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The first day of bootcamp is complete and here are a few things that I took away with me:
1. Changing programming languages creates syntax issues for me right now. I anticipate this to become less of a challenge as I become more fluent in the languages.
I have been using python for some data analysis. I also build the Central Kentucky Grand Prix site on python / Django. This level of comfort seemed to disappear in the coding challenges. We could choose javascript or python to solve the problem. I started in python but switched to javascript. I have been studying javascript so much the past 10 days that I kept messing up the python syntax. I switched over to javascript and just dealt with the fact that I don’t fully know all the methods available, YET!
2. Git (and Github) is an amazing tool. However, learning how to optimize the workflow when working with a team of people on a project is going to take some time. I’ve been using git for awhile on my Central Kentucky Grand Prix project. The big difference is that I’m the only person working on that project (well other than the person I hired to build an iOS app), so I do not need to worry too much about other programmers changing code. This will take time.
3. Working in teams is great! Almost all of my web development projects over the years have been done on my own. I’ve hired a contractor every once in awhile, but primarily done in isolation. Having a second pair of eyes on a task or problem clearly accelerates the time span it takes to get through a problem.
4. We had a lunch presentation on ‘learning to learn’. Over the next 12 weeks, I’ll have the opportunity to test many of those ideas!
Main subjects and skills learned today: HTML, CSS, git, GitHub, 3rd party tools to help build sites (google forms, youtube, paypal, google maps).