DEV Community: Emmanuel Temitope

Exceeding Expectations: GDSC RUN's Inaugural Physical Event and My Debut Tech Talk

Emmanuel Temitope — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 12:31:09 +0000

Imagine expecting 20-30 people at your event, but over 50 amazing people showed up - that's exactly what happened at our first GDSC RUN, physical meetup!

Earlier this month, Google Developer’s Student Clubs Redeemer’s University (GDSC RUN) held its first physical event and I gave my first Tech Talk.

The theme of the event was Choosing your Tech Track

The Origin

In my first year (200lvl or sophomore year) in RUN (Redeemer’s University), I didn’t notice a heavy tech presence and most people I met who wanted to get into tech weren’t sure where to start or how.

The Idea

So, this burden led to our desire to help people make the right choices. Most importantly, we aimed to create a large community where we could connect, network, and learn across various niches, from Engineering and Design to Product, etc.

That was where the idea of bringing GDSC into RUN came from.

The Journey begins

I started doing my research into how I could make this possible and that was how I met my current Lead, Rejoice Oguntunwase.

He had similar ideas and we decided to push for it. Fast forward, 6-7 months later, Rejoice was selected to be the Lead and I was offered the Co-Lead which I gladly accepted. It was an opportunity to start something great.

We started by forming our core team consisting of 7 other members, we had our onboarding session and from there we held several virtual events.

Impact?

We had resumed fully, it was January (2024) and we needed to start making an impact before our tenure was over. We had a couple of meetings and decided to start with educating people about the Tech Tracks, both code and non-code opportunities and how to choose.

Yes, this could be checked online, but we were also going to create a platform for them to learn some of these tracks and connect with others in the community physically. So we planned to have the event in February but had to move the date due to reasons beyond our control. So we concluded on March.

Exceeding Expectations

March (2024) came in a flash. Since most inaugural events don’t attract a large number of attendees, we weren’t expecting many people to be there. In addition, exams were starting the following week, and it was on a Saturday after the Holy Ghost Congress (HGC).

We weren't expecting a large turnout (20-30 attendees) since the HGC ended around 3 am, and people might still be resting at 10 am when the event was scheduled.

I kid you not, we had over 50+ people in attendance. I was even hoping more people wouldn’t arrive because we were already spending out of our budget, which we had contributed to the event and we wanted everyone to go back with the best experience they could have. We were overjoyed! 🥺

My First Talk

I also went for the HGC the night before and returned to my hostel around 4 am. So I could only get 3 hours of sleep to ensure things went as planned and finalise my slides.

I was the 3rd speaker and came up just after our Event Coordinator had spoken about non-code opportunities in Tech. I gave a 15-20mins talk on Backend Development, I

told a short story about how I started
explained what Backend Development meant with real-life examples
described what you’d be doing as a backend developer
mentioned the possibility of combining it with other tracks, and
concluded and answered a couple of questions

Unfortunately, due to power issues, I couldn’t use my engaging slides with a couple of on-point Layi Memes 😅

——

We were so excited that our first Physical event was beyond our expectations.

After the event, people stayed around for a while and connected. Some who weren’t on the community’s platform also joined.

Someone even came to me and said I had inspired him to embark on the Backend Development journey. It filled my heart with happiness.

We hope to continue making an impact and can’t wait to do more.

Please follow us on the following socials, as we journey on and strive to make an impact
LinkedIn
Instagram
Twitter

It is safe to say, I crashed my bed after the event.

Thanks for your support as always.
TechEmmy ✌️

Growth in 2024 and onwards

Emmanuel Temitope — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 09:09:21 +0000

‘Consistently punch above your weight’ - As Prosper Otemuyiwa advised when I was graduating with a Diploma in Software Engineering mid-last year.

It’s a new year, we’ve celebrated, rejoiced and made resolutions.

Sometimes, punching above your weight can be scary because it means doing what you haven’t done before, embracing uncertainties and coming out of your comfort zone.

As much as that sounds exhilarating (at least to me), it can be scary because it often necessitates making sacrifices to do what you haven’t done before.

Sometimes there are risks to it, but just like the forerunners always say, take risks, it’s worth it.

Yet, that just means, we should go ahead and take those steps to improve ourselves. Yes, examining carefully, I see that the only thing that happens really when you punch above your weight is you become better; growth.

Moreover, I’m no senior in my career to say all this I’ve written above is correct, but it was typed from my heart and concerns.

