Why you should ask for code reviews early on and review others code!

Oli Treadwell — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 20:57:29 +0000

Hey there, software developers!

Looking to improve your coding skills, learn from others, and avoid wasting hours or days on what ends up being a simple fix?

There's one tactic that you absolutely shouldn't overlook.

CODE REVIEW.

Code review is the practice of sharing your code with others and reviewing the code of others. It may seem a little scary at first! Trust me, it's worth it.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Two heads are better than one:

Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to spot those pesky errors that you've been staring at for hours.

I know! I spent 2 whole workdays at my first job wondering why my code wasn't working. I was missing an equal sign = to reassign a variable value. 🤬

When you share your code with others, they can help you catch mistakes you may have missed on your own.

2. Learn something new:

Collaborating with other developers can help you pick up new skills and techniques.

By reviewing someone else's code, you might discover a more efficient way of doing things or a tool you didn't even know existed.

Code review is a great place to ask questions and share your knowledge. Be curious and open to learning new things!

3. Don't make the same mistake twice:

By reviewing others' code, you can learn from their mistakes and avoid making the same errors yourself. This can save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.

One of the best ways to share and review your code is through GitHub. GitHub is a platform that allows you to host your code and collaborate with other developers. By posting your code on GitHub, you can invite others to review your code and provide feedback. You can also review the code of others and learn from their techniques and approaches.

To sum it up, sharing and reviewing your code with other developers is a must if you want to become a better software developer. By being open to feedback and collaborating with others, you can catch errors, learn new techniques, and become a better coder.

So why not give it a shot? Share your code today and start collaborating with other developers. Who knows what you might learn or what problems you might solve together?

And speaking of collaboration, what are some other ways you like to work with other developers? Let us know in the comments below!

Here are some resources to get you started:

Awesome Code Review

Why Code Reviews Matter - Atlassian

cover image credit: Photo by Desola Lanre-Ologun on Unsplash

Explaining Filepaths and "cd ." for Beginners

Oli Treadwell — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 17:21:09 +0000

Explaining Filepaths and "cd ." for Beginners

What is a filepath?

A filepath is like a set of directions that helps a computer find a file or folder. Think of it like giving a friend directions to a store in a big city.

Computers use forward slashes (/) or backslashes (\) to show the path to a file or folder. In many computer systems, a filepath could look like this:

/home/user/Documents/example.txt.

This filepath leads to a file called example.txt inside the Documents folder, which is inside the user folder, which is inside the home folder.

In Windows, filepaths use backslashes, like this:

C:\Users\User\Documents\example.txt.

Finding your current filepath

You can find your current filepath by opening a command prompt on your computer.

On Windows, you can open a command prompt by pressing the Windows key and typing cmd.

On Mac, you can open a command prompt by pressing the Command key and the spacebar at the same time, typing terminal, and pressing Enter.

Once you have a command prompt open, you can type the command pwd to find your current filepath. The command pwd stands for "print working directory." It tells you where you are in the file system.

Knowing your current filepath can be helpful when you need to find a file or folder or when you need to navigate to a particular directory using the command prompt.

What is "cd ."?

The command cd stands for "change directory." It's used to move around in the file system. For example, if you're in the home folder and you want to move to the user folder, you can use the command cd user.

The command cd . helps you stay in the same folder when using a command prompt on a computer. The . represents "the current folder." So it tells the computer, "stay in the folder we're in right now."

If you want to go up one level, you can use the command cd ... The .. means "start where we are now, but go up one level." So it tells the computer, "go up one level from the folder we're in right now."

When we will see the `.` and `..` in our code

When making a website, we use filepaths to show the web browser where to find different files, like images, stylesheets, and scripts.

For instance, we might use ./scripts/main.js to include a JavaScript file in a website or ./styles/main.css to link to a CSS stylesheet file.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./styles/main.css">
  </head>
  <body>
    <script src="./scripts/main.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

Remember from above that the . at the start of these filepaths means "start in the current folder." So it tells the browser, "look in the folder we're in right now to find the file."

It's essential to write filepaths correctly, using the right slashes and correct spelling. Computers are very picky about these details!

Knowing how to work with filepaths and navigate the file system using commands like cd . and cd .. can make your work on the computer much more efficient and productive.

Thank you for reading this introduction to filepaths and the cd . command. I hope it has helped you better understand how to navigate and access files on your computer.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. And if you're interested in learning more about technology and programming, you can connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/olitreadwell.

What has been your biggest challenge when it comes to working with filepaths on your computer?

DEV Community: Oli Treadwell

Why you should ask for code reviews early on and review others code!

Explaining Filepaths and "cd ." for Beginners

Explaining Filepaths and "cd ." for Beginners

What is a filepath?

Finding your current filepath

What is "cd ."?

When we will see the . and .. in our code

When we will see the `.` and `..` in our code