September Study Log

9.01  2.15h. day 60! (I think) I worked on final project#3 for the fcc responsive web design cert for 2.15h. I’m slowly getting better at building nested div structures using css grid. The lack of feedback on what’s wrong is frustrating though.

9.02 2.5 hours. One of working on the Free Code Camps responsive web design final projects, and one and a half of working through wes bos’s css grid tutorials. He talks a bit about tools that make it easier to see what you are doing, and his explanations help as well. I’m not stoked to have spent this much time on css grids because it is kind of boring but they also feel very fundamental so I’m going to learn them before moving on.

9.03 2h on the FreeCodeCamp web design final projects. I got firefox dev edition up and running. That has helped a little with understanding why my grids aren’t lining up. I also played around with coffeecup’s css grid editor, and I didn’t really get it. I’m not sure if it is because they are pushing you to a paid version, but I need to watch a demo to figure out how that works properly.

9.04 2h of free code camp html+css final projects. I’m almost done 4/5!

9.05 1.5h of free code camp html+css final projects. I finished! I’m not sure what to do next. More js in fcc, or do something new? I also cancelled my Gordon Zhu membership today. It just doesn’t feel right right now and There isn’t a lot more than a month of content even if I was still interested in doing it.

9.06 2h 10m I started on the FreeCodeCamp Javascript certificate. It’s been all basics so far, but it’s a good refresher. I’ve been taking notes in evernote while doing the tutorials and I find it’s been nice to have everything synched across my machines.

9.07 2h of Free Code Camp, I finished the ‘Basic JavaScript’ section and now I’m on to the ES6 one. Let vs Const vs Var and arrow functions!

9.08 70m of ES6 from FreeCodeCamp. the spread and rest operators were interesting bits from tonight.

9.09 2.5h Mostly ES6 from FreeCodeCamp, with 30m of udacity Git and Github thrown in. The difficult thing about freecodecamp is that the text format doesn’t work as well for me when I’m tired. Videos keep me up better and my brain stays active. some nights fcc’s questions are much more hard for me simply because my brain is already sleeping. I finished the es6 section tonight. Regex is up next. I’m happy to do that. The es6 seemed like it was a lot of features that I may or may not need to use right now and a few code length reductions that are slightly nice, but not of a huge need for me. I’m sure that I will be breathlessly awaiting the new releases once I get more comfortable with the language some day!

9.10 2.666 hours of regex and debugging on freecodecamp. Regex is useful and it makes a little more sense every time I try to figure it out. I can see how people lean on it so heavily once they know it inside and out. I’m excited to actually get back to coding (hopefully) in a bit. The next sections are basic data structures (zzzzzzz) and basic algorithm scripting. I’m more excited about the algos, but they have proven to get me lost quickly in the past.

9.11 1h on js algos and data structures. It wasn’t an easy night to study, so I stopped at the bare minimum

9.12 3.25 on the same   js basic algorithm scripting as last night. I’m only one or two problems away from finishing the section. This has been a rewarding section because it is starting to show me that I have actually been learning this. It’s nice to be able to apply skills, and refine them as I go. Otherwise I feel like I’m taking endless notes and not picking up a ton. Writing code to solve problems is a much better benchmark than ‘hours of video watched.’

9.13 2.75h I finished up basic algos, object oriented programming (a bit easier this time) and I’m now on functional programming. I have heard people complaining about this and I wondered what all the fuss was about. Maybe it’s just because it is getting late, but nothing seems intuitive about functional programming. I’m not even sure what the reason to use it is. I’m sure it’ll make more sense in the morning. I’m interested in learning node.js at some point, so I’ll add it to my study list.

9.14 2.75h I finished up the Functional programming section at freecodecamp and did a little bit of poking around on the mbta api website. I’m probably going to do some kind of api-enabled webapp, because I can’t have a portfolio that is only todo lists, right?! Up next is the intermediate algorithm scripting and I’m looking forward to it. After that is the final projects!!

9.15 2.25h  (Today is 75 Days of straight hustling!) I’m working on the free Code Camp intermediate js algorithms. They’re way more fun than taking notes! I only finished 6 in 2.25h, but I’m learning and having fun. what else could I ask for?! Tonights probs used a ton of regex and forEach() iterations. I’m also feeling a lot more comfortable coming up with ideas on how to solve things. Some of the problems tonight involved blending different fixes that are required for different inputs. That was an interesting thought process to go through.

9.16 2.66h I did a lot of research into things I need to learn for interview prep. I’m not even close right now, but I’m looking into the future so that I can do a slow and low approach instead of having to cram lots of stuff in. I’m also still working my way through intermediate algorithms at free code camp. I added up my study totals from july and august today. both are around 80 hours per month. September is looking a bit lighter, but I’m hoping that my two flights will allow me to get in a lot of studying.

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