Life with Las B...

When television was about coming out, people were against it as they thought it would replace radio. It's 2023, and we still have radio stations.  Even with the advent of YouTube and Podcasting, newsreporters and radio anchors still have their jobs very much active. If anything, YouTube and other channels amplified the efficiency with which they disseminated information. Before the internet and subsequently Google mail, people had to handwrite their letters and wait for months before their post delivered. Gmail and like products put an end to that. But we are still writing letters via email. Even with logistics delivery. It used to take longer. Now, I'm hearing drones are delivery it with speed. Let's back up a bit to writing. Before the advent of the television, copywriters had to wait for months before they can deduce the success of their ads because they did door-to-door mail. Eventually, they made do with television adverts with shorter timespan. Now, Facebook and Googl...

Now, let me narrate my little experience in this tech industry. I met a lady on LinkedIn when I started learning Frontend development in December 2021. Barely 2 months later, she called me and said she had an internship opening and if I knew JavaScript so she'd refer me. I didn't, so I declined. She proceeded to give me a roadmap whenever I sent her update on what I was learning. She encouraged me to start learning React immediately I understood the basics of JavaScript so I'd be employable. Also, I was tryna learn a concept in JavaScript testing and chatted up another friend I'd met on LinkedIn. He added my email to a paid course he bought. He is always like - Calm down. Don't force yourself into understanding every topic. Give it time, you'll grab these concepts soon I signed up for 2 coffee sessions with a different guy on LinkedIn. And he gave me some feature ideas for my project which I eventually implemented and impressed my interviewers during my intervie...

So, I just started reading this book - "Forget a mentor. Find a sponsor" and it's just eye opening on the stack differences between mentorship and sponsorship. I do feel every one of us aiming to progress in the corporate sector should read it  With the depicted example, I like to think of Harvey Specter and Mike in Suits If you watched suits, Harvey wasn't exactly about all the advice with Mike. He gives him challenges, and emboldens him to take up more roles. But most importantly, he staked his reputation on Mike. Even going as far as telling Jessica, that if she sacks Mike, he is going with him. That's sponsorship. Not necessarily Mentorship.

 When I watched a lesson on JavaScript reduce method and heard the instructor say it's one of the hardest, I simply shrugged - "meh" That's because at first, I understood the basic mechanism. It reduces the values in the parameters to a single digit. Simple right? Nope!  A few JavaScript exercises later and I'm nearly smacking my head against the wall - "I can't seem to understand this reduce method anymore." Thanks to web development simplified, I finally got the gist So here's a simple function to use reduce function reduceArr((){ }) This can accept 4 parameters. But for purposes of clarity, let's start with the commonly used. 2 parameters alone So, function reduceArr ((total, iteration) { }, initalElement) So, this method accepts a callback function and another parameter. The last parameter is the starter "total" That's, it's the element that will be the initial total in the first iteration. Which is usually zero . So, i...

 So, this time last week, I managed to create a calculator programme I didn't start off planning to build the programme I was solving basic JavaScript exercises online So I was sorta getting a little hang over it. And I came across an exercise that requires to take a value from an input, and multiply and divide with the value from the second input I solved it It immediately struck me. Like an Eureka moment "Chinenye, this is actually building a program from scratch without help or tutorial " So I decided to expand on it. And make the code more readable. Also added more features of addition and subtraction Then I used CSS to design it. I was so ecstatic that I shared with some people - My brother, Sandra, Ebube, Afoma  I only wanted to share with those people And that was it. Of course, the program is basic. And I'm nowhere as proficient as a lotta people But, I feel so validated that I actually have a shot in this industry So here is the link if you want to check it o...

I've always prided myself in knowing how to use Google So when I was finding git incredibly difficult, I felt like a dunce. Like I didn't know anything Last week, I was desperately reaching out to the GenZTechies group, asking for help I didn't even know how to push my forked repo to the main branch When I managed to push the folder I pushed it to the main folder, instead of inside the component folder within the main folder And the coordinators said I didn't do it well, and to redo it I felt humiliated I was browsing up and down Watched several YouTube videos Deleted my commits Started again Deleted again Phew Finally, I got a guideline that helped me with checking the git status and uploading the specific folder This is the link, you should definitely check it out. It's most helpful -   Now, after I'd gotten 2 more tasks, I'm getting the hang over what " git status " and the specific folders to add Plus, the other git commands Another episode tha...

