DEV Community: Arttu Pyykönen

Day 41 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:00:56 +0000

Hi!

Today was the beginning of a new chapter in my coding life as I started learning React. One of my goals was to be able to make web apps using React. This way I can make something interesting, visual, and shareable.

What I did today:

1. Started React challenges on fCC

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/front-end-libraries/react

What I learned from it:

What React is
How it merges HTML and JavaScript with JSX
What is ReactDOM
Rendering elements to the DOM
All JSX tags must be closed

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 50 min 21 s

Total time: 50 min 21 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

If you want to learn React I recommend starting with the freeCodeCamp challenges mentioned above. After finishing them this video might be a good continuation.

Outro
Thank you and see you tomorrow!

Day 40 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 19:52:24 +0000

Hello!

Today was a pretty normal day working on the Sass challenges on freeCodeCamp. I liked learning Sass as it makes writing css a little simpler in my opinion.

Tomorrow I will start the React challenges. If been looking forward to them and will hopefully have fun learning React.

What I did today:

1. Finished the Sass challenges on freeCodeCamp

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/front-end-libraries/sass

What I learned from it:

What is Sass
How to use mixins and variables
Using logic on style sheets
Making loops with Sass
What are partials and how to use them

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 42 min 29 s

Total time: 42 min 29 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Outro
Thank you and see you all tomorrow!

Day 39 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 12:59:39 +0000

Hello!

Today I finished the freeCodeCamp jQuery challenges and started reading CH9 of Eloquent JavaScript. Learning jQuery felt awesome and I like that I get a more complete understanding of the web.

Chapter 9 of Eloquent JavaScript is all about modules and packages. It focuses on putting some effort into making the code more readable and maintainable.

What I did today:

1. Finished the jQuery challenges

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/front-end-libraries/jquery

What I learned from it:

What is jQuery
How to write jQuery statements
How to use selectors
How to chain functions

2. Started reading chapter 10 of EJS

https://eloquentjavascript.net/10_modules.html

What I learned from it:

Learnt about modules
Got introduced to packages
How making modules worked in the past and how it works now

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 0 h 37 min 53 s
Task 'Reading EJS'. Elapsed time: 0 h 29 min 12 s

Total time: 1 h 7 min 5 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Outro
That's it! Thank you for reading and see you all tomorrow!

Day 38 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:36:40 +0000

Hey!

I took almost a two-week break to finish up some school work and have time to prepare for exams. Now it's finally time to get back to work on this challenge.

Today I finished the JavaScript algorithms and data structures projects on freeCodeCamp! I also started working and even finished the Bootstrap challenges. Learning frameworks is fun!

What I did today:

1. Finished the JS algorithms and data structures projects

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures-projects/

What I learned from it:

Working with different data structures
The almighty problem-solving skills

2. Finished the Bootstrap challenges

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/front-end-libraries/bootstrap/

What I learned from it:

What is Bootstrap
Learned about fluid containers
Using other Bootstrap classes
Making pretty buttons

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 1 h 6 min 38 s

Total time: 1 h 6 min 8 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Outro
See you all tomorrow!

Day 37 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 10:00:56 +0000

I've been taking a break from coding as I need to focus on my exams. I haven't finished them yet so I'm still not fully focusing on the 100DaysOfCode challenge. Still, I wanted to do some coding to not let all my skills rust away.

Today I read the rest of chapter 9 of EJS and did some freeCodeCamp challenges.

What I did today:

1. Read the rest of EJS CH9

https://eloquentjavascript.net/09_regexp.html

What I learned from it:

Using regular expressions more efficiently
How INI files are structured
How JavaScript regular expressions handle international characters

2. Challenges at FCC

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/intermediate-algorithm-scripting/

What I learned from it:

Using regex
Problem-solving

Time spent learning:

Task 'Reading_EJS'. Elapsed time: 30 min 45 s
Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 25 min 31 s

Total time: 56 min 16 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

If you want a way to test your regular expressions I recommend these two sites:

I preferer the Regexpal as it's easier for me to understand

If you are wondering what are the most popular programming languages you can check this video from Tech with Tim.

Summary of Eloquent JavaScript CH9

"Regular expressions are objects that represent patterns in strings. They use their own language to express these patterns.

A regular expression has a method test to test whether a given string matches it. It also has a method exec that, when a match is found, returns an array containing all matched groups. Such an array has an index property that indicates where the match started.

