Things are getting real. I mean literally: I am building my first Ruby on Rails (RoR) app. Ok, it's just a sample app, made by following along Michael Hartl's Rails Tutorial. It is a simple Twitter clone, but it's a real app nonetheless.
This tutorial takes you from a blank slate, all the way to deploying a finished, working product. It teaches test-driven-development, version control with git, setting up a development environment, Ruby, Rails, etc, etc. Every section of every chapter subtly reminds me of the massive amount of information I still have yet to learn. There are links to almost every topic that is covered that he expects someone like me to not understand. At first, this was a bit annoying and seemed cumbersome. Turns out I truly appreciate the thoroughness and consideration.
Aside from the tutorial, I am working on a couple of projects using WordPress. While these websites are relatively simple and I do not plan on mastering PHP, they are still great exercises in understanding file structure. Also, there is plenty of HMTL and CSS practice to be had. I am also making money while I learn to code, which is pretty sweet!
As if my plate was not overly full already, I finally found a fellow programmer in training who is willing to take Harvard's CS50 course on EDX with me. CS50 is an introduction to computer science course. I have to say this is extremely exciting because I believe that in order to ever be a great programmer, I need to learn the fundamentals of computer science. Ideally, I will get much further into this topic than just the fundamentals -but this is a good start, as far as I'm concerned.
I have been wanting to take this course for a while now, but after looking over the course syllabus and watching the first few lectures, I felt strongly (it is recommended) that two should play this game. Well, thank you Salem Hamidi! Turns out I went to high school and played baseball with him, and he is also an aspiring programmer. I won't put his life story on here, but props are due. Thank you sir!
If it seems like I have a lot going on, that's because I do. I also have a life to live, believe it or not. But right now becoming a software engineer is a high priority, and sacrifices have to be made sometimes. Until this point in my life, my priorities were all out of whack. Sometimes I feel like I wasted a lot of time and didn't think about my future enough. But then I remember: I actually thought about my future quite a bit, I just didn't do anything about it.
Today, me and my brain are working on a better future for the both of us.
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