You can only become an expert if you continue practising and have a healthy mental state Yesterday proved that to me I was frustrated yesterday at home.  So, when I picked up the laptop to contribute to my tasks in the (currently secret) Open source project, I just couldn't do it. I wasn't even understanding the code by the previous contributor So here's what happened.  There are SVG files. And instead of adding the SVG to their specific folder so it can be reusable, the guy just copied it straight to the HTML file. And he tried to make it responsive as well Simply put, it just wasn't working well I couldn't grasp it I figured I'd better copy the similar codes that others contributed.  Still, it wasn't corresponding and the half of the divs  remained invisible  Which I figured is because he tried to make it more responsive on mobile I was irritated. The SVGs properties took up a large space. And they were confusing me I told myself that if I try it again tod...

 The first month - Taking Introduction to computer science by Freecodecamp and Cs50 Warning - Yes, you'll feel dumb 90% of the time. You'd probably grasp one or two concepts. Then forget them the next day Then start the first language of your choice.  Code along with the teacher from the very first day Why? Because you'd be in motion.  Your enthusiasm rises by doing.  You may not know why they're using some concepts, might even seem gibberish to you. Hell, you'd encounter several bugs. My advise is "shut down the laptop" on those days. Probably skip the project onto the next one but code along with them still. After coding along, browse about the concepts individually What this does is "it recalls your mind to the specific time you used the concept in your code" Even though you may not know how it actually works So, code along.  Then watch the videos without coding along. Try and recreate some parts of the video Remember, it's not necessary t...

I finally grasped the difference between array methods Split and Join today Both accept arguments However, split( ) divides the string into array while join( ) , adds the array back to a string So how are they used? Suppose you want to run an array method on a string. Something like filter( ) or map( ) There are three steps to make this work 1. Split the string first into arrays 2. Work the solution using the array methods 3. Then join back together as a string Common syntax is: someStr.split(" ") - divides this string into an array someArr.join(" ") - joins the array together to a string Koddess

 forEach method accepts function that inputs each element in an array For... Of It is a block scope concept in JavaScript. It allows for iteration by use of bracket and curly braces. For... In Used in reference to iterating objects

Why ever did you second guess your ability, Chinenye? You see, Learning is a journey. After months of getting stuck with a function that accepts 2 parameters in Grasshopper app, I finally completed it yesterday What was the difference? My mind had become accustomed to what was required of me. I wasn't then tryna place why a function should accept arguements, and whether the arguements are actually placeholders My task now is simple -  Decipher the logic And do the code exercises using the hint And for that, I'm immensely grateful for growth. For learning. And assimilation . It's somewhat difficult for me at times (like the codebubb exercise I did today and was didn't know I should convert the string to array before proceeding But like I always say - The same way you didn't know how to add an image to your html file, same way you couldn't link your stylesheet and font awesome Same way Variable didn't just make sense to you. And now they all do make sense to y...

  Emphasis on Intrapreuneurship. Yup, carry out internal projects. And while at that, why not have a flexible schedule and remote work!!  I've always maintained I'd rather be a Sheryl Sandberg than a Mark Zuckerberg.  Yes, I will be a c-suite executive of course. But I don't want the burden of the oga kpata kpata.  Gimme my salary. Lemme invest in stocks and bonds (and Crypto). I don't have strength for entrepreneurship and raising funding. At least not yet

So, I really want to talk about crossing the bridge from tutorial hell to programming Now, as someone who started actively JavaScript in February, I'm nowhere near an expert But I can guarantee that what you're about to read will help you finally start solving coding exercises and coding from scratch So, every newbie coder experiences this.  After taking tutorials, and learning about the syntaxes in a language. If you're like me, you probably coded along with a teacher. However, when it comes to your turn to create something, from the scratch, it's as though your brain is blank Now, the first thing you'd definitely see online when you browse how to be a problem solver is they'll tell you to " divide the problem into smaller problems " and then " Create a pseudo code for the problems" That's it. You're not told the next step. You're abandoned to figure out the next line of action. Expert coders may not even realize when they finall...

If you want to create a new variable by making adjustments to an initial variable, you can use the map method to do so The map method can be used in an array of just strings, or even array of objects So this is how it works - Let's say you have an array (of numbers) saved into a variable called "wholeNums" const wholeNums = [1,2,3,4,5]; And you want to return each of the elements, but multiplied into 3 This is how the map method works with it -  Step 1 You create a new variable for it and call the map method to the initial variable const newWholeNums = wholeNums.map( ) Step 2 Inside the map, you have to add a callback function. Basically, add argument that you want to run inside the map method. So it becomes this -  const newWholeNums = wholeNums.map(function ( ) { }) Step 3 Now, this function is supposed to have an argument to represent each of the elements in the wholeNums array const newWholeNums = wholeNums.map(function (nums ) { }) Step 4 This is where we add the ...

