The end of the beginning

Dennis Kola
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

Well, this is the day that the Lord has made. It is the final day of the first week of the two-week Andela Fellowship cohort 20. It has been a tough week full of challenges and also learning but here we are. From pre-interview, we have been developing a bucket list app using python and the python Flask framework. It is a simple app with few features but that the case when you are doing things the ‘juakali’ way. I guess what makes Andelans shine is the process that one has to follow to deliver a task.

Following the best practice in programming is a tough challenge for a newbie to the party to capture. It is a pain as it takes a lot of time to make sure everything you are doing is up to standard. At Andela boot camp there are guidelines to do every task from creating a Github repository, following the Agile methodology by use of pivotal tracker or Trello to ensuring your code follows the pep8 standards.

One of the lessons I’ve learned this week is that it is not how good you are at writing code that matters but also writing quality code that is up to standard. A code that anyone can look at and understand what you are trying to achieve without having to ask for lots of clarification. It is a good thing because after you are done building your app, maintenance and bug fixing is easier. Another lesson learned is the importance of teamwork. Even though everyone is writing their own code, teamwork comes in handy during bug fixing and locating resources for something you have to refer or read more on. It reduces the time that one would use searching the web for the resources. To all my teammates this week I salute you for that.

Seeking feedback from someone else is also a good lesson I got out of this week one. Through feedback, I was able to notice mistakes and bugs that may have skipped my eye. Having someone review your work really helps in learning on how you can do something in a better manner. Having someone point out a bug also saves on time as you get to fix the bug earlier than finding out about the bug when you are deep into the app development.

A lot of lessons learned in this week one. What I can do for now is wait for week 2 and see what I have to learn.

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