Wrapping Up Quarter 3
I want to write a quick blog post because it’s been a while. There’s actually a couple of things I wanted to write about, but I haven’t made time for it lately.
First of all, a couple of weeks ago I wrapped up Quarter 3 of 4 in Galvanize’s 24 week web development immersive. I got to work on a great quarter 3 project with a couple of my classmates. We developed a receipt scanning app that creates a data visualization of the user’s spending habits. It was fun learning a bit about OCR and D3.js. One of my group-mates wrote a nice post that goes into more detail about the project. It started out as a React Native mobile app for Android and iOS, and we ended up ‘pivoting’ to an Apache Cordova app using Ionic.



After the project, we had a week off from school, as we do every quarter. It was nice to have my days free so I could go out running and swimming in the morning (because by evening it’s just too hot in Austin this time of year).
I did start to get a coding itch a few days into the break, though. Like most developers, I think, I enjoy the hyperfocus/flow state that comes from trying to solve a technical problem. So I ended up picking away at this online course I’ve been taking for a couple of years now, CS50.
I actually managed to finish it over the break, and I’m honestly proud of myself. I started that course in 2015 when I was an intern and knew HTML, CSS and just enough jQuery to get by. One of my mentors at the time told me that if I learned a low-level language like C, with memory allocation and pointers, I would have a solid foundation to start from. I was really motivated by this, so I started taking CS50, which is taught in C, Python and Javascript.
This was my first exposure to programming, and the problem sets were challenging. I spent many, many hours poking at them. I have fond memories of working on this class in Camden SC, Fort Mill SC, Washington, DC, and Austin TX — because yeah, it’s taken me so long that I’ve held 3 different positions and lived in four different cities since starting the course.
I really do feel a sense of closure having completed it, and I’m eagerly anticipating receiving an official certificate at the end of the month. I’m already starting to wonder what to learn next, as well. I’ve heard good things about Oregon State’s online comp sci B.S., but it seems like it would be a big commitment while working full time.
Anyway, here’s a quick and dirty screencast I submitted for my final CS50 project:
