DEV Community: Angela Silva

Building a Web Application: My Journey on Day 3 of #100DaysOfCode Challenge

Angela Silva — Mon, 08 May 2023 01:12:42 +0000

On the third day of the #100DaysOfCode challenge, I decided to start working on a project that I will add to my portfolio. I have spent the past two days working on my website, and now I feel like applying the concepts I’ve learned to a project that I can showcase under the “projects” section in my portfolio.

My project will be a web development application, which will have a frontend built using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, a backend using Java with SpringBoot, and a MySQL database.

Today, I focused on designing the user interface using HTML and CSS, and also added some JavaScript functionality. However, I haven’t yet linked it with the backend, so the only feature that is currently working is clearing the screen when the user clicks on the subscribe button.

Here’s a preview of what I’ve accomplished so far:

Here’s the link to the video — it’s only 27 seconds long so you won’t waste your time!

It was a relatively simple task. Do you like it? 🙂

That’s it for now. See you later! Bye-bye.

Day 2, #100DaysOfCode (2/100)

Angela Silva — Sat, 06 May 2023 18:15:42 +0000

My second day of #100DaysOfCode: flexbox losing control and tools that I use to organize my life

I am still working on the basic part of my portfolio, like yersterday. At this stage, my main goal is to finish the basic structure, which does not need to be perfect since I can always improve it over time. However, I want to create something that I can be happy with. Today, I am primarily working with HTML and CSS. I have finished the main skeleton of my portfolio, which currently has only four main sections: about me, projects, curriculum, and contact.

I am considering adding another section, possibly to feature my blog. It would be amazing if I could consume my Medium posts on my blog, but I do not know if there is a public API available from Medium for users to do so. Does anyone have any knowledge about this? Your help would be greatly appreciated!

I’m working on very basic things at the moment, and my biggest problem has been my flex-container going beyond the limits I set on the page because, at some point, I accidentally typed a semicolon that messed up my entire layout. So, in today’s post, I’m going to talk a little bit about the tools I’m using to organize everything about my #100DaysOfCode.

Notion

Notion is probably my favorite tool ever. I love how I can use it for almost everything in my life, including work, studies, organization, habit tracking, and now my portfolio. I use it to keep track of references that could be useful for me, my to-do plans, and any ideas that come to mind. I don’t trust my memory, so I put everything in Notion.

Clockify

I cannot function without Clockify. It’s the most amazing time tracking tool I have ever used, and I use it for everything in my life, just like Notion. I even use it to keep track of my reading time. FOR REAL! For my #100DaysOfCode challenge, I created a project with the same name and added everything I am working on. Today and yesterday were all about the structure of my portfolio, so I will know exactly how much time I spent on that.

Notebook (paper)

Good old paper is impossible to live without. I mainly use it to organize my daily tasks, put down ideas, and check off completed tasks at the end of the day. It’s one of the most satisfying things to do. I also use Google Calendar, but mainly for organizing my week, everyday tasks, appointments, and other fixed or casual things.

That’s all for today! Bye-bye.

Day 1, #100DaysOfCode (1/100)

Angela Silva — Fri, 05 May 2023 13:02:25 +0000

(May, 01)

Today, I started the #100DaysOfCode challenge, where I will be sharing my progress in this post.

My main goal is to create my portfolio, a project that has been on my to-do list like fo-re-ver! (Actually, for the past five months. I am an intense and dramatic person, and I apologize for that).

To begin the project, I decided to create the skeleton of my portfolio using HTML5, CSS3 and, of course, a little bit of design, which is challenging for me, even though I enjoy front-end development. Thank God I’m a non-practicing perfectionist because despite judging my work a lot, I still do it, no matter if I’m not completely happy with it.

I believe that my website will look very different by the end of the 100th day, but the important thing is to start and improve as time goes on.

Talking a little bit about the tecnologies that I used

HTML5

I believe that HTML5 has no secrets, as it’s all about applying the tags in the best way possible. I am trying to be smart on this subject, considering the importance of tags and their meanings for SEO.

Here are some of the best practices I am following (probably, as time goes on, I’m going to add some other best practices):

I am not using more than one H1 tag, as it is essential that a page has only one H1 tag, which search engines consider as the page’s title.
I am not using too many H2 and H3 tags, but I will follow the basic structure of using H2 for sections and H3 for subsections.
I am always using alt text for my images, as it is crucial for web accessibility.
I am trying to use tags with meaning, such as: header, for the top part of my document; nav, for the menu, which is on the header; main, for the main section (for now, I am not using other tags as I have only created the skeleton of my site. As the project progresses, I may use other tags); footer: for the bottom part of my document.

CSS3

I do not have much to say about CSS, but for now, I am using only flexbox for the structure of my website. I enjoy working with flexbox, and I am comfortable using it. I may also use grid layout in my portfolio projects, but for my website, I plan to stick with flexbox, unless I feel it necessary to change.

That’s all for today!

PS: I have not decided whether to publish my progress daily or weekly, so I may see you tomorrow or next week. Bye-bye.

My #100DaysOfCode Challenge: Focusing on Building My Portfolio

Angela Silva — Fri, 05 May 2023 12:13:04 +0000

I decided to start the #100DaysOfCode challenge because I want to focus deeply on building my portfolio. Everyone knows that a developer without a portfolio is like a house that has its electrical energy generated by mice running to obtain mechanical energy and convert it into electrical energy: it works, but it’s not the best way to do it.

To be honest, I don’t have any problem with studying every day. It’s something I’m already used to, and I think I’ll talk about it in another post. However, in the last few days, I’ve been thinking about my portfolio, which has been on my to-do list for a long time. After reading some articles that Medium recommended to me last week, I decided to really focus on it.

You may have heard about the #100DaysOfCode challenge. It’s very simple, and I’m going to adapt it to my reality.

The first rule of the #100DaysOfCode challenge is that you’re going to code for 100 days in a row. The second rule of the #100DaysOfCode challenge is that you’re going to code for 100 days in a row. Do you get the reference?

I thought about some rules that I’m going to try to accomplish during the challenge period, and some of them are actually things that the official challenge recommends.

Code for 100 days, for at least one hour per day, in a row. That’s the only rule that the challenge imposes, and I’m going to do my best to accomplish it. However, I’ll keep in mind that things can happen, and if I fail to study for one day, or if I can’t study for a full hour at a particular time, it’s okay. The important thing is not to give up and keep going.
I’m mainly going to focus on practical things. Of course, I’ll study theoretical things as well, but my main goal is to put my hand in the dough. Does that expression exist in English? Here in Brazil, it’s a popular one, and everybody’s mom uses it.
I’m going to share my progress, because I really believe that sharing makes it more difficult to give up on something. It’s a social commitment. I’m going to try to make at least one post per week to share my project’s progress.

That’s it!

Have you ever done something like this? If you have any tips or experiences to share, I would love to read about them!

Oh, and please subscribe to my Medium if you can.

That’s it for today. Bye-bye!

A New Beginning: My First Steps into the World of Software Engineering

Angela Silva — Thu, 04 May 2023 16:46:39 +0000

Reflections on my journey from physics to software engineering

Hi everyone,

My name is Angie, and I’m 28 years old. I graduated in Physics in 2019, and this is my first post to introduce myself. (I couldn’t help but start singing to myself, “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…”)

From as far back as I can remember, I always loved to study. As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a cardiologist, inspired by someone who greatly influenced me. I worked from the age of 15 to pay for my education, but unfortunately, I had to abandon my dream of becoming a doctor and started to explore other professional paths.

After high school, I began studying Chemical Engineering, which I soon realized wasn’t what I had imagined it to be. I stayed in the course for just over a year and then decided to pursue one of my biggest obsessions in life: studying the Universe. That’s why I chose to start my degree in Physics.

As a young, innocent, and positive person, I dreamt of studying the Universe and making significant discoveries in that field. I applied for a research fellowship at my university and worked there for almost four years, but it wasn’t in the Universe field. I studied Non-Linear Dynamical Systems and published four articles in scientific journals, which was a great accomplishment.

However, I didn’t like how theoretical the field was, and it made me realize that I didn’t enjoy studying things that were little or almost nothing practical.

After I graduated, I found myself in a very confused state of mind. I tried a few things until, with the help of my psychologist, I decided to try the tech field. It was terrifying because I always doubted myself, but I’ve always been hardworking, so I decided to give it a try. I’ll talk about why I chose IT in another post.

I started studying on April 05, 2022, and on December 12, 2022, I began working as a software engineer trainee in a Brazilian company.

I know I have a lot to learn, a lot to improve, and an enormous highway to walk through. But that makes me so happy and excited about the future. I truly believe that I’ve found my professional path, and I’m eager to do my best.

Living through this process is incredibly rewarding, and I hope to become better every day.

See you soon.