Watering a Desert:8

Think back on your first day of class. How did you think websites were built? Now how do you think they’re built? What’s the difference in your thinking?

On my first day of class I must be honest I had some inkling of how a website was built, but definitely not to the extent I know now. Prior to school and investigating what exactly I was preparing myself to get into I just assumed the internet and websites were black and white. The internet was some fictitious cloud and websites were pretty pictures swirling in a matrix pool. Boy was I incorrect. After spending an enormous amount time ever consumed by my chair and screen I now can say I have a “guesstimate” of what is going on. I believe the hardest part to grasp are these invisible “object things” my teacher kept going on and on about. In the beginning it was like he was just pulling random concepts out of his head and challenging my left and right brain to string along my own version of his own imaginary insanity, but very soon after practicing the application of HTML, CSS, and JAVASCRIPT I started to wake up. I can now sit with my eyes closed and imagine code which was something so foreign to me. No I can see how many levels and facets can all be tied together revealing an amazing landscape of creativity. Everything is built from a set of conditions and so long as these conditions are satisfied you don’t have to gouge your eyes out. My thinking process has definitely changed. Looking at format of the larger object things and dealing with all the details of smaller properties. Birds eye view into the biological processes happening under a microscope.

What have you gained through this course beyond code? Beyond technical savvy?

Its been an amazing road to journey on. Coming together with people I never knew and committing our time to work together and share our minds. It’s been a very big unveiling of how when faced with something unknown we as people can drop everything to adapt. It’s been strangely reminiscent of our current times and all the trouble coming from COVID. It’s challenged us to step outside of our comfort zone and dive into the unknown. Stare into the horizon of foreign territory and against all odds not lose sight of the reason we began this journey in the first place. What I have gained from this course beyond code is the ability to suspend myself in a void of infinite possibility. Ya.. that sounds deep, but it’s true. It’s been interesting. Being able to narrow my focus and apply myself to attain a solution through investigation. I must say I feel like i’ve always had this “filter”, but its not until now have I had the time dedicated to sharpen this tool. I’ve found a lot of love for myself, a lot of strength, and a lot endorphins along the way. I have found my brain finally feels active for the first time in a long time. Its like riding a motorcycle going over 100 miles an hour and every inch of pavement traveled becomes more and more thrilling.

Where do you think you’re headed? Why? How? What are you going to do to encourage that?

I think so far i’ll be headed into trying to understand as much as i possibly can. Working with a startup and a big business to grasp the pace and facets of collaboration. I’m really interested in getting to know CSS and JAVASCRIPT to the point I can play with my eyes closed or look at a 100 lines of code and be able to reverse engineer someone else’s thought process. I will be spending a lot more time dedicated into practicing and breaking code. A lot more time reading blogs and material from people who have spent way more time in the industry. I’m going to encourage myself by listening to more podcasts and seeing if I can find a mentor who can help me unravel deeper code concepts to expand my mind. I believe a huge factor in my success will be being able to apply myself with other people as well and working together to learn better communication in the industry.

What kinds of projects do you see yourself working on in 10 months?

I would love to see myself picking up where my wife and I left off building our startup. Our idea has to do with e-grocery smart lockers which need a significant amount of front end development. I think being able to possibly work on mobile app development and maybe something that has to do with programming robotics sounds exciting. Im willing to try anything.

Why is it generally a good idea to position CSS <link>s between <head></head> and JS <script>s, just before </body>? Do you know of any exceptions?

Html will read and call code line after line so you want the link to be at the top of the page so that the page loads correctly. It’s best to keep <scripts> at the bottom of the page because they sometimes cause mistakes when a page is being loaded. The only time you put a <script> at the top of a page is when you want to load <script> before page content.

Consider HTML5 as an open web platform. What are the building blocks of HTML5?

1. <!DOCTYPE html>
2. <html>
3. <head>
4. <title>The basic building blocks of HTML</title>
5. </head>
6. <body>
7. <h1>The building blocks</h1>
8. <p>This is a paragraph tag</p>
9. <p style=”color: red”>The style is attribute of paragraph tag</p>
10. <span>The element contains tag, attribute and content</span>
11. </body>
12. </html>

What’s the difference between the :nth-of-type() and :nth-child() selectors?

The nth-child( ) and nth-of-type ( ) CSS pseudo-classes are interesting compared to other types of pseudo-classes because they select elements based on their position in the DOM. Whereas some pseudo-classes select a specific state of an element , nth-child( ) and nth-of-type ( ) are more concerned with the structure of your markup. As a general rule, if you want to select an interval of a selector regardless of the type of element it is, use nth-child( ). However, if you want to select a specific type only and apply an interval selection from there, use nth-of-type ( ).

What is CSS-selector specificity, and how does it work?

Every selector has its place in the specificity hierarchy. If two selectors apply to the same element, the one with higher specificity wins. There are four distinct categories which define the specificity level of a given selector: inline styles, IDs, classes, attributes, and elements.

What resources do you use to learn about the latest in front-end development and design?

I like to use code-pen and w3 schools.

Austin Coding Academy