DEV Community: Victor Adeleke Afolayan

"Go and Learn Tech..."

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:49:17 +0000

During the week, I came across a LinkedIn post by my university colleague, Ojomu Ibrahim. He had just landed a new job, I believe, and was sharing advice for job seekers and recruiters. His story resonated deeply with me.

In Nigeria, one of the most common sayings in our local parlance is: "Go and learn tech." It's seen as the ultimate solution for escaping the tough economic realities. However, while this isn't entirely about Nigeria, it's impossible to ignore how the nation's systemic challenges have shaped the struggles of its youth. The failures of what was once the giant of Africa have left an entire generation searching for stability—constantly adapting, learning new skills, and looking for the "next big thing" just to make a living.

The allure of landing a tech job is often dangled like a carrot before many young Nigerians, but the reality is that tech, like any other field, isn't immune to the harsh economic landscape. When demand rises exponentially, opportunities often dwindle. This is becoming the case for tech roles, not just in Nigeria but globally.

I was fortunate enough to secure my first tech job four years ago, and while I’ve had great opportunities since then, I must admit it has been a rollercoaster journey. After working at four different companies (and counting), I’ve had the privilege of building fantastic products with incredible tools, while collaborating with some of the most diligent and inspiring people on the planet. However, even with these successes, I’ve faced two major periods of unemployment.

The first lasted for 9 months in 2022, and the second stretched for 10 months between 2023 and 2024. You might be thinking, "Why didn’t you just apply for jobs?" Well, I did—relentlessly. Over both periods, I must have sent out over 1,000 job applications. Out of those, only five led to interviews, and none resulted in an offer.

“Maybe your CV wasn’t good enough?” That thought crossed my mind too. I tried numerous CV formats and templates, even tailored mine after those of successful colleagues in the industry. Yet, nothing seemed to change the outcome.

By now, you probably get the idea: there’s no definitive rulebook for getting a job. I tried almost everything I could think of.

Here’s what I’ve learned from my experience:

It’s okay to try your best, but don’t blame yourself if nothing turns up. The job market can be unpredictable, and often, factors beyond your control are at play.
Use the waiting period productively. Whether or not you stay active, time will pass. You might as well use it to develop new skills, explore hobbies, or simply take a break to recharge. Trust me, it helps.
Leverage your network. You never know who might come through for you. All four of my jobs to date have come from referrals. Building and nurturing professional relationships can make all the difference.
When you land a gig, save as much as possible. If you find yourself in another dry spell, your savings will be your safety net until you find a new opportunity.
Believe in yourself. If you're seeking a job in a particular field, it's likely you already possess valuable skills. Don’t let imposter syndrome or self-doubt hold you back.
There's no universal guide to success. As Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV) reminds us:

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

I hope this message encourages someone out there who’s struggling, waiting, or wondering if things will ever get better. Keep going, believe in yourself, and remember that time and chance can happen to anyone.

"Go and learn tech" o

Production & the useEffect() Hook

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 23:26:37 +0000

Production! Here we go!

When I got a job as a developer, all I wanted was a place to work and grow. In addition to that, I wasn't after the pay - needless to say - but I was ready to work for free as I only desired an environment to use previously acquired knowledge, and build amazing stuff. Call me naive (for not looking for money), but I have what I wanted, and a whole lot more😉🤭.

Last week Friday, the 13th of August, will forever be etched in my memory; a product my team and I have worked on in the past weeks moved to production(prod). This launched us into a brand new world of far greater responsibility and decision-making.

What is `production` and what does it entail?

There are different environments in the web development world. The first is called development: an environment where features are built and tested. The environment where such features are deployed to active customers for their usage is called production.

With new experiences come challenges, and moving to production isn't left out: With our app having users, it demands extra carefulness before deploying new features, but hey! we're up for the ride. In the end, I am most grateful for having found a sense of belonging in software engineering, and by the grace of my Lord Jesus, my all will be on display.

Last week on my learning journey

Last week, I added a new tool to my kit: the useEffect() hook.

Photo by Ferenc Almasi on Unsplash

React is built on the idea of components, and styling them can be hellish at times. Some cannot be styled by simply passing CSS on them, probably because they are from an API you're using(e.g. getStream) or have styles that are difficult to control in the environment they're being staged. Situations like this present a unique headache, one that requires a unique solution.

