DEV Community: Logan McLaughlin

Day 2 Post-Learning Summary

Logan McLaughlin — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 18:39:19 +0000

Hey everybody! My name is Logan McLaughlin and today I just finished Day 2 of my journey down the road of my Software Engineering education! If you unclear about where my journey began, please visit the navigation links below, which I will begin to add at the end of every post for the sake of user convenience, to both take you to the very first post in this series as well as Previous and Next links!

Now, onto the content!

Small Talk
Thoughts About Today’s Lesson
+Introduction to JavaScript Syntax, Part I
+Introduction to Programming With JavaScript
++JavaScript: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It
++JavaScript Versions: ES6 and Before
++Intro to Mozilla Developer Network
Final Thoughts
Navigation

Small Talk

I have been awful tired today, but not as bad as yesterday. That said, my stamina is just plain drained. On top of that, each of the individual sections was waaaay bigger than I originally thought, so instead of taking on the enture Intro to JavaScript unit, I will instead be focusing on ONE section at a time. This is a pace that I need to keep in order to take plenty of breaks and take care of myself so that I can get through this. Education is a marathon, not a sprint.

Also, I do want to take a moment to sing OneNote's praises as a notetaking program. I remember using Evernote a fair bit when I was first starting out with various kinds of notetaking for school as well as to keep personal track of things I was doing. After a while, due to a fair amount of Evernote establishing paywalls later in its life cycle, I kinda stopped using it. And honestly, I'm kinda glad since OneNote exists. It's part of the Microsoft Office suite of programs just so you are aware, but it has so many features for making my notes super useful and just about all of them are very intuitive and user-friendly, especially if you have past experience with Microsoft Office as a suite of programs. Things like Screen Clipping, being able to just casually drag-and-drop pictures and links into your notebooks is phenomenal to me, and I am even seeing other features I have not yet felt like I've needed to use yet, such as Online Video and File Printout. I'm really, really happy with these features and will likely continue to use OneNote from now on. For sure!

Thoughts About Today’s Lesson

Before we get started, I do want to say some initial thoughts about the lesson as a whole in regards to my last post. I was under the assumption these lessons were going to be way more bite-sized chunks than they actually were, not unlike a website such as Khan Academy. And while there are more bite-sized chunks in every section, there were way more subsections than was initially let on. So the hierarchy is, like, "Career Path" -> Module (what I erroneously called a Unit prior) -> Unit (what I erroneously called a Section prior) -> then the individual Lessons after that. So the tree went WAY deeper and had way more information I needed to study and parse than I originally thought.

So instead of going over the entire first half of the "JavaScript Syntax, Part I" MODULE, I will instead be going over the first two Units within the Module: "Introduction: JavaScript Syntax Part I" (the general intro to the module itself) and "Introduction to Programming with JavaScript (a look into JavaScript itself). So EVEN STILL we are not quite in the realm of actually learning proper code yet! But we will ABSOLUTELY get there!

Introduction to JavaScript Syntax, Part I

This was a particularly short and sweet introduction into the Module proper. Basically saying the goals are to introduce us to JavaScript and make us comfortable writing in JavaScript. Simple stuff, no additional lessons. Straightforward and to the point.

Introduction to Programming With JavaScript

I want to do another brief stop here to mention that there were two parts of the lesson that I will not be covering as they are third-party sources meant to be used as reference material, this is includes a book as well as documentation on JavaScript on MDN (which we will talk about in its appropriate section later in the post). As these are reference materials, I will just plain not be covering these. The book is "JavaScript and JQuery" by Jon Duckett, for those who are interested. Anyway, back to the summary!

JavaScript: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

In this lesson, we learned why JavaScript is so popular and how it was developed back in 1995 by developer Brendan Eich, who was tasked with creating a lightweight programming language in 10 days. That, to me, is absolutely insane. But he did it, it ended up being called Mocha, at first, but was later renamed JavaScript.

We learned that JavaScript (aka JS) is very flexible and powerful, and is considered one of the primary languages for web development, along with HTML and CSS. It can be used in front-end and back-end development, it's standardized, allows for user interactivity, and offers a wide range of frameworks and libraries which can be imported to improve functionality.

One of the most prominent server-side JS versions is called "Node.js", or "Node", which is widely used by NASA, eBay, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Service due to it's sheer scalability from its ability to execute programs out of sequence, and is even used to create scalable web applications, messaging platforms, and even multiplayer games.

