DEV Community: iBrendan!

Dev Journal - Day 4 - Odin Project - JS Fundamentals 4 - Loops Part 1

iBrendan! — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 03:26:00 +0000

Learned about Loops today

Loops

are useful for repeating the same code multiple times.
will often have slightly different code each time the loop runs, or the same code will run but with different variables.

Loops break Statement

has similar utility to the break statement used in switch() conditionals
is used to exit a loop before all iterations are complete and make the browser move on to any code that follows it.

Loops continue Statement

is used to break or skip an iteration, if a specified condition occurs, and make the browser continuew ith the next iteration in the loop.

map() vs filter()

map()in loops is used to modify items in a collection and create new collection containing the modified items -filter() modifies items in a collection and creates a new collection containing only the items that match

Tomorrow's Learning Plan

for loops
while and do loops
MDN Active Learning Tasks in Loops

References

Dev Journal - Day 3 - Odin Project - JS Fundamentals 4 - Arrays

iBrendan! — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 03:04:22 +0000

Arrays

Arrays are a special type of variable used to store multiple values like strings, HTML elements, or even other arrays.
Those values can then be accessed by referring to their index number.
Javascript arrays are zero indexed, meaning that the first element or item in an array is at index 0, the second is at index 1, and the final item or element is always one less than the length of the array.

Syntax

An array is preferably created in the array literal format, declared with the const keyword. Example,

const provinces = [“Alberta, “British Columbia”, “Ontario”];

Note: Arrays can also be created in the new keyword format below. though this is discouraged for readability and execution speed reasons.

const provinces = new Array(“Alberta, “British Columbia”, “Ontario”)

Manipulating Array Elements

An array element can be accessed by its index. Example "provinces[1]" will access “British Columbia” in the province array above.
Array elements can be changed by assigning a new value to the index. So in our example, I can change the value of the second element, British Columbia (index 1) to a different value by

const provinces = ["Alberta", "British Columbia", "Ontario"];
provinces[1] = "British Columbia";
provinces[1] = "Quebec";
console.log(provinces); //[“Alberta, “Quebec”, “Ontario”]

Array Properties

Length property returns the length of an array, or the total number of items in that array, and is always one more than the index of the highest array value

 const provinces = ["Alberta", "British Columbia", "Ontario"];
 console.log (provinces.length] //3

Sort property sorts the array

const provinces = ["Alberta", "British Columbia", "Ontario"];
console.log(provinces.sort()); //“Alberta”, “Ontario”, “British Columbia”]

Array Methods
Learned about using array with the following methods/operations:

Array.isArray() to determine if an argument is an array. Returns "true", or false otherwise
Array.push(...items) adds items to the end of the array and returns the new length of the array.
Array.pop() removes the element from the end and returns that element.
Array.shift() removes the element from the beginning of the array and returns it.
Array.unshift(...items) adds items to the beginning of the array
Array.splice() method adds new items to an array.
Array.slice() method slices out a piece of an array.

References

Dev Journal - Day 2 - Odin Project - JS Fundamentals - Clean Code

iBrendan! — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 03:11:00 +0000

Importance of Clean Code Practices
To make it easier to read and understand previously written code, whether it be my code, or code that will be referenced later in a larger professional codebase.

What I Learned
Clean code principles lead to source code that is easier to read, debug, and test. Implementing clean code principles is a foundational skill that pays off especially when it's time to refactor code or test it test. A few principles I plan to adopt are

Review and clarify code logic (perhaps using pseudocode or flow diagrams) prior to blindly typing into a debugger
Use descriptive naming conventions for variables (noun phrases e.g “numberOfItems) and functions (verbs e.g getCount() )
Write explanatory, clarifying comments as-needed and not as a crutch to explain my code
Avoid extremely large functions, and instead break up large functions into smaller digestible ones
Correctly and consistently indent code to make it easier to read and follow

Additional Clean Code Principles I Liked

On Comments: While comments are neither inherently good or bad, they are frequently used as a crutch. You should always write your code as if comments didn't exist. This forces you to write your code in the simplest, plainest, most self-documenting way you can humanly come up with.
On Personal Style: A professional programmer is prepared to bend her personal style to reflect the needs of the team. So even if you like ternary operators, don't use them if your team doesn't find them easy to understand. You can program in your own style on your personal projects, but anything you do in a team should follow the needs of that team.

References

Dev Journal - Day 1 - Odin Project - Rock Paper Scissors

iBrendan! — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 03:25:00 +0000

Understanding the Problem
Rock Paper Scissors is a game played between 2 players, and for the purpose of this project, a user and the computer. For a single game round, each player simultaneously selects one of Rock, Paper, or Scissors. A winner is determined according to the following rules:

A selection of Paper beats Rock
A selection of Rock beats Scissors
A selection of Scissors beats Paper
else if both players make the same choice, the game is tied.

Pseudocode

1. Computer randomly plays “Rock”, “Paper” or “Scissors”
2. User inputs “Rock”, “Paper” or “Scissors”
3. Compare both player selections and assign a winner
4. If Rock and Paper are played, Paper wins
5. If Rock and Scissors are played, Rock wins
6. If Paper and Scissors are played, Scissors wins
7. If both selections are the same, game is a tie
8. Ensure Player’s selection-input is case insensitive
9. Ensure Player’s selection-input is case insensitive
10. Play 5 game rounds and determine final winner

Concepts That Helped

Array & String manipulation
Functions
Familiarity with conditional statements and comparisons
String manipulation to ensure case-sensitivity validation using toLowerCase()
Loops to keep count of multiple rounds and stop at 5 rounds
Googling, Grit and Github

Link to Project Code

Challenges & Learning Moments

Had no trouble creating the functions but struggled somewhat with looping them and displaying the score. Referenced previous attempts and discussions in the Odin Project server
Learned Array & String manipulation as well as array.length property

Self-Taught Dev Journey - The Beginning

iBrendan! — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 02:55:00 +0000

Introduction
For the last few months, I've been learning web development using The Odin Project as my primary curriculum. I've made my way through the Foundations HTML/CSS section, and loved it so far. I'm now currently going through the Foundations JavaScript section. Unfortunately, my self-learning can sometimes be a sombre, scatterbrained, siloed approach. So I'd rather take an approach that encourages connecting with others and public learning. As such, I'm excited to document my journey here on dev.to and to help me

maintain accountability and consistency,
leverage the knowledge and network of the wider developer community here, and
learn in public

Why Programming?
Why does software development appeal to me? Why all the learning? Among other things, it will alllow me to

Increase my creativity and ability to logically solve problems
Increase my neural plasticity and
Continue on a lifelong path of learning, and eventually cascade that knowledge to others

Resources and Approach

The Odin Project - Primary
Scrimba, Jonas' JS Course and FreeCodeCamp - for reinforcing obscure concepts
Full Stack Open
Build projects

Goals

Start a software developer job within the next year.

Takeaways
There's a ton(!) of things to learn and it's easy to get distracted, so my approach will focus on familiarity and comfort with key programming concepts, understanding JavaScript, using a JS framework, building projects for my portfolio, and then a job search. Thankfully, The Odin Project and Full Stack Open encourage that laser focus.

I expect to run into mental blocks and learning roadblocks but I'll show grit and doggedness to keep going till I meet my goal.

I'm confident it's about to be a worthwhile ride...