Thankfully, React has a powerful useEffect() hook that as its name, is used to make effect-related changes in your code. Although it must be said that inappropriate usage can cause a memory leak on the browser, causing the webpage that houses the hook to break. Below, I discuss what useEffect() is, what it does, and how it is used.

1. useEffect() is just as its name, for side-effects.

React components are structured to take props and state to render, depending on how the component is to be used. Although sufficient, components in React are built to be reusable, meaning some extra details might need to be modified where they are imported. An example of such modification includes tapping into the DOM(document object model), a process not directly accounted for in JSX. In such a case, a hook is necessary. step up useEffect().

How components render in React is a very tricky subject, and by my estimation, it would take a lifetime to fully get a hang of it, as use cases differ by the day. Although when React cannot be stopped when it decides to render a component, desired effects(or behaviors) can be introduced into such components using the useEffect() hook. These effects can be further decoupled to exist independently of the parent component, and their rendering behaviors structured as desired.

2. How is it used?

import { useEffect } from 'react';

A useEffect() hook is built to accept two(2) arguments: a function called "Effects" and an optional array of dependencies.

useEffect(function, [dependencies(either specific or not)]);

UseEffect () executes the first argument(function) after React has committed the component to the screen. This logically means one thing, that the useEffect() hook can work without a second argument. Although true, it comes with a bad experience, which takes me into a further explanation about the second argument, the optional dependencies.

Dependency is an optional array of dependencies. They are optional because they are either specific or not, i.e., they can target a particular thing or be left empty.

I consider different case-scenarios below:

CASE 1

useEffect(() => {
Some DOM manipulation
    });
}

Developer: run the DOM manipulation.
React: Okay, but how many times?
Developer: just run the code.
React: Okay. causes a re-render of the component until the browser can no longer take it, causing a memory leak and eventual crash of the page
Why this behavior? React keeps putting the effect into use over and over again, even without the page re-rendering.

CASE 2

useEffect(() => {
Some DOM manipulation
    }, []);
}

Developer: run the DOM manipulation.
React: Okay, but how many times?
Developer: only when the component itself re-renders.
React: Okay. renders the effect once unless there is a change in the component; a component serenader causes it to also re-render

CASE 3

useEffect(() => {
Some DOM manipulation
    }, [xxx]);
}

Developer: run the DOM manipulation.
React: Okay, but how many times?
Developer: once on page load, and listen to the dependency for changes. If any, re-render the effect.
React: Okay. renders the effect on loading of the page, listens to the dependency for changes, and if any, re-renders.

CASE 4

useEffect(() => {
Some DOM manipulation
    }, [xxx, yyy]);
}

Developer: run the DOM manipulation.
React: Okay, but how many times?
Developer: once on page load, and listen to the two dependencies for changes. If any in either, re-render the effect.
React: Okay. renders the effect on loading the page, listens to both dependencies for changes, and if any, re-renders.

This last example also gives an insight: the useEffect() hook can take either zero or more than one dependency. How they(dependencies) are structured depends on the desired output of the effect.

N.B: useEffect() executes the first argument(function) only if the dependencies have changed between renderings.

Would you like to read more on the useEffect() hook, I gladly recommend these two posts titled "You don't know useEffect" and "React useEffect explanation".

Storybook: its usefulness and implementation.

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 14:25:31 +0000

In the past two weeks, I have been working on a new service for the app we're building at work - the launch is scheduled for August and I am excited to be entering a new phase. This piece looks at my most recent discovery and how I wish I knew it earlier.

In one of my previous posts titled Reading your way to programming salvation, I expressed how privileged I regard myself being in a place where I am constantly working, and in turn taken to new grounds that open my eyes to bigger, brighter possibilities in the tech world; I must admit that having more experienced developers around me has been of huge advantage, as they discuss new discoveries, creating a desire within me to level up in experience. It could pass for a case of the new, exciting discovery on the blocks which everyone speaks highly of, yet, you have neither seen nor used it: That in a nutshell was my story with Storybook before the last week.

While having my weekly demo, my boss encouraged me to implement a storybook for my end of the project. I set out to read the storybook documentation and also saw a few videos. Although these helped, this article solidified my understanding and perspective of what it is and does.

