Grimm Outlook for the Week

Here's a roundup of what I'll be working on for the next week, plus other miscellaneous items of interest. Brought to you from my back patio on a perfect 80℉ day in Baltimore, while sipping a Goose Island IPA.

Code Stuff:

• I'm starting to learn Elixir. Some resources to help me get up to speed before the next Baltimore Elixir Meetup on June 26th, plus a tutorial to build a project:

  • Elixir School - First 7 sections of the Basics to get a feel for the language.
  • Elixir Koans - First 7 sections to practice coding/making tests pass.
  • This dev.to article on Pattern Matching from Kate Travers, which I understand is a key feature in Elixir: Pattern Matching in Elixir
  • I began this 10-part tutorial from Brain Emory Elixir Phoenix: Creating An App With Tests last week and have finished with setup and the first 3 parts. I hope to finish the next 4 parts. It uses the Phoenix framework, the YouTube API, and the TailwindCSS framework for design & layout.

• To keep up on my React & CSS skills, I plan to finish my wedding website. I feel like I'm 75% finished. Images are tough, but I just found this tool that I hope will help out.

• I recently downloaded "The Road to React with Firebase" from Robin Wieruch, who has an excellent blog, for a modest Patreon donation. I'm interested in learning Firebase, so I'm eager to start this. I plan to get through the first 50 pages, which would bring me to the end of the Firebase Authentication API section.

• I want to set up a React Native project using this video from Spencer Carli at Handlebar Labs. My idea for a mobile app is one where you would take a photo of a cocktail menu, and it would parse out the name and ingredients, which you could save as a favorite and add to a database for every user to pull from.

• I'm still in search of a job - had 2 interviews this past week, with one coming up this week. Some articles I recommend for a refresher and to prepare for interviews:

  • Learn Enough React for the Interview
  • JavaScript Engines: How Do They Work?
  • React Redux Tutorial for Beginners: The Definitive Guide (2019)
  • JavaScript Prototypes, A Pocket Reference
  • Frequently asked: Node JS Interview Questions and Answers

From the Twitters

• document.designMode - did not know this was a thing!
• I hate when 'foo' and 'bar' are used for variables! Good advice here to eliminate that practice.
• CSS Grid Generator tool

Interesting Non-Coding Stuff

• Fascinating article about The World's Greatest Art Thief
• Community Solutions' Built for Zero initiative helping to end homelessness is highlighted in this article
• Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tomorrow. Here's an oral history of the best goaltending performance in playoff history from Dominic Hasek 25 years ago. The rookie in the other net wasn't too bad either!
• Airless car tires!
• Ahead of this week's US Open at Pebble Beach, a few links:
  • Retrospective on Tiger's dominant, record-breaking 2000 win (from The Golf Channel)
  • A year earlier, one of the best US Open finishes was turned in by Payne Stewart, 4 months before he died in a plane crash. An interview with the author of a book about Stewart.

That's it for this week! I hope to make this a weekly series.