These are the concerns of a young Software Developer who wants to be good at everything he puts his hands or efforts into with the pressure of being the best at it. And who also wants to explore new ideas and be super knowledgeable about them at the same time.

I guess being excellent and mastering different subjects simultaneously is a marathon, not a sprint. We would have to realise that it takes time and dedication. A year wouldn’t be enough.

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men” - Prov 22:29

I have just typed this as it weighed on my mind and have come to a resolution that I might not be able to take everything on in a year, but I can choose which of the weights above me I want to punch. These weights would be determined by my goals for the quarters and the years ahead.

I might be the only one with these thoughts, and if I’m not, I hope it helps someone out there.

Remember, Progress might take measured risks and be open to learning along the way.

Happy New Year 🎉.
Set milestones for each quarter and the years ahead, for it's an unceasing journey of growth and achievement.

Have a fruitful year ✨

SQL or NoSQL - How to choose the suitable one for you

Emmanuel Temitope — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:59:17 +0000

Introduction

I'm going to start by giving examples of SQL and NoSQL databases.

SQL is short for Structured Query Language. They are used by relational databases.
Examples of relational databases are IBM, Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQLServer and PostgreSQL. They are the same as RDBMS (Relational Database Management System).

NoSQL is called non-relational, "no SQL", or "not only SQL".
Examples include MongoDB, CouchDB, CouchBase, Cassandra, HBase, Redis, Riak, Neo4J, DynamoDb, e.t.c

Getting into it 🚀

Features

Often, when you search for the differences between these two, you don't understand it 😥 because of the grammar used to explain it (i mean, we're not experts yet 🤷‍♀️). So let's simplify those grammar and choose the right database for you 😁.

SQL FEATURES

SQL uses the SQL language syntax which includes SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE statements.
These relational database examples have the same shared syntax, some of them might add additional features on top of it. Generally, they all have very common functionalities
The data are laid out in tables with rows/records and columns/fields.
SQL databases are relational for the most part. For instance, tables in a database can be related to each other through primary keys.

NoSQL FEATURES

They don't follow the standard SQL language syntax.
They don't worry about relational data as much. They are can be used to store unstructured data.
The data are stored in documents as opposed to tables.
Note: Collections in NoSQL are equivalent to a table in SQL
Documents are equivalent to records in SQL.
There are no Ids or foreign keys linking tables together.
As mentioned earlier, they can be easily used to store unstructured data with the drawback of not being able to perform SQL operations like JOIN.

Easy so far, right?💪💪💪

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Okay. So, how do we choose now? 🤷‍♀️

SQL databases can be used when you have structured data and you want to keep the data structured while NoSQL can be used to store unstructured data.
SQL databases are great for making quicker complex queries on strictly monitored data. They can make complex queries or calls to the database faster, while NoSQL can write quicker to the database.
Some NoSQL database queries from the database are slower.
NoSQL databases are geared towards writing to the database faster. This is because the database does not check the structure of the data strictly when writing to it compared to SQL databases.
SQL rules with rows, columns and indexes make it much easier to know that the data in a database follows a specific format. It has a pre-defined/rigid schema while NoSQL is schemaless or they have a flexible schema, this means that your data do not have to follow a specific format indicating that different documents could look different depending on where you're pulling from.

Let me give you an example of the flexible Schema concept. So you don't get confused.
In a SQL database, let's say you create a database with a lastname field that's not required. A new user without a lastname in the database will still have the lastname column in the database, but with a value of null.
Whereas, NoSQL will discard the lastname field from the database if you don't give it a value. As I said, It can be used to store unstructured/semi-structured data.

Phew!!!!😅 So, let's get back.

If you've searched for this topic before, you have probably encountered this "NoSQL databases scale horizontally while SQL scales vertically". Well, that's true. NoSQL scales very well when they have a lot of people connecting to them at the same time compared to SQL. SQL is not very good at handling many connections as it has to perform strict checks on data before writing them. Note: NoSQL performs better here when it comes to reading and writing.

My Final thoughts and words 😇

NoSQL scales a bit better, but when you are scaling an app with strict requirements that you'll be reading from a lot, then SQL databases might be better. Even though it doesn't quite scale as nicely as NoSQL, it can still scale whilst still having the benefit of reading from it quicker and faster.

