DEV Community: Ermal Shuli

Which is the best book to learn Angular?

Ermal Shuli — Sat, 11 May 2019 12:25:13 +0000

From the reviews Pro Angular 6 by Adam Freeman seems to have been a very good book, is it worth to go through that book even though it has been published on 10 Oct. 2018 and now Angular is at version 7.2?

Did JavaScript objects have static methods before ES6 class static methods?

Ermal Shuli — Thu, 09 May 2019 20:28:51 +0000

I saw a tutorial which used few javascript classes

class Products(){}
class UI(){}
class Storage(){}

I thought in the wild I'm not going to always be working with ES6 classes, so I should be able to recreate these with ES5 objects

function Car(price) {
    this.price = price,
    this.someMethod = function(){ }
}

But the Storage class had only static methods which threw me of a bit

class Storage {
  static saveProducts(products) { }
  static getProduct(id) { }
  static saveCart(cart) {  }
  static getCart() { }
}

I understand the difference, we can't directly access Car.someMethod() but we can access Storage.getCar().

My question is, is this a good practice? And most importantly is this the way to implement this functionality without using classes

function Storage(){
  this.someMethod(){ }
}
Storage.prototype.someOtherMethod = function(){ }
Storage.theStaticMethod = function(){ }

Though I'm relatively new at JavaScript I have never seen static methods before ES6. I've always seen methods created through the prototype. Though it does pass by tests (the Storage.theStaticMethod works exactly as static theStaticMethod as far as I can tell) is my understanding correct? Why does it look wrong?

Is it possible to share npm packages between multiple projects

Ermal Shuli — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:42:00 +0000

I'm playing with react, trying to create many mini apps exploring different react feature. Creating a new react project and installing the same packages over and over again seems to be too much.

Is there a way to reuse the same node modules for a different project? This is what I think I want

/node_modules
/project1
  - package.json - where I run npm start from
/project2
  - package.json - where I run npm start from
/project3
  - package.json - where I run npm start from

From my google research, I've tried having this on every package.json but it doesn't work

  "scripts": {
    "dev": "NODE_PATH=$HOME/to/my/parent/folder/node_modules/",
    "start": "react-scripts start",
    "build": "react-scripts build",
    "test": "react-scripts test",
    "eject": "react-scripts eject"
  },

Is there a way to do it?

How would you go about applying for programming jobs is you have significant speech problems?

Ermal Shuli — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 11:43:32 +0000

Which visual studio code extension is the best for creating todo/bookmarks?

Ermal Shuli — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:20:07 +0000

Here's a scenario.

I've been working on a redux app and (a) I am new at it and (b) haven't touched it in a week. So I'm going through it and adding these comments

// 1.0 started here
// 1.1 dispatch FETCH_CONTENT
// 1.3 fetched payload
...

I tried few extensions that promise to gather these comments and none of the work right. Most of them only display the comments on the open page.

Currently I'm using an extension called Bookmarks but I feel like surely you guys use something similar but better. Can you suggest anything?

Edited for more clarification

Those are my bookmarks. I numbered them but the get grouped by the page they are in. It does what I need it to do, but I was wondering whether there was a better way (apart from I should write better code not to need this- he)

Which browsers should I try to support when creating a portfolio?

Ermal Shuli — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 19:29:52 +0000

I'm on a mac and have the usual: chrome, firefox, and safari.

Do you have a set of browsers you aim to support when, at least, working on your own stuff. Is IE still supported?

And is there a virtual box instance what I could run on mac to test windows browsers?

How should I let employers know that my speech is not very good

Ermal Shuli — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 16:35:28 +0000

I have a speech problem. It has no effect on my being a dev and from experience face to face communication isn't bad, but phone conversations are horrible.

From what I read about the interviewing process they always give you a phone call, plus phone interviews. If that's the case I would never get hired.

What can I do to?

Is it normal/ok to demand only face-to-face interviews on the cover letter?
Would not including my phone number be enough?

Should I apply for jobs with lot's of small projects which I already have, or take the time to build a full app?

Ermal Shuli — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 21:16:47 +0000

I think I am good enough for an entry level job. I am really strong on HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I have created ecommerce templates (the front part) using mongo, react, and even wordpress (many years back - wordpress wouldn't be in the portfolio).

But these templates do not deal with payments, the react templates do not even have the backend - so there's no way to add more items to the database. The main reason that I didn't do that is because I thought employers wouldn't see that anyway (they wouldn't have the authentication info) hence I focused on what they could see

I searched dev.to and focusing on one project and fleshing it out is highly recommended, and I'll do that, but after 6 years of focusing on another part of my life I really want to get an entry job. Last time I checked I have the following

ecommerce layout: where I focused on design, it's responsive,I tried hard to not keep it conventional.
Artist portfolio: I made up a person, as if they are a painter and needed a website.
book ecommerce: has sections like: discounts, author of the week, newsletter section, blog post section
Book author site (think wikipedia for few authors): Timeline, quotes, books, bio - all in one page
A site for Picasso: totally different design

In short, if the job description was strong design, css and html skills, and knows how to work with react (consume APIs), I know for a fact, if all else is equal, I'm the guy for the job I have an eye for design, attention to detail, strive to not be boring

(I sound like a big headed so and so, I'm sorry.)

I feel akward, shy, something in my mind tells me I blew it by not working for six years. Another part of me says that I desperately need to get into this field this year (I'll soon be 30).

Assuming those static sites are what I think they are (unique, responsive and shows I'm good with JS and react), do you think I have a strong chance to get hired for an entry job or should I really focus on building a full app?

I feel like with my track record, all I have is an overall passion to be laser focused on improving parts of my life that need improving (got the disability thing done, now career - but unlike improving my disability, I feel like career depends on others to let me in), and a portfolio. I'm asking whether the above portfolio would be good enough, or should I focus on building a full app before thinking of applying.

I can build full apps, I have created mini demos on authentication and everything that would go into making a full app, I just loved working on the above, and now I feel like creating an app that I'd be proud of might take months!?!

The apps I want to work on are: github manager, and a text editor (electron or web based). None of which are unique ideas but ...

Thanks

When applying for a job, how would I make it clear that I can't do phone interviews due to speech problems?

Ermal Shuli — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 22:37:20 +0000

I have a speech difficulty, it's not a problem face to face, but it's very difficult to be understood over the phone.

Are there steps I can take to let employers know that speaking over the phone would be problematic without letting them believe that I'm unable to communicate face to face

And would this handicap be a deal breaker?

Thanks

Would fake projects/websites really get you a mid-level job as a web designer?

Ermal Shuli — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 20:10:13 +0000

I just saw a youtube video where someone explained that employers want to see that you can work on big projects. They want to know how much training you would need.

Then he went on to say that as a beginner you should reach out to local businesses and ask whether you can create a website for them. However, you can even create your own business and he gave portfolio example like this one, the work is all made up. The websites are bike shop, redskins landing page, fast food shop, engineering company. They are great looking websites but they aren't real clients.

Does it really mean that someone with such a portfolio can get hired for mid-level position (let's assume that the websites were a lot more complex, with backend and so forth), purely the fact that they are fake and that the candidate hasn't had a really client - even though they made sites the imaginary client would be proud of - can they be mid-level candidates?

What are some project ideas that beginners can work on to show in their portfolio?

Ermal Shuli — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 15:11:54 +0000

Unfortunately I can't come up with project ideas! Whilst learning, I'm always creating something, but it's usually a todo app, ecommerce concept, a portfolio or blog.

Can you share some ideas? As @ben said here

You should start working on random projects regardless of how they fit your portfolio, more for learning.

I would love to have few fresh ideas, even if some might never end up in the portfolio, or regardless whether I'll be able to finish them.

I am considering contributing to open source but the task feels overwhelming. (The best advice I heard on the topic is, to contribute on projects you already use, but what if that's not an option?)

Is it possible to get a web development job if I have a 6 year gap?

Ermal Shuli — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 04:48:21 +0000

Six years a go I completed my computer science degree. I started with no prior programming knowledge and ended with a love for programming.

However instead of getting a job, I decided to work on myself!

I have cerebral palsy. Whilst six years a go it wasn't stopping me from going to University and getting a good degree, it was getting in the way. It effected my walking, talking, eating and drinking. I didn't go to my graduation ceremony because I imagined there'd be a stage where they might hand the diplomas and the image of after 3 years having to be helped to get up onto the stage was demoralising to say the least.

So after the ceremony date came and gone I decided that I did not want to feel like that anymore and that I was going to take care of the problem. I decided to work on my physical no matter how long it took.

Six years later. I went from just being able to walk from one campus to the other to being able to run 10 kilometres with no problem. Eating, drinking and even cooking are now easy.

Over these years I have worked on PHP, wordpress, a bit of laravel, then found Node.js, non-sql DBs, javascript, react. Now I'm all about the node/js eco system.

I'm still a beginner, because my physical was the main focus, and as it had it's ups and downs, my motivation for programming also had it's ups and downs

I'm "scared"

I'm almost 30 years old with no work experience of any kind. I feel as though if I start applying for work, they'll just say "6 years of doing nothing? Next!" (Also my speech is not very good, so the checkbox for "excellent communication skills" scares me to death).

Is there a possibility that I could get a job?

Portfolio or blogging

Whilst I haven't yet applied or spoken to anyone in person, I have read a lot about this topic. I know that a portfolio is important. Some say you need complete projects some say simple demos would do.

Very few say blogging (without a portfolio) would help.

I do not have any complete projects, though I have quite a few demos. At some point I was "addicted" to ecommerce design so I have few ecommerce layouts build on react, vuejs, express ...

But I have no proper apps

Blogging on the other hand is something that sounds easier! For example would a tutorial blog (secretly aimed at showing off to employers) be a better way to go? I've been running a jekyll blog on my local server and been writing as if it was live. And so every time I read what a javascript developer should know, I research it, play with it, then write a tutorial for it. It's quicker and more to the point than projects. Would going to interviews with a blog and the demos produced to support the blog be better or just as good as anything else?

Sorry if I'm not keeping to the rules of dev.to with this question, but I hope you could give me some tips.

Paying it forward:
When I decided to do what I did, I was clear in what I wanted. I wanted some time to get my health were it needed to be, then I'd start contributing to the society in which ever way I can to re-pay for the state-support I got over the years. (this is neither here nor there and has nothing to do with the topic, I would have felt bad not to mention that this "plan" whilst the length of which was unknown, wasn't taken from the standpoint of "I already get state benefits, I don't need to bother")