Interestingly, I had to build a component right before trying out my hands-on storybook and in the process, I encountered
the challenge of knowing how to show and position it appropriately as we hadn't decided on where it would be rendered. Although I eventually picked a random place to stage it, little did I know that a problem like that already had the perfect provision: Storybook.

What is a storybook and what is it used for?

A storybook is more like a folder that helps to render User Interface(UI) components called "stories"; hence, it is just logical to name where they all lie in a storybook. It is valuable as a playground for displaying components built in isolation before placing them in a position in the project where they belong.

With a storybook, one can comfortably build, pass in dummy data to and style UI components appropriately. In addition to that, they are vital in that they provide a platform for staging components that are being readied for future use.

How is a storybook built?
The steps below can be followed to set up and run a storybook.

Step 1. Create a new file and with the extension ".stories.tsx" (e.g. victor.stories.tsx for typescript-based setup) and write default Imports and Exports

Step 2. Import your UI components(stories) and write new export functions - passing the appropriate props, if any.

Step 3. Check your package.json file for the command to start storybook. Depending on the package manager your project is configured with, start your storybook in your terminal using the command stated from your package manager - I use yarn; I run "yarn start-storybook".

Overly, taking from my experience, a storybook is vital for the following:

It gives a platform for staging and testing out both new and existing UI components.
UI components can be built in isolation from the main app.
By keeping all components(stories) together(storybook), it helps to give awareness to other developers on the team of available stories, which they can also 'play around with'.

I am new to this and although I realise there might be more usages than I know of right now, I am loving the little I have experienced, and can't wait to try my hands in maximising its usage. For another dimension on storybook, do check out this brilliant piece.

Reviewing the 2020 Apple M1 Macbook Pro

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 08:07:38 +0000

Life sometimes comes to us thick and fast, and other times, trust me, it comes to us 'realllly' fast. Growing up, I never liked Apple products as I always felt there was too much noise about them(😂sorry Apple). In addition to that, I felt they were far too complex for anyone; looking back now, I think my bias was built on hearsay.

I am pleased to say that times have changed now (I have no shame admitting that😁); this piece examines the condition that caused a shift and my experience thus far in this "new way".

Photo by Zesan H. on Unsplash

Right from my childhood, Windows operating system was the happening thing; Although I had a wonderful experience using a few windows releases (7, 8, and 10), I must admit switching to Apple has been an entirely mind-blowing experience. Would I be open to a switch back? maybe that is a question that might remain unanswered for a very long while. One thing I know though is if Apple made the M1 to have a strong compelling force, then it has worked on me.

Earlier in the year, I admitted getting a new device soonest was inevitable as my old one was gradually becoming derelict. On my first day at work, I was tasked with redesigning a very simple component. Although it was supposed to be a seamless process, my machine decided it was a day for it to lag, and the installation of dependencies wouldn't run successfully. Apart from the task being an easy one, it was scheduled for a demo with the company's investors the next morning; I was in a fix, a really big one.

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Anyone with an understanding of how computers work would agree processes that run on them can only be controlled to a certain extent. Although getting the necessary files to begin work with on my device and subsequent installation wasn't entirely within my direct control (clone a repo and install dependencies), I quickly realized the smoothness of work was to a large extent controllable, if I got a better device.

Thankfully, I was able to work and deliver in time using my brother's, but I wasn't going to sit back with arms folded; I got a silver-colored 8GB-RAM, 256GB-ROM 2020 M1 Apple Macbook Pro. It took a few days of setting up and getting used to, but early signs hinted it was worth the hype, feel, and price - apple devices don't come cheap, I must say.

Photo by Anh Nhat on Unsplash

Being a meticulous person, I never simply go to the market to get any device, rather, I do constructive study beforehand by reading articles and seeing videos; I had my expectations straightened out beforehand, at least I thought I did. Although this gave me a soft landing when I purchased, nothing prepared me for the user experience I finally got.

The first striking thing about the PC was its smoothness and slickness; I honestly believe attention was placed on creating something with striking aesthetics and trust me, the M1 Macbook Pro is a success story in this respect.

Photo by Zesan H. on Unsplash

In addition to the pleasing look of it, the ease, simplicity of setting up, and finding my way through was entirely pleasurable: It felt so much like a traditional "plug and play" gadget. Early signs 👌.