JS also has a large presence in many cross-platform applications, like Slack, GitHub, Skype, and others, which are developed with a framework known as "Electron.js", excellent for desktop applications that need to communicate with eachother regardless of OS. It is even possible that JS will be used to expand other innovative tech, such as VR and Gaming applications as well as smart devices.

It was told that mastering vanilla JS (or, simply, basic JavaScript) will be key to helping me understand and navigate various frameworks and libraries. Which makes a lot of sense!

JavaScript Versions: ES6 and Before

I will admit that I had never heard of ES6 before and had no real idea what it meant, but this lesson really taught me the importance of knowing what it is, the history behind its inception, and why it's relevant to JS.

We learn that ES, otherwise known as ECMAScript, was developed in 1997 by an organization called Ecma International, and was used to create standards for the scripting language, which provided rules for JS features. As time went on and more was needed out of JS, it was ES that provided the basis for consistency between all previous JS versions and current.

There are also distinguishing features between JS and ES proper, such as that JS is used for apps or programs, while ES is about creating new scripting languages. The most popular iteration of ES, known as ES6 (or "Javascript ES6" or "ES2015") was developed in 2015 and was widely adopted by the developer community at large due to the new features added, such as new keywords, new syntax using Arrow functions, creation of Classes, allowing parameters to have default values, support for asynchronous actions, and so much more.

It was also far easier for many developers who specialize in other programming languages to adopt JavaScript due to its ability to utilize Object Oriented Programming, or OOP.

In learning newer tools and frameworks, knowledge of ES6 is essential, but we should not disregard legacy code either.

Intro to Mozilla Developer Network

I'll be candid. I did not spend a ton of time on this lesson. After the third section, I realized that this section is ultimately a lesson on how to use MDN from the standpoint of someone who has never used the search feature on a website before, so I ultimately skipped it. The resource itself is great and I will be fully utilizing it, but the lesson itself could easily be skipped, I felt.

Final Thoughts

I'll be honest. Even with skipping roughly 2 1/2 lessons, I did feel like I got my fill for the day on learning new things. I am honestly hoping we can get down to coding tomorrow or whenever the next day I decide to learn is. I am hoping I will be less tired tomorrow. I'm honestly a little concerned that, if these two extremely simple units were enough to get me close enough to being done for the day, that a unit jam-packed with actual information might cause some issues. But I will be mindful of my own mental and physical health going forward and pace myself accordingly!

With that said, thank you very much for joining me today! I will return when I’m good and ready to tackle the next lesson! Take care of yourselves and have a wonderful day!

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Day 2 Start!

Logan McLaughlin — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 16:24:52 +0000

Hey everybody! My name is Logan McLaughlin and today I start Day 2 of my journey down the road of my Software Engineering education! If you unclear about where my journey began, please visit the navigation links below, which I will begin to add at the end of every post for the sake of user convenience, to both take you to the very first post in this series as well as Previous and Next links!

(As a special addendum to this post, I want to mention that I will edit previous posts to apply a lot of optimizations retroactively. Because I like good structure in projects like this. Thank you for your patience!)

Now, onto the content!

Small Talk
Thoughts About Previous Lesson
Thoughts About Today’s Lesson
Final Thoughts
Navigation

Small Talk

So I want to start by saying that, with these sections moving forward, some of the subjects may get a bit... heavy. In future, if you wish to stick strictly with my educational process, please head to my Thoughts About Yesterday's Lesson. Thanks!

So I live in a house that's not awfully conducive to learning or, well, much of anything constructive due to the people I share this house with. I am actively working to leave this environment, but I do understand that I am kind of stuck here until I do. And I wanted to do something to further my own education, if only to occupy my time until I am capable of devoting more time to myself, my own wellbeing, and of course, to my education.

I have recently ordered a Laptop to use in places where traveling with my massive setup, helmed by my gaming rig I've lovingly dubbed "Bertha Mk. II", as the second iteration that I built last Spring after my previous gaming rig, "Bertha Mk. I" started to become severely obsolete as she was built all the way back in 2014. Bertha Mk. II is not perfect by any stretch, but she gets me by just fine, though in the distant but not too distant future, she is gonna need some upgrades to her GPU, and in building her the CPU was slightly damaged due to my own foolishness, but was somehow still able to work, so I need to replace her CPU as well.

