and created one pretty quickly. We then moved on to the next two lessons and completed those just in time. By the end of the day, I felt a sense of accomplishment and adventure that I hadn't felt in a long time. And this is coming from a guy who worked in the financial services world where I engaged clients worth tens of millions of dollars on a regular basis.
Pair programming was especially useful for reaching a solution. When my partner was at a loss for where to go, I would offer some insight, and vice versa. We were both excited and motivated to solve the problem. The rest of the room appeared to share this same enthusiasm. I could feel the excitement and energy and was glad that I was part of it.
The next 9 days grew increasingly complex. We switch pairs every day, which lets us not only get to know someone new in a more intimate manner, but also to see different styles of learning, working, and skill levels. I have been happy with most of my pairs, although there are a few that I don't think that I really want to work with again, largely due to differences in working style and skill. Curiously, the most interesting days have been where I have been paired with someone of similar skill level, which forced us to really understand the concepts and syntax, take it slow, and apply ourselves to reach a solution. Probably 6 out of the 10 pairs I've worked with fall into this category, and working with those partners has been the most rewarding, as far as learning js goes.
Other partners have had higher or lower skill levels than me. This was also interesting in its own right. When I was the more skilled partner, I really had to take the reigns and work even harder. This didn't always produce the best results, as I'm still pretty new to the syntax and thinking like a programmer. But it did have at least one purpose: motivating me to learn more outside of class. When I was the less-skilled programmer, I learned a lot of neat tricks and ways of thinking, but didn't learn as much as when I was with others of comparable skill.
I also noticed a few of my pairs brought books to class, so I ordered a few of my own from Amazon:
One of my partners had the two git books (and even a third!). I picked up his copy of "Pragmatic Guide" and decided to purchase it about 10 pages in. The other books had good reviews on Amazon, so I figured what the hell. These books are in addition to the book "HTML & CSS" by Jon Duckett that Michael recommend we purchase before class started. I'll make a post reviewing each of these books in a few months.
Anyways, I will write here from time to time, with, at the very least, a weekend review. This post doesn't capture the full breadth of my last two weeks, but it's a start. So I'll revisit some other interesting things in later posts (like my first night in Portland, which was a bit wild).
Monday we start in Ruby, which is very exciting for me. That's largely what I'm here for. If Javascript was as interesting and exciting as it was these past two weeks, I just can't wait to see what Ruby can do.
Til next time, code on young Padwans.
The first two weeks of study were devoted entirely to Javascript, with a bit of jQuery, html and css to turn the scripts into functioning pages. We developed our skills by diving right into creating applications with our pair on the first day. It was pretty exciting.
I was less terrified on the first day than I would have been if it were not for the pot-luck Michael threw the night before. I got to meet most of the other 59 students that I would be working with over great food and a few beers. This really calmed my nerves. Turns out that I wasn't the only one who was nearly a complete newbie to the world of programming.
When the first day finally did arrive, we created a script called "Queen Attack". We had to write a js script that identified when the queen could attack an opponent in chess. My partner and I worked together to devise a solution to this problem and created one pretty quickly. We then moved on to the next two lessons and completed those just in time. By the end of the day, I felt a sense of accomplishment and adventure that I hadn't felt in a long time. And this is coming from a guy who worked in the financial services world where I engaged clients worth tens of millions of dollars on a regular basis.
Pair programming was especially useful for reaching a solution. When my partner was at a loss for where to go, I would offer some insight, and vice versa. We were both excited and motivated to solve the problem. The rest of the room appeared to share this same enthusiasm. I could feel the excitement and energy and was glad that I was part of it.
The next 9 days grew increasingly complex. We switch pairs every day, which lets us not only get to know someone new in a more intimate manner, but also to see different styles of learning, working, and skill levels. I have been happy with most of my pairs, although there are a few that I don't think that I really want to work with again, largely due to differences in working style and skill. Curiously, the most interesting days have been where I have been paired with someone of similar skill level, which forced us to really understand the concepts and syntax, take it slow, and apply ourselves to reach a solution. Probably 6 out of the 10 pairs I've worked with fall into this category, and working with those partners has been the most rewarding, as far as learning js goes.
Other partners have had higher or lower skill levels than me. This was also interesting in its own right. When I was the more skilled partner, I really had to take the reigns and work even harder. This didn't always produce the best results, as I'm still pretty new to the syntax and thinking like a programmer. But it did have at least one purpose: motivating me to learn more outside of class. When I was the less-skilled programmer, I learned a lot of neat tricks and ways of thinking, but didn't learn as much as when I was with others of comparable skill.
I also noticed a few of my pairs brought books to class, so I ordered a few of my own from Amazon:
Pragmatic Guide to Git by Travis Swicegood
Version Control with Git by Jon Loeliger & Matthew McCullough
Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby by Sandi Metz
Secrets of the Javascript Ninja by John Resig & Bear Bibeault
One of my partners had the two git books (and even a third!). I picked up his copy of "Pragmatic Guide" and decided to purchase it about 10 pages in. The other books had good reviews on Amazon, so I figured what the hell. These books are in addition to the book "HTML & CSS" by Jon Duckett that Michael recommend we purchase before class started. I'll make a post reviewing each of these books in a few months.
Anyways, I will write here from time to time, with, at the very least, a weekend review. This post doesn't capture the full breadth of my last two weeks, but it's a start. So I'll revisit some other interesting things in later posts (like my first night in Portland, which was a bit wild).
Monday we start in Ruby, which is very exciting for me. That's largely what I'm here for. If Javascript was as interesting and exciting as it was these past two weeks, I just can't wait to see what Ruby can do.
Til next time, code on young Padwans.
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