Strings have a match method to match them against a regular expression and a search method to search for one, returning only the starting position of the match. Their replace method can replace matches of a pattern with a replacement string or function.

Regular expressions can have options, which are written after the closing slash. The i option makes the match case insensitive. The g option makes the expression global, which, among other things, causes the replace method to replace all instances instead of just the first. The y option makes it sticky, which means that it will not search ahead and skip part of the string when looking for a match. The u option turns on Unicode mode, which fixes a number of problems around the handling of characters that take up two code units.

Regular expressions are a sharp tool with an awkward handle. They simplify some tasks tremendously but can quickly become unmanageable when applied to complex problems. Part of knowing how to use them is resisting the urge to try to shoehorn things that they cannot cleanly express into them."

End of summary. You can find the original text from here

Outro
Thank you and see you all next time!

Day 36 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 19:48:16 +0000

Hi!

Today I worked on two FCC algorithm projects. Got them ready and I'm happy about the progress. I'll probably be coding a little less this next week as I have to prepare for my exams.

What I did today:

1. JS algorithms and data structures projects

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures-projects/

What I learned from it:

What is ROT13 and how to use it
Using regular expressions to solve a problem

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 1 h 16 min 52 s

Total time: 1 h 16 min 52 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Outro
See you all tomorrow!

Day 35 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 13:48:42 +0000

Continued on where I left off yesterday. Read more CH9 of Eloquent JavaScript and did the intermediate algorithm challenges on freeCodeCamp.

What I did today:

1. Continued CH9 of EJS

https://eloquentjavascript.net/09_regexp.html

What I learned from it:

Backtracking
The replace method
Working with different levels of greed
The search method

2. Continued the intermediate algorithm scripting challenges

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/intermediate-algorithm-scripting/

What I learned from it:

More problem-solving and working with arrays

Time spent learning:

Task 'Reading_EJS'. Elapsed time: 49 min 33 s
Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 39 min 12 s

Total time: 1 h 28 min 45 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

I found this really interesting video which explains the "Map of Computer Science". This means explaining a little bit of everything related to the field. The visuals are also excellent and I recommend you check it out.

Outro
Thank you for reading and see you all tomorrow!

Day 34 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 08:57:07 +0000

Today was a pretty short day. Had a lot of other things to attend to so only had little under an hour's worth of coding time.

Started the intermediate algorithm scripting challenges at freeCodeCamp. These were fun and required some real problem-solving.

I also started reading CH 9 of Eloquent JavaScript. It's about regular expressions. Not my favorites, but I'll try to enjoy the chapter!

What I did today:

1. Started the intermediate algorithm scripting challenges

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/intermediate-algorithm-scripting/

What I learned from it:

Problem-solving skills
Manipulating arrays
Using the filter method and array functions
Using the arguments object

2. Started CH9 of EJS

https://eloquentjavascript.net/09_regexp.html

What I learned from it:

Brushed up on different methods related to regexp
Using sets of characters
Using JavaScript Date objects

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 34 min 54 s
Task 'Reading_EJS'. Elapsed time: 23 min 51 s

Total time: 58 min 45 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Outro
Thank you for reading and see you all tomorrow!

Day 33 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 18:57:04 +0000

Today I completed the challenges for functional programming at freeCodeCamp and also finished Chapter 8 of Eloquent JavaScript.

Doing them I got more familiar with making pure functions and having fewer side-effects on my code. Also worked on my exception handling skills.

I'm happy that I worked on these as I have a bad habit of not finishing my projects.

What I did today:

1.Finished the functional programming challenges at FCC

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/functional-programming/

What I learned from it:

Using the slice method instead of splice
Getting more comfortable with this
Concatenating strings and arrays
Using reduce method on arrays
Using the sort method
Using forEach, every and some
Introduction to arity and currying

2. Finished reading and completed the exercises of EJS CH8

https://eloquentjavascript.net/08_error.html

What I learned from it:

Exception handling
try and catch
Using finally statement
Selective error catching

Time spent learning:

Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 1 h 1 min 40 s
Task 'Reading_EJS'. Elapsed time: 0 h 25 min 45 s
Task 'EJS_exercises'. Elapsed time: 0 h 22 min 11 s

Total time: 1 h 49 min 36 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

Watch these 10 JavaScript tips by Dev Ed!

