Let’s cut to the chase. I had a coffee chat with a pretty Senior software engineer a few weeks back. And a piece of advice he gave me stuck to me like gum on a shoe in the middle of the summer.
He said that in order for me to stand out, I should make a “simple” app, like a to-do list. Pick a stack and make it. Then, pick up a new framework and make the same app using said framework.
Really?
Seriously, though. At first, cardiac arrest because, let’s be honest, even the to-do list is besting me. HELL I have “make a to-do list” on my to-do list.
It’s like inception and I lost my token so I can’t even tell what’s what anymore (watch the movie, you’ll get it.)
It’s the brutal honesty. Going through 100Devs as one of the many people in the #CatchUpCrew has been so frustrating (I’ll write about that experience in another post) and I feel like the minute I sit down to make an app, I go blank. It’s like all my body wants to do is write perfect code instead of just being a baddie and writing ANYTHING AT ALL!
So what does all this have to do with my not-so-subtle post title? You didn’t ask. I’m going to tell you anyways.
For the past year and change, I’ve worked with Javascript, MongoDB, NodeJS, and Express. So, in THEORY, I know how it all connects. Hell, I can connect it all day. But tell me how to connect Angular? BAH HA.
So like anything in my life, there’s no choice but to just DO IT. JUST DO IT.
But now, Angular /cue angels singing
Components!
Like all noobs, I went the Udemy course route. But with a slightly different twist. I actually studied outside of the course (CRAZY, I know!).
I started with Maximilian Schwarzmuller’s course on Angular. Right off the bat, I love his teaching style. Pretty much straight forward. He went over installing Angular and how we can see our “app” on localhost.
After, we got into components. I like to think of components are little sections of code that live on their own and have their own lives. They have kids, spouses, jobs, and if something happens within their little suburb, it doesn’t affect the others! Probably a crappy metaphor but it is what it is.
Just like with learning any new code, I was a bit confused in the beginning. I tried listening and following but I couldn’t quite grasp the concept. Later on that day, I was on my phone and decided to check out the angular docs. I went straight to the components section, and after some brief reading, I frickin’ got it.
Something so simple as just active recall made it so I was able to understand the topic on a much deeper level. Not ONLY that – I even went ahead and tried to code out the answers to the questions Max would pose BEFORE he explained it on the video. All because I didn’t ONLY sit and listen.
Well, that’s about all for tonight. My Shark robot, who is lovingly named “Clean” Latifah is trying to clean the Christmas tree skirt by vacuuming it up into a costly mess. That’s my cue.
– Rue