Projects

REACT-What's the hype?

Before I learned about react I was anxious to know how to use it since so many people hyped it up. For some reason, I thought that because people were so excited to talk about react, it correlated to being an easy framework to learn. However, it was not as easy as I thought it would be. However, don’t let this discourage you from learning React since we all pick up new subjects at a different pace. Plus, as long as you’re comfortable with Js then there’s no reason for anyone to not be able to pick up this framework.
One word to describe the process of React would be abstract. When I started using React I came to find out that even though it is still Javascript its a completely different way of creating web pages, letting you write up all your HTML and CSS within JS. What was most confusing to me was the idea of passing state to props. Once I figured out the difference between state, props and static props, as well as extracting each component to its own file, then it all clicked. What I came to realize is that components are simply just functions. Nav bars, footers, buttons get extracted to their own components/file and even though a Nav might not be functional we still implement it in its own component which is a representational function that renders itself. In other words, we put the Nav in its own functions which takes props aka parameters which are needed to build the Nav. We can think of props such as attributes. In order to build a common nav bar we need links such as home, blog, about. These 3 could be considered props which can be used to build the nav bar. The fact that each component needs to be extracted to its own file may sound like a lot of work at first but the cool thing about this is that each component can easily be reused throughout your app by simply importing your component wherever you want to use it.
But why even learn React other than it being a popular framework used by several companies? If you’re already comfortable with JS and want to make yourself more marketable when looking for a job, then React definitely won't hurt to have under your belt. What makes React so unique is that it saves a lot of loading time by incorporating a virtual dom (don't worry, even though this is a feature of React there's not much to know about the virtual dom, besides reaping its benefits) Anyways, the virtual dom only renders state(elements)that have been changed. For example, if your app makes an API call the page needs to reload with that new data. Without React all elements including images, Headers etc would need to reload, but with React only that new API element reloads. This is especially noticeable with huge apps, impacting both the User experience and overall performance on your app. If you are looking into learning react here's some common terminology/tools you’ll want to get to know. Besides youtube and Udemy I would recommend Wes Bos’ course on React.
React For Web- React's version of making web applications
React Native- React's version of making mobile applications
State- Data or elements that can change in the dom e.g user input API calls, images.
Props These can be considered as attributes when creating component.
Prop Types-Whenever components take in any prop, we can declare what kind of element we expecting to pass through from our Presentational Component. These can be functions, array, objects etc. Prop types are optional but are highly recommended to help other developers know what kind of elements can be passed through and will help prevent bugs.
Presentational Components- Components that are pertaining to how something is going to look. can also be considered as dummy components since they don't directly deal with state.
container Components- Components that pertain to how things work. They deal directly with state and end up rendering the final outcome of the component.
Pure Components- Goes along with Presentational component, only renders state that was updated
Class Components- Also goes along with Presentational component, renders all state within the component
React Router- A simple API which helps hook up our routes between different pages/components.
Babel- React is dependent on babel in order for us to be able to write HTML and CSS in Javascript.

Node, A JS Blessing.

Before I started working with Node I was so Oblivious to the backend and how powerful it was. I didn't Even know what An API was exactly. I knew it stood for an Application Processing Interface, but I wasn't able to dive deep into the topic. Once I created my first backend Application I was awed by node and its magic. Node is a runtime environment which easily gets confused with a framework or library. Node Allows us Javascript developers to write backend code with Javascript. Before Node, Javascript was only limited to front end development, making Node a pretty big deal for several reasons. First off all, we can create a full stack application using only one language, so theres no need to take extra time to learn PHP, Python or Java. All you need to do is npm i Node with a couple other packages and you're on your way! Ok, there's a bit of a learning curve, but since you already know Javascript you will at least be familiar with some of the syntax. If you're new to node or the backend in general, here are some terms you'll come across in the backend world.
HTTP-Short for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. We can create/update data on the client side through CRUD Methods including, GET, PUT, POST, DELETE and PATCH.
Express-A popular Node JS framework which allows us to create a server and and set up our CRUD methods. Here are some similar frameworks with different features.
Node Package Manager(NPM)-An ecosystem full of scripts that developers can share. If you're trying to code a common functionality for an app which you've see across different applications, chances are you can find it though the NPM website.
Module.exports-Allows us to organize our functions and easily inject them between other files.
Middleware-Functions that run in between calls made outside of our application. Middleware can be used to debugging and checking for Connection errors. For example If we are trying to connect to our database we can throw an error function that logs that theres a problem with with connecting.

