A week of JavaScript, going back to lectures and a sprinkle of sunshine.
So what did week 5 look like?
Are we getting really stuck in now?
Last week we bid farewell to our Programming Foundations module and embarked on Programming Fundamentals. The parts of this module are JavaScript Basics, Intro to Test-drive Development (TDD) and Object Orientated Programming.
JavaScript Basics has consisted of two lectures over our evening sessions, covering information about how JavaScript came to be the programming language it is today, primitive data types, operators, functions, control-flow, objects, arrays and loops. A lot of this was familiar in some form to me, but it is a little different applying it in class than through a platform such as freeCodeCamp or Codecademy. I guess that’s why you do a bootcamp!
These were also our first formal lectures. Up until this point, most of our virtual classroom time had been taken up with support on our website project. To me, this signifies a clear shift in our learning and the programme. It is a challenge to focus from 18:30 – 21:30, take notes you can interpret the next day, ask and answer questions and be present. I have settled into my own routine of notetaking, which is to do it very messily on lined paper during the lecture and then transferring that to an A4 notepad the next day. I find this helps to reinforce my learning.
Our practical exercise this week was in the form of several katas, with tests. Katas in programming are exercises specifically designed to help programmes develop their skills through repetition. I believe the term in programming was first coined in the late 90s, building on the Japanese martial arts concept. You can see the repository we have been working on at the Manchester Codes GitHub , or you can investigate Code Wars for some serious kata exposure.
This was also my first experience of pair-programming. Pair-programming is when one programmer is the ‘driver’ and one is the ‘navigator’. The driver is tasked with writing the code and the navigator observes and reviews each line of code. My buddy and I utilised VS Live Share to do this in VS Code and apart from some Wi-Fi blips it was a great experience. It was also the most brain work I have had to do in sometime and after an afternoon I was completely tired out. It felt truly positive to work together, learn from each other and celebrate the successes together. The tiredness was worth it!
This week we start on TDD, which is unchartered waters so watch this space to see how I get on!
Routine…or rigidity?
Something I have considered a lot this past week is my own routine. As a professional personal assistant, I run a very organised work week, which follows enough patterns for consistency but with enough flexibility to account for change. Any PA will tell you this is an art form and a developed skill; walking the line between routine and rigidity. A large part of my job is being agile and proactive enough to anticipate and deal with last minute changes or unprecedented events (cheers, COVID!). When we went into lockdown this skill was tested and when I went into a panicked anxious headspace last week, it was tested even more.
A good routine can do wonders for the mind, body and soul. Especially if you are now working from home, which I am. It is important to make sure I sleep and eat well, see the outdoors, maybe even another person!
Due to lockdown, our exposure and chance for spontaneity and off-the-cuff plans has been much reduced. As I came out the other side of a particularly dark week, I came to the realisation I was only focussed on all the things I felt I should be doing with this time that COVID has ‘gifted’ me.
I appreciate the irony of this train of thought in a blog post about a part-time bootcamp I am undertaking on top of my fulltime job.
After speaking to a very supportive colleague about my struggles and how I felt I should be fulfilling this and that, she fixed me with a very teacher-esque look and said, “When was the last time you got up and had a random dance?” There was a very awkward silence. She followed this up with, “When was the last time you belly-laughed?” And I really couldn’t answer her. I had got out of the habit of doing things simply for laughs and enjoyment. This was quite a difficult thing to face, because I am usually a very cheerful and good-natured person, who finds lots of things funny and is, frankly, quite silly.
So, my routine now includes my work, exercise and bootcamp time, and what has been termed “sunshine time”. This is something for just pure fun, not to improve myself, or widen my horizons, but to make me smile, feel happy and laugh. I am trying to move away from the rigidity of what I should be doing, and back to an independent flexible routine, while having a random dance every now and again!
Here’s to week 6 of bootcamp (with a bit more sunshine!)
My Key Take Aways
Explore your own resources – Lectures go past quickly, with a lot of information in a condensed space of time. There is an expectation and probably a need that you go away and supplement this with your own learning. You might find the explanation that makes it all fall into place.
Buddy up – if you can, when you are learning anything new, or find a community around the skill / area. If that’s not possible just share it with your nearest and dearest. Just talking about your newly acquired knowledge will help cement it in your mind, plus you can share joys and frustrations.
Change it up! – Have you been doing the same five activities since March? This weekend my housemate and I went to a pottery painting cafe and we felt much better for it! I’d never been before, and it was a welcome, creative break from the computer. A change is as good as a rest, so they say and I did some excellent revision and code practise when I came back.