Below are a few notable highs and lows about the device.

HIGHS

1. The M1 chip

The 2020 Macbook Pro runs on an M1 chip and not the traditional Intel older versions had. Owing to what I do, my requirements for a PC differ from a regular person's as I spend considerable time surfing the net for answers and trying out new technologies, hence, speed is of utmost importance to me.

In layman terms, the m1 chip allows me to run processes I want when I want them.

2. Battery life

Apple says the M1 Macbook has an 18hour battery life, but having used it for a few weeks now, I am tempted to believe it might even last for much longer when fully charged. Furthermore, on rough estimate, I believe it takes a maximum of 2 hours to fully charge which is really huge considering power constraints in this side of the world (I haven't tried draining the battery though - least has been 10%).
P.S. Any device which charges fast and drains slow is always going to be appreciated across board.

3. Heat and Noise

If there are two things synonymous with heavy usage of laptops, they must be heat and noise from the fan(or hard disk, etc). With high performances on the M1, there is little to no heat (9 times out of 10, she is as cold as ice) and the device is as silent as a graveyard. I find this very exciting as older versions of the Macbook pro are known to come hot now and then (I once heard of someone whose fingers would sear occasionally from usage of his Mac's keyboard).

4. The touch bar

The M1 Macbook Pro comes with a touchbar which changes display based on what I'm doing. When typing, I get emojis and words suggestion. While coding, I can initiate debugging process. In addition to these, I can pause, forward, rewind and do all sort from the touchbar while seeing videos or listening to audio recordings.

Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash

5. Seamless sync with my Iphone

The M1 synchronises smoothly with my mobile phone so I answer calls whether or not my phone is close by, as long as both devices are connected to the same internet source. Also, webpages opened on Safari on the Mac are available for viewing and modification(I can close them if i so wish) on my phone, and vice-versa.

In addition to all these is the high quality of the display of the screen, quality and loudness of sound from in-built speakers, and extremely high efficiency of the inbuilt microphone in picking sounds when I'm a distance away.
And, "Hey Siri" is a thing also.

LOW 😩

The volume of the speakers reduce after a while with the volume slider staying intact. A good number of users have complained of the same thing on several online forums and I find it a bit curious Apple haven't fixed an issue constantly well-documented with Macbook releases over the years.

P.S. Quitting Safari or(and) restarting - quitting safari didn't work for me - the PC are two known resolutions.

Overly, using the M1 has been a delightful experience, one I don't think I'll be letting go of anytime soon. Although I desire Apple sort the bug with the speakers, I consider it a "light affliction" I would gladly put up with if it remains for the long haul. Whether or not I'd be willing to switch to other operating systems is one thing I don't know right now. What I do know though is that Apple has a new fan on the blocks.

Read your way to programming salvation

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:23:29 +0000

Don't we all wish we somehow knew everything, had everything at the tip of our fingers, simply operated at the speed of light on every project, and magically understood all? Sadly, until the day wishes become horses and beggars ride, those desires will remain what they are - desires! Sorry to burst your bubble even further, but no one is ever boycotting the process of learning if they're going to achieve anything reasonable: one that involves reading, putting knowledge acquired to use, making a truckload of mistakes, encountering numerous unclear things, and making the can-be difficult decision to continue and press further in spite of the seeming unclear paths encountered. Having said, this piece looks at how reading was my go-to way of dealing with the knowledge gap at work last week, and how vital it can be in our daily lives as programmers(humans), if only we would be willing to commit to it.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

I am privileged to have persons around who put me through technical stuff now and then. However, I don't believe in getting knowledge just sufficient to get by (although I do so on some days), rather, I try to understand how and why things function the way they do. This, in turn, enables me to bail myself out if I encounter similar challenges in the future. Furthermore, I can use the knowledge in offering assistance to anyone in the nearest future.

Although I used to appreciate it a lot less before now, switching fields (from Mechanical/Aerospace to Software Engineering) has gifted me the opportunity and platform to implement knowledge acquired during reading, just by sitting in front of my PC. Although this privilege' looks simple, I believe it holds the key to the puzzle of why I struggled in the second and third years of my bachelor's. (🎩 Hats off to Engineering graduates and lecturers of the University of Ilorin; you all are real champions for successfully doing your best under unreasonable and impossible learning conditions).