NoSQL is the option when you need to store unstructured data. For example, Settings for a user where some things are off, some things are toggled on or off. Instead of having a large number of columns, to keep track of some settings that we shouldn't, you can have a NoSQL database that handles the settings.

With all said, 😁 nothing stops you from using SQL and NoSQL for applications as long as you know what you're doing. As of the writing of this post, Netflix uses a SQL and NoSQL database. So it all depends on your needs.

Thanks for reading ❤️✌️

CURIOSITY - How it's crucial for you and I as developers

Emmanuel Temitope — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 10:45:25 +0000

I'm going to go straight to the point and drop no fluffs.

As developers, We should be curious about everything we encounter while learning. I believe it'll go a long way in our journey to building that first project, getting that first job or becoming world-class developers.

Recently, I got caught up in trying hard to get a job and building projects and dropped something that had always been part of me. I wasn't so concerned about the little things anymore. I just wanted to get things done.

Here's what happened.

I got a NodeJS task to solve a test that wasn't passing. I tried debugging this for almost 30 minutes till I took to Google and found that all I needed to do was to change a word. I just needed to change response.body to response.text.

If you're familiar with NodeJS, you'll know that res.send returns the content type of its return value in the response header automatically and res.end returns a text if you don't specify a content type in the header of your API.
Though both methods do the same thing, I could have easily solved this test error if I had just opened Google a few weeks ago and searched for the difference between res.end and res.send when I was still learning Node basics.

And all this boils down to being curious about the little things. If two things do the same thing, why not search for why both exist, if I can get the job done with one of them?

There is a high chance that there's a reason for it.
Also, it goes beyond the scope of what functions and methods do. Ask questions, stay curious, and always find out if there's a reason for something.

I hope this speaks to someone or helps someone.
Much love, guys, peace ❤️✌️

What APIs are really

Emmanuel Temitope — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 09:56:28 +0000

Today, I'm going to try to simplify what APIs are.

Over time, I've seen developers struggle to understand this concept (including myself).

Before going into the thread, pretend as if you're learning APIs for the first time and today might just be your day.

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other.

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Okay, relax😅; I know that's the exact explanation you've seen in many places. This is correct in every way, but it does not narrow down

Now, an API is a part of a server ⚙️ that receives requests and sends a response back to you when navigating a website. For instance, when you click🖱 on a login button, a request is sent with a response received in return. This response could be that your password is incorrect🚫, or you get logged in successfully✅ if the password is correct.

Here, the API is what checks if your password is correct or not. The button you clicked triggers a URL which is called the endpoint.

An endpoint gives you access to an API (a way of sending our inputs to the API). Simple, right?!🤔

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Note that we cannot access how the API does its thing.

Fun fact,🙃 The API is just some function connected to a URL/link (the endpoint) on the server-side code.

Here's another example🤗

Imagine you went to process an international passport. The woman👩‍🦰 you meet at the desk to whom you submit your document is like the endpoint↔️. She helps you take your document to who's going to process your document👨🏽‍💻. This way you don't get to meet 🚫 those processing the document. They are the API, they do the processing.

Your application for the passport either gets accepted😃 or rejected😞 based on the information📃 you provided, and that's based on certain standards.

The same with APIs, your request might not be accepted all the time if you do not meet the set rules and protocols 👮‍♂️ for the APIs, but that's nothing you should worry about now 😊.

So how does this relates to the initial definition you see all over? Here's it.

Let's say you're building a site that requires a user to put in their number so that you can send them a verification text message.

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Imagine, you have a friend (not necessarily a friend in real life) who built a site that can send text messages. Would you rather build that feature from scratch yourself or contact your friend? Of course💁, you'd contact him to make life easier for you.

To help you, something your friend can do is to create an API on his system/server with an endpoint that allows you to text messages 😃 but that's not enough😧.

What!😭😭 Wait, but why 🤷‍♂️?! To send a text message you need to provide a number and the message to send. Without sending these pieces of information to the API, you'd get an error. And that's because there is a protocol about what inputs are required and the result you'll get in return. So that's what the initial definition is passing across essentially, an API is a way for two systems to communicate with each other. PS: You might need an API key to access your friend's API if he doesn't want just anyone to use it.

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I could go more in-depth but I hope this makes you understand what APIs are or gives you an interface😉 to understand it better. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, if so, like this tweet so it can get to others who need it.

Here's a link to a list of public APIs, https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis.

Peace ✌️❤️