Summary of Eloquent JavaScript Chapter 8

"Mistakes and bad input are facts of life. An important part of programming is finding, diagnosing, and fixing bugs. Problems can become easier to notice if you have an automated test suite or add assertions to your programs.

Problems caused by factors outside the program’s control should usually be handled gracefully. Sometimes, when the problem can be handled locally, special return values are a good way to track them. Otherwise, exceptions may be preferable.

Throwing an exception causes the call stack to be unwound until the next enclosing try/catch block or until the bottom of the stack. The exception value will be given to the catch block that catches it, which should verify that it is actually the expected kind of exception and then do something with it. To help address the unpredictable control flow caused by exceptions, finally blocks can be used to ensure that a piece of code always runs when a block finishes."

End of summary. You can find the original from here

Outro

Thank you for reading and see you all tomorrow!

Day 32 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 19:19:51 +0000

Today I started the Helsinki UNI full stack course and continued functional programming challenges at freeCodeCamp.

Also finally decided to finish the responsive web design landing page project. You can see it down below.

What I did today:

1. Started the Helsinki UNI full stack course

https://fullstackopen.com/en

What I learned from it:

Using Chrome dev-tools
What different http codes mean

1. Continued FCC functional programming challenges

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/functional-programming/

What I learned from it:

Why use functional programming
Meaning of side-effects and mutations
What are pure functions
Using map and filter

Time spent learning:

Task 'Fullstackopen'. Elapsed time: 0 h 40 min 3 s
Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 1 h 1 min 3 s

Total time: 1 h 41 min 6 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

Found this video which explains nice css tips! Going to try these out later.

See you all tomorrow!

Day 31 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 19:59:26 +0000

Today was an interesting day. I got a youtube commercial advertising TwilioQuest. It's a Learn to code RPG game. I had fun playing it and getting used to the controls. It was also good practice with APIs and the command line.

If you also want to use the Twilio API you can sign up with this referral code to get 10$ worth of credits. If you are just interested in the TwilioQuest check out its website from here.

You don't have to sign up to play the game, but signing-up gives you access to more challenges. It's also free.

Downloaded Ngrok and had to do some more command line magic. I don't know why it never works for me like in the instructions or tutorials.

What I did today:

1. Played some TwilioQuest

https://www.twilio.com/quest

What I learned from it:

What Twilio is
Using the command line
Creating files and folders on the terminal
Just working things out when they don't go your way
Sharing localhost sites online

Time spent learning:

Task 'TwilioQuest'. Elapsed time: 2 h 4 min 5 s

Total time: 2 h 4 min 5 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

Today's video is by Tom Scott. He makes awesome videos and I highly recommend checking them out.

See you all tomorrow!

Day 30 of 100DaysOfCode

Arttu Pyykönen — Sun, 27 Sep 2020 18:29:34 +0000

Today I started reading chapter 8 of Eloquent JavaScript and also started the functional programming challenges at freeCodeCamp.

Functional programming sounds cool and gives another perspective to programming.

Below you can read what are the main characteristics of functional programming written by freeCodeCamp:

"Functional programming is about:

1) Isolated functions - there is no dependence on the state of the program, which includes global variables that are subject to change

2) Pure functions - the same input always gives the same output

3) Functions with limited side effects - any changes, or mutations, to the state of the program outside the function are carefully controlled " Link to original source.

What I did today:

1. Started reading Bugs and Errors - Chapter 8 of EJS

https://eloquentjavascript.net/08_error.html

What I learned from it:

Debugging concepts
Strict mode
Testing
Exceptions

2. Functional Programming Challenges at freeCodeCamp

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/functional-programming

What I learned from it:

Callbacks
Higher-order functions
First-class functions
Difference with Imperative and Declarative code
Mutations and side effects

Time spent learning:

Task 'Reading_EJS'. Elapsed time: 0 h 50 min 28 s
Task 'FCC'. Elapsed time: 0 h 46 min 8 s

Total time: 1 h 36 min 36 s

Time spent is tracked by my TaskTimer script and the WakaTime app.

Links and videos

I wanted to learn more about functional programming and found this awesome video.

For those who read yesterday's post and are looking for another laugh, you can check out this upgraded version of the Jombo video!

Thank you for reading! See you tomorrow!