Anyway, my Laptop is meant to be for travel or during times where having access to Bertha is not feasible. And I think I picked a good choice for the money I was willing to spend on it! It also has a touch screen with a stylus, so I am very lowkey hoping (but certainly not banking on) being able to use it to practice a bit of art if I ever want to pursue that.

Had a pretty awful night's sleep the past week and Monday saw me reach my limits with that (I sleep on a couch in my mother's living room while I apartment hunt. I've been here for almost two full years now. The housing market is atrocious, even in a smaller city like mine.) But I was able to get some much needed rest last night, so I wanted to tackle stuff today too!

Thoughts About Yesterday’s Lesson

Going back to my original notes, everything makes sense to me, pretty much. We learned what Programming is on a fundamental level, which is how humans communicate with computers and other machines. Programming is us, the humans, hash out a list of instructions we want to tell the machine in our own native language. Then, as coders, we take those instructions and translate them into a language the machine can understand. Finally, we submit these instructions for the machine to perform. We explored, briefly, the differences between the Human mind and a Machine mind, separated the definitions of Programming and Coding, talked about what it is a Software Engineer actually does, which is essentially using their collective knowledge to innovate on design and develop new software systems. Finally, we learned the difference between Front-End Engineering (which focuses on the client side of things as far as form and function, making things easy for the user to understand) and Back-End Engineering (which focuses on the server side of things as far as form and function, optimizing database storage for the system.)

All in all, a very straightforward explanation of things, as far as I am concerned, and I am very excited to be on this particular path as someone who loves solving puzzles and coming up with solutions!

Thoughts About Today’s Lesson

Taking a peek at the title, Today's Lesson is called "Introduction: Javascript Syntax, Part I" and contains 9 total sections. As this will be my first formal step into the coding, I am not entirely sure what to expect before I begin. Will I be able to comfortably complete the entire unit? Or will I need to stop partway through and pick it back up again tomorrow? Only time will tell, but I'm confident! With how things are broken up, if I feel ready to stop by the end of the fourth section, I'll break for the day and talk about my thoughts on "Introduction: Javascript Syntax, Part I, part 1" or some silly nonsense title like that. If I feel good enough to run through the entire unit, I'll report on the entire Lesson overall. Either way, today proves to be an exciting and intensive session!

Final Thoughts

Sunday's learnings were remarkably simple and merely went into the basics of the basics of the lesson plan and its purpose. A proper introduction, plainly. This one is shaping up to look like we'll get started into the nitty-gritty of Javascript! So before I jump into that, I do want to do what I said I was going to do at the top of this post and retroactively edit my others to form some kind of style cohesion.

With that said, thank you very much and I’ll get my next post in when I’m done with learning for today so I can recap! I’ll see you then! Take care!

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Day 1 Post-Learning Summary

Logan McLaughlin — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 02:45:49 +0000

Hey everybody! My name is Logan McLaughlin and today I just finished Day 1 of my journey down the road of my Software Engineering education! If you unclear about where my journey began, please visit the navigation links below, which I will begin to add at the end of every post for the sake of user convenience, to both take you to the very first post in this series as well as Previous and Next links!

Small Talk
Thoughts About Today's Lesson
+What is Programming?
+What Does a Software Engineer Do?
+What are the Differences Between Front-End and Back-End Engineering?
Final Thoughts
Navigation

Small Talk

So regrettably, I was just super tired today, so I wasn't exactly able to get too much learning done, but I did get some! It's just... not a lot of actual programming or coding knowledge. Basically "What is Software Engineering?" stuff.

As this is kind of my first post of this type, I hope you will forgive me as I may find myself fumbling a bit with a proper format that I'd like to approach this with. I am going to do what I feel like would be most comfortable to me and attempt to explain, in my own words based on the notes I've taken elsewhere, a basic summary of the subject. This will be primarily for my own benefit as, if I feel like I can explain a subject with a reasonable amount of confidence, it can basically show that I kind of understand the subject material.

In the case of these Post-Learning Summaries, I encourage people to read what I have to say in my summaries and correct me where I am wrong so that I am not committing bad knowledge to memory.

Thoughts About Today's Lesson

What is Programming?

So first, what IS programming? We learned that Programming is a form of collaboration between human programmers and computers. The programmer first works out a set of instructions they wish to tell the computer to perform. Then, those instructions are then translated by the coder into a programming language the computer can understand. Finally, the computer executes the instructions as translated by the coder.

Computers are very literally minded and require a lot of context for things human beings might take for granted. Humans have the capability to think creatively and beyond the scope of what they know. A computer is only really able to understand a very limited number of things by comparison.

