Code Goals
- What has your experience learning to code been like so far? What would you change about it?
my experience has been just short of overwhelming, which isn’t a bad thing. stressful, yes. i have probably learned more in one week than any other of my life, not counting “imprint” moments such as learning how real the easter bunny apparently isn’t. it’s a cycle of moments where i learn how little i understand and how helpless i feel to put it all together, followed by a eureka moment and finally putting it all together. i definitely feel an empowering sense of accomplishment at the end of every cycle, and i can only hope to maintain this cycle unto a fulfilling career at the end of the tunnel. i will say web development has a much stronger flavor of “advertising” and “marketing” than i can say i’m comfortable with. hopefully this subsides and i can find more fulfilling avenues for my talents. as for what i’d change about the class/course itself? definitely the “syllabus” / textbook and its organization — the content is great. also, it feels like the class would hugely benefit from a second instructor who doesn’t necessarily teach the course but can step in for one-on-one sessions once hands-on/project time starts for the day. the course can really slow to a halt when nearly all 10 students are at a loss.
2. How to you describe the DOM, as you know it so far?
the dom, or document object model, is the final product of the html/css/and javascript elements/styles/functions that comprise the website. it is like a “tree” where every “object” (the html/css/javascript elements and functions) is represented as a “node” on the tree. so the html is like the trunk, the branches like html elements with “children” and “grandchildren” branches/elements that finalize into the smallest parts such as a <p> tag and its container/content (these smallest parts kind of like the leaves of the tree). these “leaves,: and every other object on the tree, represents a node. this just represents my current understanding, and does not encompass nearly the complexity the DOM truly represents. for me its basically just the html/css/javascript structure at the heart of a webpage, and that’s probably good enough for now.
3. Can you explain the difference between coding a website to be responsive and using a mobile-first strategy?
if i’m being honest, the “-first” suffix seems to imply a responsive website, as whatever comes second would be responding to a media query in order to display the “tablet-second” or “desktop-third” version of the website. but perhaps you mean designing a mobile website vs a website that actually responds to the different devices it can be viewed on, and proportions its content accordingly. in either case, a responsive website would depend on the media query response, and essentially represents two or more, effectively separate versions of the same website.
4. What does coding look like to you in your mind?
coding in my mind definitely looks exactly like the cascading binary code from The Matrix.
5. Where do you see yourself working in 365 days from today? What do you want to be working on?
unfortunately i kind of see myself working for the marketing division of some company on some product that i really couldn’t care less about. but even if that’s true, it isn’t the worst thing in the world. i would aim to use it as an opportunity to sharpen my skills enough so that i can eventually work on something great. or maybe i could work for a company with a vision more in-line with my own (nothing overtly specific at the moment). and a number of things could qualify as “in-line with my vision” — something as simple as my favorite sports team’s website, or the website/app of a company whose products i at least somewhat admire, or even better some kind of website that aims to help people find music they enjoy… or some kind of useful app… or even less likely, code the physics of a game engine or something of that sort such as the animations (without actually animating anything) or whatever other coding is required for a stellar video game experience (tight 2d platformers or side-scrolling action games with lush animations come to mind… intuitive combat… whatever the coding that goes into capturing that “perfect feel” of classics like super mario world, castlevania:symphony of the night, street fighter 3, mega man x, newer titles like dead cells and hollow knight, the combat of games like devil may cry 3… i’m getting carried away! especially since it’s rather unrealistic to even hope to work on such titles (or maybe not! i really don’t know what the scope of their work is in order to program such experiences (talk about a UX!). and i really don’t know if having that intuitive “feeling” of a “tight” physics system has much value or translates at all to the actual creation of said systems. in any case, that probably wouldn’t be in 365 days! but it’ll be cool to be introduced to, or introduce myself to, the language where such magic happens (C++ i presume). maybe i’ll quickly realize such tasks are too artistic and complex in scope. but any kind of control/direction over such programming sounds exciting at least.
realistically though, i see myself aiming for a position around **-***k/year and an upward trend toward 6 figures with the necessary hard work. or maybe starting out a bit less but with a more promising endgame. i know i’m starting late in an industry dominated by motivated youth, but i feel like there’s plenty of room on the digital horizon for everyone’s visions to be realized with the requisite hard work and focus.
