DEV Community: Amanda Giannelli

Keeping Your Fork Up-to-date

Amanda Giannelli — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 20:13:26 +0000

When you fork a repository, you are creating your own copy to manage. Development will continue on the main repository so your fork may fall behind.

Today's quick lesson:

Keeping your forked repository up to date with the main repository

Steps

Clone your fork
$ git clone git@github.com:[user]/[repo].git
Add the upstream
$ git remote add upstream git://github.com/[user]/[repo].git
Get the latest upstream
$ git fetch upstream
Bring your fork up to date using merge OR rebase
(pick one, you can read more about the differences here)
$ git merge upstream/[remote-branch] [local-branch]
-OR-
$ git rebase upstream/[remote-branch] [local-branch]

Done! 🎉 Your local fork is now up to date. For future updates, you will only need steps 3 and 4 as you have already established the upstream.

I hoped this helped you. If there are other quick tips you'd like, or more in depth topics you'd like me to cover, leave a comment or reach out to me, @giannelli.tech

Thanks for reading! 👩‍💻

Photo by Yancy Min on Unsplash

What's in a Pomodoro? 🍅

Amanda Giannelli — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 15:21:53 +0000

Pomodoros are an excellent time-management and productivity tool to keep in your arsenal.

Background

Two years ago I took a free class on Coursera called Learning How To Learn by Barbara Oakley.

Barbara talks you through the different types of memory and the learning modes of the brain. She then shows how to use these modes to your advantage so that you can learn better, overcome procrastination, and boost memory recall.

I won't go into all the details of the course - I highly recommend checking it out for yourself - but my favorite technique from the course was Pomodoros.

What is a Pomodoro?

A Pomodoro is a time management technique. You work on a task in short, timed intervals, usually 25 minutes, then treat yourself to a break. The name was inspired by a tomato-shaped kitchen timer used by the originator of the technique.

During a Pomodoro you focus only on the task at hand - no distractions! No messages, email, phone, etc. If something does come up you make the choice to save it for later or handle it now. If you handle it now, the Pomodoro is cancelled.

How to Pomodoro

Achieve your Pomodoro with these 6 easy steps!

🤔 Decide what task you want to work on
⛔ Turn off all distractions (as best you can)
⏳ Set your timer for 25 minutes
🚧 Work! work! work! 'til the timer goes off
🌴 Take a 3-5 minute break
🔁 Repeat (as needed)

The original technique recommends four Pomodoro's per session, or set. Make a checkmark on a piece of paper every time you finish a Pomodoro. When you have four check marks take a longer break, 15-30 mins, then start over from step 1.

In my experience one of two things happens during the 25 minutes:

You make progress and feel motivated. Maybe you finish even the task 🎉
You make very little (or no) progress. Maybe you realize this task is beyond your abilities and you'll need outside help. Or the task is going to take way longer than anticipated 😭

If you're in the 2nd group, that's ok. Take a break and decide if you want to keep going right now. If you do, awesome! Set that timer and keep going. If not, then put the task to the side, if possible. Do something else for a bit and pick the original task back up later.

Why breaks are important

Ever been told by an instructor to read over the whole test before you start?

Ever been stuck on a problem only to wake up in the middle of the night with an idea to move you forward?

Taking a break from the current task allows our brains assimilate, or absorb and process, what we're working on. This is true even if you move on to something else in the meantime. Your brain needs time to process what you have learned / worked on in order to connect the dots for the next step.

Admittedly, I do not always heed my timer. Sometimes I am so in the zone when it goes off that I keep going. I try to be mindful of this and take a break as soon as I'm at a good stopping point.

Timers ⏳

TL;DR: Use whatever works for you.

When I first implemented Pomodoros I used the basic timer in the clock app on my phone, and there are plenty of apps in any app store. Recently, however, I made the switch to a manual Pomodoro timer.

Why manual? I feel my phone timer is too easily dismissed and, to be honest, the phone can be a distraction on it's own. I thought a manual timer would help set clear boundaries for the task:

The act of physically turning the timer is a definitive start.
The classic kitchen timer ring, that can't be immediately silenced, is a clear signal to take a break.

A few weeks ago, in a stars-align moment, Nitya (@nitya) posted a picture of her new mobile desk, and highlighted her Pomodoro timer. Nitya's sentiments matched my own, so I finally took the leap and bought the same one. 😉

The Experiment & Results

Over the past few weeks I have tested out my little penguin friend with great success.

My hypothesis was correct. I am definitely more productive during a Pomodoro. Setting the timer helped me better connect with the task, and the crazy ringing sound definitely snaps me out of it.

What I did not expect was that I would enjoy the ticking sound. It may not be for everyone, but the ticking sound helped maintain my focus. I think it's because the ticking acts as a constant reminder that you're supposed to be working. ⌛

Conclusion

Procrastination, got you down? Try Pomodoros! You'll be surprised at how effective they can be. 🍅

If interested, here is a link to the timer I purchased: Penguin Timer 🐧

Photo by Avin CP on Unsplash

Change the Terminal Name in VSCode

Amanda Giannelli — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 15:51:05 +0000

In working with RedwoodJS I often have a few running terminals that I switch between. By default the terminal name is usually the type running (bash, powershell, node, etc.) so it can be confusing when you have multiple terminals to run simultaneously.

Today's quick lesson:

Changing the terminal name in VS Code

Steps

Select the terminal you want to rename
Press CTRL+Shift+P / ⇧⌘P and search for terminal rename
Enter the name you want and press enter

Done. Your terminal has been renamed! 🎉

I hoped this helped you. If there are other quick tips you'd like, or more in depth topics you'd like me to cover, leave a comment or reach out to me, @giannelli.tech

Thanks for reading! 👩‍💻

Photo by Safar Safarov on Unsplash

Setting The Default Terminal In VS Code

Amanda Giannelli — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 14:09:53 +0000

Sometimes you want a tutorial that is straight and to the point. You want the how, not the who, what, where, when, why.

Today's quick lesson: setting the default terminal in VS Code.

Steps

Open VS Code
Press CTRL+Shift+P / ⇧⌘P and search for terminal select default shell
Make your selection and press enter (In my case I chose Git Bash)

All of your new terminals will now default to your choice 🎉

I hoped this helped you. If there are other quick tips you'd like, or more in depth topics you'd like me to cover, leave a comment or reach out to me, @giannelli.tech

Thanks for reading! 👩‍💻

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Being A `n00b` Is Okay, Really

Amanda Giannelli — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 21:16:04 +0000

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

I have been a back-end software engineer for 10+ years and, to be honest, I lost the passion I once had. After having my daughter in September, and spending three straight months of nothing but eat-sleep-baby, returning to (remote) work in December was nerve-wracking, yet exciting. This was the longest I had been away from work, ever, and in a way it felt like my first day. I decided to take advantage of those first-day-feels, embrace being a n00b again, and try to find that passion I used to have.

If you're starting out or, like me, you've lost your way a bit over the years, here are my tips for embracing your inner n00b to find what excites you.

Install the daily.dev extension

Every developer needs this extension installed in their browser. Period. It is an excellent resource for dev news across the web and every day I am inspired by the articles I read. (Plus, they make like it a game where you "level up" if you read so many days in a row 😉) If you're not quite sure what you're interested in, browse daily.dev at least once a day and I promise you'll find something.

Download it now - you won't regret it!

Start a new twitter account

My original twitter account is old. I signed up when Twitter was barely a toddler and you were limited to 140 characters. I am no where near the same person I was when I started that account and the thought of going through the people I followed was too much work. It wasn't sparking joy so I konmari'd it.

By starting anew I was able to follow accounts based on my interests today, and through them, find others to follow.

Attend events

I can recall attending one meetup in my career. I was still a junior developer and I went with coworkers after work. The only thing I remember is that it was held at Spotify headquarters in NYC and I thought that was pretty cool. 🤷‍♀️

With the world of virtual events, it's a lot easier to find something that will interest you. When daily.dev announced they were holding their first event, The Monthly Dev #1, I knew I had to attend - and I'm glad I did.

So attend a meetup or two! (Hint: The Monthly Dev #2 is next month!) You never know what you will be exposed to or what tidbit of information will inspire you. I was so inspired, in fact, that it led me to my next step...

Get involved with something

The first presenter at The Monthly Dev was David Price (@thedavidprice) showcasing RedwoodJS. As a mostly back-end dev that wants, but has struggled, to enter the world of front-end, Redwood was exactly what I had been looking for.

I drank the kool-aid without hesitation. I joined the community and started the Tutorial right after the meetup ended. After only a week of interacting with the community, I'm a contributor for the first time in my life. (Remember - it's all about baby steps!) I'm an admitted fan girl and I tell everyone about Redwood. #noshame

(I plan on writing more on Redwood in the near-future, but in the meantime definitely check it out. 😉)

Start writing

This is my first public blog post ever. I am so judgmental of myself that I have written at least 40 different versions of this post - but guess what? In attempting to write this one post, I now have a folder full of half-started ideas. Progress.

Even if you're not quite sure what to write about yet, the brainstorming process can be very powerful. #juststart You end up going places you wouldn't expect and the plan you thought you wanted changes.

To sum up...

#juststart has been my motto since December and, so far, it is serving me well. Think of it as the alternative to "Feel the fear and do it anyway". It only takes that first (baby) step to put you on your path, really. (I know, I didn't believe it either...)

So, install daily.dev. Find new people to follow on twitter (hi! 👋). And see where it goes!

Embrace your inner n00b and #juststart.