A Brief How-To

Whether Python is your first programming language or you’ve already got a few languages under your belt, string interpolation is a fun and necessary tool to learn.

For those unsure, string interpolation gives you the ability to inject variables directly into a string. This means, for example, that you can dynamically print strings rather than hard coding them. The below function, for example, lets you print out names dynamically.

def print_name(name):
  print(f"Hi, {name}! How are you?")

The Modulo

There are a few different ways to interpolate in Python. …

You will wish you learned it sooner.

It’s incredibly useful, and if you already know Javascript this tool is well within your reach. It may look like nonsensical hieroglyphs, but once you pick up a few tricks it’s actually more readable than the alternative longhand Javascript. So what is a regular expression?

“A sequence of characters that define a search pattern.” -Wikipedia

Why should you learn it?

• Much simpler to complete find, and find and replace operations
• Input validation

Finding Vowels Example

Consider this classic vowels problem: Write a function that returns the number of vowels used in a string…

Effectively Improve Your HTTP Requests

What is Axios?

According to NPMjs: “Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js”

Axios is a third-party library that enables you to perform HTTP requests. Functional equivalents include fetch-node and XHR.

Why should you learn it?

• Fast and clean syntax
• Automatically transforms JSON data
• Handles errors consistently and smoothly
• Ability to monitor request progress
• Wide range of browser compatibility

As you’ll see below, Axios is highly readable and concise relative to other HTTP request options. It’s even more efficient than node-fetch, due to it’s ability to automatically transform JSON data. Additionally, it has…

Why do I have to use JSON.stringify() when I make a post request?

I approached my instructor at Flatiron, the concise Kevin, with the above question. I was learning how to make post requests to APIs with Javascript, and had found the following syntax in the Fetch API Docs:

fetch(url, {
  method: 'POST', // or 'PUT'
  body: JSON.stringify(data), // data can be `string` or {object}!
  headers:{
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
})

A high level break down:

• fetch() allows us to ‘fetch’ the resources contained at the url
• method: 'POST' tells the server we want to add data to the resources…

The Tools and Lessons I Wish I Knew Before

My third week in to Flatiron’s Software Engineering Intensive program, my peers and I were tasked with building our first command line application. We were given a week to create a CLI project of any sort, and it was indeed a very challenging and rewarding week.

Here are some of the things I wish I’d known about before I started. I hope they make your CLI App development experience a little less challenging and a bit more rewarding.

TTY Prompt

I can’t even fathom how much precious time my partner…

An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming

What is an Object? The question is indeed the key to the meaning that you think it is. As you make your way through Java, Python or Ruby, I advise you turn to this question before all others. Whether a tree makes a sound in an empty forest or a chicken came before an egg is near irrelevant. Objects, on the other hand… Objects can unlock a whole new world.

What an object is not:

To fully understand objects and the programs that use them, Object-Oriented Programs (OOP), it’s helpful to examine their predecessor, Procedural Oriented Programs. …