Light Intro to Backend Development

Long story short Backend Development is working with databases and dealing with sending and receiving data(http requests), but if your want a bit more info please continue reading...
Before this year, I knew that when it came to web development, there are 3 types of developers: backend developers, front end developers and fullstack developers. While front end devs focus on making sites look pretty and everything HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Backend devs deal with JS algorithms as well as working with servers, including retrieving users names passwords and information that the website handles. This leads to us to the topic of HTTP Methods aka CRUD, which is short for 'create', read, update and delete. okay... but how is this used? Let's use Instagram for example since that's what us millennials are into. When we open up the app and go to the home page to look at everyone's post we tapping into Instagram's database and asking it to GET data for us, which means that the developers have to make a function that lists all of the new posts that our friends have posted when we click the home icon. Have you ever thought about what kind of method is used to 'upload' a picture? Well, when uploading or creating any kind of content for the world to see we use a POST method to send new information to the server. What about to delete? well, you guessed it DELETE. Another commonly used method would be PATCH, or PUT which wouldn't be used for a picture but for a comment. For example, you might have made typo; sometimes we might spell a word so wrong on our smartphone that autocorrect isn't even able to correct it. If you're considering getting started with Backend development and be able to dabble with these CRUD methods You're going to have to look into Node. This link is a deep introductory to Node JS is the javascript framework that lets us do backend development. Once you get done with that check out these articles as well.. or just skip ahead and get a preview of what to come!

Should You Learn To Code?

So you want to learn about code huh? If you enjoy not having an idea about what you’re doing and your pretty decent at maneuvering your way through google to find your answers, then you chose the right field. If you have no Idea what type of coding you want to dive into, figure out what technology you want to learn...Do you want to make video games for Nintendo or Playstation? Then you would want to look into c++, c# and java. Want to learn about data management, working with tables and using that information in a unique way such as portraying stats? SQL or Python are where its at. If you’re like me and you're looking into designing websites and web applications then you’re going to start with html/css, then move onto javascrtipt, which makes websites more robust and intuitive. Since I’m a front end developer Heres my secret:

Learn the basics of HTML/CSS for free at khan Academy Look for the section about creating webpages.
Make a website. Start with a simple gallery of images with a 3 rows and 3 columns or something better you can come up with. There are several tutorials out there, use your google skills to find the right one.
Learn JS and practice everyday. There are so many websites as resources out there that its hard to choose. Check out these 3 sites. What's awesome about Udemy is that they provide full on courses and have sales all the time where the course turns out to be less than $15.00. Theres a lot of hype around freecodecamp as well and I sometimes use it as a reference.

Toughest part about learning on your own is discipline and holding yourself accountable. No one’s going to tell you what you have to do as far as staying consistent so it’s easier to just tell yourself that you’ll get to it eventually, but Soon enough eventually becomes never. If this is your issue check to see if theirs an in person bootcamp in your city. Being around coders will help you make connections and push you further. Personally I don't think I would have learned as much online because my lack of discipline, but thats just me, chances are you're a lot more self motiated than me. Don’t get discouraged to join an online bootcamp, the right one will have a course that gets you to build projects that lead into a plehora amount of knowledge. BUT PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH because not all of them are going to give you the tools and knowledge to prep you for a job. If I never joined a bootcamp I would have never considered learning github, SQL, the command line and practicing code on sites like Codewars and Codesignal. Long story short DO YOUR RESEARCH, commit and code everyday!

Why Podcasts

Never did I think I would be a podcast listener, but I needed a way to keep up this fast paced industry where the learning never stops and I needed a way to divulge myslef with code talk. listening to podcasts over my gangster rap music has made me more fluent when it comes to talking code as well as given me ideas for my code. There has been several times where I got done learning a new subject and which I was still hazy on, but then I ran into a podcast on that same subject which answered a my questions. There was one time that I was listening to a coding podcast and I needed help with an ajax call. The TA went off into talking about promises which I was able to quickly catch on because the podcast (syntax) had mentioned the promise method. Here are a list of podcasts I listen to off of Spotify:

Code Newbie
Sytax

Code

Wordpress Theme Development

Full Stack React App

Barberstarrs Website

Cocktail App

Data Analysis App

Cookie Store

Meme Generator

Design

Product Design

Magazine

Cookbook

Code Talk