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

I am unashamed to say I don't think I understand things as fast as my peers(maybe I wrongly assume people grasp things easily). Thankfully, I am at a place where I am encouraged to take up more responsibilities, which demands being more resourceful.

Last week, work revolved around updating the database (we use AWS' dynamoDB) access pattern using the dynamoDB toolbox package. The new structure would arrange our data into entities. We had tutorials lasting roughly 8 hours over two days for everyone to come to terms with the changes, after which everyone was to implement in their respective projects. Although I had mine to update also, I was tasked with amending the project template. (This template is a project file that always has the latest access pattern, so everyone gets saved the burden of individually implementing the new changes from scratch).Not familiar with backend programming? calm down! 😁 I will break the subject down.

Photo by Michael on Unsplash

I consider it a privilege to be tasked with work, as it is always an opportunity to learn. Although I had an idea of what entities and attributes were, I felt I still needed extra knowledge; hence, I read several articles with examples on the subject. Now to the big question: what are tables, entities, and attributes?

In a database, Tables can be referred to as houses with rows (horizontal spaces) and columns (vertical spaces) used to structure, hold or store data for easy accessibility and readability. An Entity can be defined as any item in the table about which data is to be captured and stored, while attributes are in their most basic form described as distinct properties of entities being stored in the database.

For example, a student trying to collect data from a school could decide to classify it using the grade level(class) the students belong to. In addition to that, he could also take statistics of their gender, age, and height. In structuring his database, a simple way would be to use a table with the grade levels/classes as entities, and properties like gender, height, and age serving as attributes. Attributes are not constant; i.e., the same way database tables can house different entities, each entity can also have distinct attributes. The images below give a simple illustration of how tables, entities and attributes relate.

Illustration of entities

Illustration of attributes

This simple summary constitutes a part of my readings over the weekend. Although I agree reading extra-content is more tasking and demanding than simply getting by and coasting, I believe time spent studying is never wasted: it is high time we understood reading both broadens the mind and equips us with necessary tools for community building. As developers, trust me, there is no getting by without learning how to read and interpret, especially documentation. What we do every day isn't something straightforward, which means we must digest READMEs daily. It is a route you and I must follow, and the earlier we begin to embrace it as reality, the better.

Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash

To cap all, below are some of the things I think you should know about reading.

There is no shortcut to life: It is illogical to expect to know how to do something without taking time to read and learn from those who have experience in it.
You think you know something in full? Wait till you read up more and You'd discover you only knew in parts.
Remember the saying "what doesn't kill makes you stronger"? Reading GOOD AND HEALTHY stuff falls in the bracket.
Do not be deceived: it isn't every time you read up on concepts and understand in the end.
Don't be too proud of admitting you need to spend more time reading. You can only benefit from it.
if it's any comforting to know, realize the knowledge gap you have is not peculiar to you. However, how you choose to address it is your responsibility.
Reading isn't complete without application or implementation. It is good to read, but go the extra mile to implement - Africa has a good number of university graduates, but the current state of the continent is a reflection of the lack of availability of room for practicals.
We always have more questions about a subject than we know of, and reading up oneself has a way of making one's mind connect dots.
It isn't every time you'd have someone around to ask questions; start practicing how to read and digest.
Don't just settle for things that you regard as 'interesting and fun'; some are just necessary to read, and ignorance is not an excuse in service delivery.

P.S. I understand some concepts look too foreign at certain times to grasp, but I have discovered reading that some things being read are bigger than what the brain can comprehend simply because some background knowledge/experience are needed before moving up the knowledge-ladder. I advice sticking to one's guns by reading anyway, and when the stars finally align, all would sync perfectly.

Read documentation, blog posts and other good stuff that discuss things that interest you as much as you can. In addition, embrace the habit of leaving comments and reviews as it helps the writer get feedback on their posts. The world can decide to remain ignorant, but you don't have to. Yes, You!

Dealing with blockers.

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:01:00 +0000

Having blockers is an everyday part of us as humans, and if we're any honest with ourselves, we would truly admit they happen to the best of us. On some days, you don't understand the task at hand, while other times, your very problem might be not knowing how to break it down into smaller pieces you can flesh out one after the other.

