DEV Community: Samyuktha Sudhakar

5 things I learnt at my first internship 👩🏽‍💻

Samyuktha Sudhakar — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 14:31:48 +0000

After years of being at school, your first time at work be it an internship or a full-time role might be a little overwhelming as there's a complete shift in paradigm. My story was no different, I was clueless for most of the part initially but later ended up figuring it out with time. I had the opportunity to learn and grow so much in such a short span of time. Of all the things that I learnt here are the top 5 that I value the most.

It's okay to ask for help

Asking for help has always been tough. And given a new environment with a completely new set of people it only made it even more difficult. There was this one time where I thought I'd figure it out on my own, and later ended up having to redo two weeks worth of work from scratch. Seeking help can save you a lot of time and help develop a rapport with your peers. Before asking make sure you have tried solving and note down the right questions to ask as it makes the process a lot easier and efficient as well.

Be more observant

Given any day, there is something or the other that is going to happen and you might really not understand what is going on. But keep your eyes and ears open and try to pay attention as much as possible. Even though it might be all greek and latin, things will slowly start to make more sense with time and all the observations you do will surely help your understanding better in the longer run.

Prepare for meetings

Meetings are an inevitable part of the work routine. There are different kinds, but making sure you stay prepared for each of them is only going to make it easier. If it is a meeting where you have to present, rehearse ; if it is one where you have to listen do your homework and make sure you understand what the meeting is about so that you'll be able to clarify your doubts if any and so on so forth.

Look up to your mentors and peers

When you are a fresher, chances are you will be surrounded with people of years of experience as part of your team. They know a lot of things that usually comes along with expertise but that can't really be taught, but only be picked up by understanding and observing how they do it. Be it the shortcuts to use in vscode, communicating among the team, approach to solving the problem and the list is endless. So whenever you have the opportunity or have a one-on-one session with your mentor / peer make sure you look out for these and keep note as they can come in really handy in the longer run.

Maintain a Journal

This is more of a personal choice. It need not be a journal, but maintaining some form of a tracking system where you can record all that you have learnt, take notes, track progress and document your day-to-day routine, wins and looses helps you in reflecting on the work that you do and gradually get better at it too. Also as a lot of learning happens on an every day basis documenting can really come in handy when you need to refer to things at a later point in time.

Every job, every team and every project is completely different. But I feel these five pointers are applicable irrespective of all the above. Make the most of it while at work and keep on learning. Be sure to rock the role that you are in.

If you have made it till here, thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you found it useful.

Until next time 😄👋🏽

SVG - Every Developer's best friend 🤗

Samyuktha Sudhakar — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 11:16:18 +0000

SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. It is an Extensible Markup Language based image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation.

There are two groups of image formats - bitmap and vector. Bitmap format defines what color each pixel of an image should be painted whereas in vector format it consists of shapes, curves, lines, and text which together make a graphic. In simpler words the vector format gives instructions on how the image should be rendered. JPEG, PNG file formats fall under bitmap category whereas the SVG file format falls under the vector category.

For images with high detailing such as photographs, bitmap formats are suitable whereas for images with high scalable requirements like icon, web graphics, SVG format is suitable.

In the web dev community, recent trends have shown that developers prefer vector format files, i.e. SVG over any other raster group files. Here are the reasons why :

Scalability

With users accessing web applications from a wide range of devices of different sizes, it is very important to make sure the graphic resolutions are intact. This is solved by utilizing SVG formats as they fit each and every resolution requirement without any trouble as they scale seamlessly.

Smaller File Size

Compared to other file formats, SVG's when properly optimized result in smaller file size which enables faster loading images resulting in better performance and improved user experience.

Inline SVG's

SVG's can also be embedded using the inline method. This eliminates the HTTP request that is needed to load in an image file. As there are no files that need to be downloaded, the loading time of the page goes down and makes the website to appear faster and thus in turn improving the user experience as well.

Styling and Animating

Since SVG's are XML format files, they can be styled and scripted just like HTML files. This is extremely beneficial when there is a requirement to customize icons or add character to it such as when active, not active, disabled etc and all this can be done with a single file.

Though SVG's are highly beneficial, creating complicated images is very challenging and involves a lot of mathematical computations to be done. However with the right use of illustration tools, the problem can be tackled. In conclusion, the advantages of using an SVG clearly gives it an upper hand compared to its counter file formats making every developer's life easier !

If you have made it till here, thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you found it useful.

Until next time 😄👋🏽

The Glam Look your web projects deserve ✨

Samyuktha Sudhakar — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:43:54 +0000

For the past few days, I've been building quite a lot of applications and every time I start a new one, the thought that I need to style it and make it more presentable daunted me as the process took nearly half or even more the time it took to build the functionality.

But the pain is all worth it when you see the finished product come together. In the process of figuring this out, I came across amazing resources that are high quality and absolutely free but capable of turning around your project's look by a complete 360°.

So in no particular order here are the things I felt played a major role in the look of the application alongside the resources that make it look even better.

Background

A simple quality background sets the theme of the application and trust me it makes the whole app look a lot better in a jiffy.

Tip : Make sure to use svg backgrounds, as their resolution remains intact no matter how the website is scaled.

Resource: Haikei App - Provides customizable background options of all sorts.

Font

Fonts set the tone of the context that you are trying to communicate to the user via your application. The right choice of font also makes it easy to consume the application.

Resource: Google Fonts - A plethora of options available with different font weights, styles and much more.

Icons

Icons are a fun way to introduce some character to your application alongside the choice of font. Using the same size and type of icons make the process of aligning it way easier and also ensures there is continuity.

Tip : If you are looking to customize the color of your icons, download a svg format icon and change the color in the fill property and voila you just made your own color customized icon !

Resources: Google Icons, Flaticon

Color Palette

Sticking to a color palette maintains uniformity and makes it easier for the user to understand the content flow. Pick three colors - a primary one accounting for at least 70% of the app, a secondary color accounting for around 25% - 27% and a tertiary color that can be used for highlighting.

Resource: Coolors - Makes the work easier by providing the color options alongside their hex codes.

These may seem to be the tiniest of details, but trust me they go a long way !

If you have made it till here, thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you found it useful.

Until next time 😄👋🏽