 Remember when I said I couldn't deploy my website to Netlify So, I was awake last night (today's midnight actually), and I'd wanted to download some videos per my YouTube night plans I figured I'd find some video solutions on how to deploy the site The solution I found suggested to add - CI= npm run build I wanted to leave it till morning. But I decided not to procrastinate and do it again I excitedly booted my laptop. Logged in to my Netlify account. And... It didn't work, again. I wanted to sleep.  But browsed around more on the community portal, and stack overflow. They all suggested the CI= npm run build command I was about to give up and came across an article  Apparently, you can manually deploy your site just by drag-and-drop method with the folder And you wouldn't believe it, I did that. And deployed 2 websites (the sparkle clone, and the softcom clone) I checked it out on my screen, they weren't looking too well. I left it for this morning. Grate...

  For the pause and play button You create a button with 3 items inside 1. A span with a play text 2. A span with a pause text 3. A span with no text inside but has a class of "switch" Now, the third empty span will be styled differently in the stylesheet. And can be placed as an absolute of 50% of the button container. It can also have a different colour What happens is that it covers either the pause, and play span Then you get to the JavaScript You add an event listener, to when the button is clicked, then a new class will be added to the spans in the button. Or you can toggle it. For instance -  button.addEventListener('click', function ( ) {         if (span !contains('slide')) {      span.classList.add('slide')      } else {       span.classList.remove('slide')      } }) Now, in your CSS file, the "slide" class to be added will be styled together with the "switch" class already in...

They said that learning is fully understood when you either teach to other people. Or when you verbalize it. Basically, it forces your brain to be active about learning, and enunciating what you'd learnt properly And that's exactly what happened today as I'd been learning toggling So this is what I understand -  1. You have a button that you want to add an event listener to Let's call the function - menuIcon const menuIcon = document.querySelector('.menu-icon'); 2. After adding the event listener to the button, you create a function menuIcon.addEventListener('click', function ( ) {    *The function goes in here* } 3. This function role is to toggle between a class. 4. Preferably, you'd have 2 classes in place. Let's call them, "hide-links" and "show-links" 5. The " hide-links " is in the html file already and styled in the stylesheet. And for the most part, it's probably displaying " none " or " h...

I know, I have not garnered the expertise YET That I'm very much, still a beginner in web development But it doesn't make me feel any less sad. Because when I follow along tutorials, I grasp what the instructor is doing. And I code along with them However, when push comes to shove (as it did this afternoon, I'm stuck) However, I'm not going to beat myself up, cos I actually succeeded in creating a toggle on the DOM And I'd been wrapping my head around how I did those.  Of course, I know this is a progress, and I tried. And I created something without following along instructions. I'm just recording this here, so I'd reminisce over how I'd felt. At how "slow" I'd felt at this point, this day. I still have a long way to go. But I console myself with the fact that 5 months ago, I didn't know what the hell "a variable" was I was unable to link my stylesheet cos I didn't know how to add a folder A month ago, I didn't know h...

 I wanted to publish my finished Sparkle Nigeria homepage with Netlify. And I was momentarily taken back to when I was planning to use Netlify app. I don't understand how it works, YET I'd downloaded a YouTube video, and was following along with the guy. Until it got to the deployment part. His worked. Mine didn't. I searched the error message, and what I was seeing at the support forum was gibberish to me. Go figure. However, I'm not beating myself up. It just means I'm training my brain. The same way I drop sweat and my body feels exerted after a full yoga work out, that's how my brain is feeling.  It's a process. And one that reiterates to me that I have to learn git this May - unfailingly

  Remote working is the future of majority of jobs. Of course, we still need physical meetings. They are important to brainstorm and all. But I forsee a 2 day work week, and other times remotely Emphasis on flexible work schedule. A dream for introverted folks like me. And also allowing us to travel, be with family, be present for the kids, and enjoy high income salary (without motigbeshona speakers yapping about Being your own boss) And also for the companies: saving cost of electricity, WiFi, etc.  A win-win in all situation How do you think Kuda and Standard Chartered bank afford free charges? It's cos they don't have to up 5 physical banks in Nigeria. It's remote, now and always