Photo by Obie Fernandez on Unsplash

I encounter blockers a whole lot, and last week, I not only had the challenge to cope with, but my issue also led to a few other discoveries. In this piece, I discuss the lessons I learned while battling my recent difficulty, hoping you pick a thing or two.

Although the week began late for me, I finally got up and running. My task was to build a UI(user interface - more like a webpage in layman terms) that would be used by another team member later. (call me a type of John the Baptist to Jesus in the team😂). I began based on how I understood the challenge before me, even though I didn't have total clarity on what it was.

Lesson 1: Get ready to get your hands busy as you're probably going to have more days with blockers than without them; hence, be prepared to deal with the situation.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Trust me, doing nothing is the easiest in the world, and although waiting to find someone who spoon-feeds with the final answer is very comfortable, we all need to realize that apart from it not projecting us well as individuals who can wiggle their way through the mud, doing something guarantees one's toils has fruits, no matter how little. Furthermore, one gets to learn(or just encounter in some cases) something new along the line.

Lesson 2: Ask questions and escalate issues to superiors(or people with better understanding).

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I will say this now - it is human to ask questions. There is this saying in my mother tongue of Yoruba which goes "abere ona kii shina", translated in English as "whoever asks for direction to a place is never lost".

Oftentimes, we hold back on asking questions reasons which include:

Not wanting to sound stupid,
Not wanting to look incompetent,
Rebuttal or insults,
Pride and arrogance, etc.

Although some(or all) of these reasons are valid, they must never be big enough to stop us from asking questions.

Am I encouraging anyone to be lazy and not willing to think things through? Not at all. Even-though I encourage peers to be independent, asking questions and peering with experts always come handy if need be.

P.S: Dear Nigerians, although asking questions is not something you are used to, please realize it is very ideal, logical, and right to do so contrary to what you were made to believe while growing up.

Lesson 3: Be resourceful. Virgin lands only stay the way for as long as you desire.

Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash

I know you look at web developers as geeks and techies 👩‍💻, but permit me to burst your bubble: as much as the average 'dev' understands a few engineering concepts and principles, there are some friends we know that are always right beside us, which are "Google", "Stackoverflow" and "documentation". Successful programmers don't know all things right off their head, rather they know how to source for materials to get their work done.

Don't be lazy! Source for materials and keep moving.

In addition to my experience last week, I discovered some areas that needed modification in others' resources my task depended on.

Lesson 4: No period of difficulty is ever wasted; You not only know more, you might also be of help to others if(and when) they encounter similar challenges in the future.

Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash

Hey! the idea is to learn to embrace challenges whenever they come. "The first step in solving a problem is identifying the problem" is a common saying; everyone needs to know and realize blockers (difficulties, challenges, etc) are going to come sooner or later; hence, it is better to plan and prepare to face them, as there is no running away.

Care to share your experience(s) in this respect?
Please feel free to leave your comments.

Writing, GraphQL and AWS

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 16:03:02 +0000

As long as we still have our breath as humans, one thing is constant, which is being up to something. Although sometimes we are up to something meaningful, other times, it feels as if time just somehow passes us by without us really achieving anything. Before going into what I did last week, I would love to take a moment to explain why I take time to write about my professional development.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Being a web developer privileged to have a job means I have deliverables that entail having to pull out technical skills already in my arsenal or picking up new ones and venturing into new fields (if need be) with the goal of finishing my task in good time.

Even though not everyone takes time to document their progress, I consider it a blessing to be at a place where this is a weekly assignment; one I have come to love and would love to keep at if time permits. Writing has an undeniable number of benefits including helping me to keep tabs on my progress and aiding my communication skills.

Although the personal benefits are well-established, I believe readers of my posts have a lot to gain also, with the mother being picking knowledge for free.

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

I hope you are encouraged to not only come back for more but also pick up the challenge to write as well, so I alongside others learn from your experience in whatever field you choose to dwell.

MY EXPERIENCE LAST WEEK

If you know what being a Fullstack engineer entails, then you have an idea of what I have been up to. A Fullstack engineer is a web developer who does both Frontend (what users relate with) and backend web development(what users don't see but give life and date to the frontend part).

Before going into details, I would like to give a little background on what my team and I are working on.
Gaming is something not limited to any particulate set of people as it transcends the borders of gender, race, age group, or any other category. This simple logic means it is something that has come to stay and like anything worth doing, should be done well; hence, we've been tasked with building a platform that provides users an interface to link up, create tournaments, and challenge.