Humans can communicate through inference, they can understand things that may not be quite spelled out for them. Computers are very literal and must be told things literally for them to comprehend the instructions given to them.

Humans can discern vague patterns in information where as a computer might need the pattern to be far more precise. However, a computer can calculate information far, far more quickly than a human mind.

Humans can be inconsistent in their thinking, often doing the same process over and over, but with several slight variations. A computer is consistent to a fault unless directed otherwise and will always perform the same instructions precisely and to the letter.

A human mind can become fatigued with repetitive processes, requiring fresh stimulation to reinvigorate it. As long as a computer has the energy it requires, it can process things over and over, regardless of what they are, and never really require that added stimulation.

What Does a Software Engineer Do?

Next, we went into the basics of the basics of what a Software Engineer actually does. in essence, they are an Engineer that specializes in Software. Now, this may sound tautological, but if we look at what an Engineer typically does, they're a person who applies knowledge and experience to solve problems. For a computer engineer, this means innovating in the field of robotics or computer chips. For a chemical engineer, it may involve discovering and applying knowledge of chemistry to develop new forms of chemicals (pharmaceutical researchers come to mind).

And, of course, a Software Engineer is much the same. And one thing that is stressed in what I was told, and it sounds very accurate to what I have come to assume, is that any and all knowledge that I will learn through CodeAcademy, any and all college courses I take on the subject, and any further knowledge I glean up until I get into my chosen career will all be baseline knowledge. That means that, when I get into my chosen career, I will be using all of my knowledge of programming and coding to, essentially, build the foundation for the actual knowledge I will need to succeed in my career as I will be required to specialize even further in my chosen field by learning from veterans in that field. Further still, I will not truly know everything I need to know and will have to apply a lot of trial and error into my own thinking in order to develop new systems.

What are the Differences Between Front-End and Back-End Engineering?

Finally, for today, we learned about the basic differences between Front-End and Back-End Engineering.

Back-End Engineering is typically focused server side, how a server might store information in a database, for example. On the other end of that, Front-End Engineering is typically focused client side, how a user might interact with the server and display information from the server in a way the user can understand.

I was also encouraged by the lesson to learn a fair bit about Web Development languages, prioritizing HTML and CSS, then going into Javascript, and if I want to work on server infrastructure, SQL. I was encouraged to try Web Development because it is a universally helpful skill across a large number of fields and applications!

Final Thoughts

I am certain that these will get much, much longer and I will see about optimizing formatting in some way. I may attempt to do code blocks and, perhaps, look into embedding code blocks into code blocks somehow or.... I have no idea. But I will most assuredly figure it out!

It is almost 11PM here where I am as I finish up writing this post, but I wanted to say that this summary was actually kind of enjoyable to do and I hope to continue to do these before and after I tackle a subject! As today is Sunday, I will have some things I will need to take care of right on Monday, so it may take some time for me to get my Pre-Learning post out tomorrow, but I will make every effort to do so!

Once again, I want to thank you all very much for reading any of this and I also want to, once again, urge anyone who did to point out any errors in my information as well as, if you so desire, point out some style optimizations in the delivery of this post in particular!

Anyway, I gotta go to sleep, but I'll see you all tomorrow for some more learning! Until next time, Take care!

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Day 1 Start!

Logan McLaughlin — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 14:30:10 +0000

Hey everybody! My name is Logan McLaughlin and today I start my journey down the road of my Software Engineering education, hopefully getting off that road near the end onto the Game Development career track!

Who Am I?
Closing Remarks
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Who Am I?

I am 32 years old and am a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I have some small prior experience with pseudocode from both a previous (admittedly failed) foray into college as well as growing up using old game making programs such as RPG Maker 2000 and 2003, which is what truly got me into wanting to make Game Development my desired career track!

I do understand that, as it stands now, Game Development can be a very competitive field and, depending on the company, can also be a very toxic work environment. However, I do intend to field my options and plan accordingly when the time comes!

Closing Remarks

Thank you all very much for your time! With these posts, I hope to make, bare minimum, a morning post akin to this where I detail some of my basic relevant thoughts on my chosen profession as well as things I have learned in prior days and weeks, while also making post-session entries summarizing and affirming the relevant lessons I feel I have learned that day. I will certainly not always be successful in this endeavor, but I do honestly wish to try.

Thank you again, and I hope to see you all when I've finished some basic lessons over at Codeacademy! Take care!

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