Last week, I built a microservice: a resource for a section of the landing page of the platform, which renders from a database loaded with data. In technical terms, I built and consumed an API. I used Dynamo DB (a database provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS))) to store my data, creating a table with desired fields for me to use in populating my table. GraphQL was used as playground for me to query and mutate my database. i.e. a way of creating, reading, updating and deleting information from the database, a process technically known as CRUD.

I linked my database(Dynamo DB) with my playground(GraphQL) using the another Amazon web service,
Lambda after having defined my environment variables. All these made up the backend side of my task(building the API and database)

Although I had my database populated through the linked playground, I had one more task, which was to render data from the database on the frontend(consuming the API). This was done by importing GraphQL into the code for my frontend and mapping through the data.

Before this experience, I had worked with API's using Express and making HTTP calls to the API, hence, working with GraphQL and Amazon services was entirely new for me, but hey! what matters is that I learnt, got the job done and we have new skills in the bag; which reiterates the belief I have, being I can do all things.

I also worked on components within the project that use Modals. I refactored and extracted the modals in them into one reusable modal component and called the new component in every place it needed to be rendered. This was a simple React task. This refactoring came with some layout distortions(CSS) which marked an end to my tasks for the week.

It was a brilliant week, and I'm up for newer things to keep me busy the next few days.

EXTRAS

The NBA finals got off to a brilliant start for the Phoenix Suns with the boys taking a 2-0 lead to Milwaukee. The first game in Milwaukee(Sunday night) was a loss but I believe the boys have this in the bag already. Suns in 5!

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein on Getty Images

In football, two competitions ended yesterday, one being the Copa America and the other the European Championships. I am most pleased for Lionel Messi as what looked like a dent (not winning a senior title with Argentina) in his illustrious career has finally been put to bed by clinching the Copa America with his teammates.

Photo by Nelson Almeida on Getty Images

I never thought there was ever any doubt of this man's greatness, but if certain quarters thought there were, I believe this sufficiently deadens all.

And football went Rome! The Italians won on penalties last night to be crowned champions of Europe, and I think this is testament to the quality of Roberto Mancini as a manager, bringing them from a hell-hole in 2018 to an unimaginable place last night.

Photo by Mark Atkins on Getty Images

He has done so in fantastic fashion with his team on a 34-match unbeaten run. His bravery has been adequately rewarded and hopefully, the team can maintain this consistency when Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci finally retire.

To the English, the boys can hold their heads up high and pat themselves in the back for a job well done.

Photo by Mike Egerton-PA Images on Getty Images

Although they didn't clinch the top prize, they have set themselves on course for a successful finish in Qatar by 2022. Praise must also go to the manager, Gareth Southgate for establishing an identity and a playing structure that works for his group of players. Even though a certain section of the media and fans have berated his conservative approach, I strongly believe he is trying to make his players taste victory and become a respected footballing nation before looking at establishing an attacking pattern of play, which if anyone asks me, is a solid way of building a base in football, although the Italians have achieved success by playing in an attacking style, albeit with very experienced players in their squad. I believe 2022 can't come sooner for the boys and I think they will serve the footballing world a spectacle in Qatar.

Thanks for taking the time to read.
Till next week when I share more thoughts, it's a goodbye from me.

P.S: Should you want to reach me, please feel free to use the contact info on my bio or my website.

Highlight of the last week

Victor Adeleke Afolayan — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 03:44:01 +0000

Phew! 😥 I tried cycling this weekend, and let's just say maybe I didn't get a hang of things so well. 😅😂

That aside, the last week was another brilliant week, as I not only got a few things done, but also kept on course with the mother goal, being to learn something brand new every single time.

I am at a place where growth is non-negotiable, as it is the foundation upon which we are built. I progressed working on my task, and while providing progress report, I explained how my goal was to make my implementation look so much like the template. Naturally sounds good, yeah? Well, I was made to realise one very vital lesson - the goal should be to make things better, going the extra mile than what is naturally expected. This was an eye opener as it meant thinking bigger and wider. Furthermore, it in the long run makes my implementation better, improving the outlook and functionality of the whole system.

Personally, I read up extensively on the use cases of asynchronous(async) programming, and I must tell you, developers are really smart people who spot "what ifs" and provide answers to them.

Photo by Ferenc Almasi on Unsplash

What async does is to provide more control over behaviour of certain pieces of code and data; It gives a sense of being in control of what happens on my codebase(as it should be anyway).

In addition to this, I dug deeper on the true structure of the "if-else" conditional statement. (read here); I realised something fundamental: all that developers do is to simply put english language in programming language/syntax, i.e. everything line of code is simply the chosen line of thought of a developer, written in the syntax of the chosen language, hence, anyone who can simply structure out a way to solving a problem is naturally a developer, but what differentiates everyone from those practicing today is knowledge of one programming syntax or the other.

I think this is just one of the beauties of programming, as it makes room for anyone simply willing to learn how a programming language is structured and works. I believe this is sufficient to relieve anyone of the fear of never levelling up in the industry.

Photo by James Harrison on Unsplash

That being said, although the process of learning is not well spoken of, it is a very powerful one that is applicable across board in life.

Remembering an adage in my mother tongue(Yoruba language -Nigeria) as quoted by my friend, Dr. John Bolu Bakare, "ko si ona abuja kan lori igi ope" being translated as "there is no shortcut anywhere on a palm tree", there is a path that everyone must tread in every chosen profession/course in life (programming inclusive), being "the process of learning and putting all knowledge to work so as to become a master in the course of time" as explained in Mark 4:26-28.

Photo by Sandie Clarke on Unsplash

Although this process might seem long, gruelling and confusing, I believe it is what separates those making progress and obtaining mastery by the day from those that never began or stopped along the line. Remember, little drops of water, they say makes the mighty ocean in the end. A little here, a little there makes the barn full of wheat in the day of harvest. I will keep going, keep learning, and trust me, you are witnessing greatness.

In addition to learning new soft and hard skills, another highlight of my week was a fresh dose of Peer programming.

Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash

Although I do not shy away from getting down, spending time to learn how to express my thoughts in programming language, whenever there is the opportunity to learn real-time from those ahead of me in the curve, I am always more than willing to be a part of it, as I am able to learn, save time, access my thought process and also know how best to put it into words when next I am in a similar shoe: Being told how to cross a river by an expert is good and awesome, but you know what is more awesome? being guided realtime on crossing the same river. I think teaching and providing guidance says more about the quality of the teacher though it demands of them patience and belief that their input today will grow and sum up into something unquantifiable in the end, as explained in Matthew 13:31-32.

A new week is here; Although I do not know details of the new challenge before me as at the time of writing this, I have no doubts whatsoever that it is already a good and perfect one.

EXTRAS:

In other news, Football ⚽️ might just be coming home. 🥳 🎉 🎊.

Photo by Anadolu Agency on Getty Images

The England men's national team are roaring so well in the ongoing European championship, and credit must be given to Gareth Southgate, who seems to have found different systems that work for his group of players. Learning from the case of Belgium men's football team, it is one thing to have a group of players who are individually excellent and one of the best (if not the best) in every position on the pitch, but it is another entirely to get them to function together and achieve success as a team. The so-called belgium golden generation have fallen short since I have known them as a group and once again, they did versus the Italians.
I wish the English all the best.

Lionel Messi is also gunning for the Copa America title this summer, and after a brilliant display in the quater-finals, I hope he wins it this time around.

Photo by Nelson Almeida on Getty Images

In Basketball 🏀, I recently fell in love with the Phoenix suns and now, the boys are in the NBA finals.

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein on Getty Images

Huge credit to the coach, Monty Williams(he is a brother BTW 😊). The boys have not particularly played well in the past three games, but hey, its been a tough post-season and I am going for the Suns in 4 🕺. Although the Milwaukee Bucks have shown commendable mental strength in the last two series, I'm going for a sweep.

BTW, anyone knows what is happening with Mercedes this F1 season? 😥😥😥

Photo by SOPA Images on Getty Images

The team has been all over the place this season 😓. Maybe this is going to make the sport more competitive anyway, which might be a necessary shakeup that improves the quality in the long run.

Conclusively, remember to keep believing this week, as it is what separates those who dream of success from those who eventually accomplish.

Catch me next weekend when I share my thoughts again...