My Continuing Journey In Tech
Hello! This post finds me nestled snugly in an armchair in the midwest United States, wrapped in an afghan, sipping my morning coffee, with festive holiday lights twinkling on the tree nearby. It is nearly the start of a New Year, and at this time of year, I find it helpful to take a bit of time to reflect on my progress toward the goals of the last year, and to visit my goals for the upcoming year. I find this practice of checking in with myself helps me re-calibrate as needed, remaining nimble and open, where my goals or interests may have grown, or changed. Though the weather outside is frightful (Sorry, I had to), it is warm and cozy inside, and I’ve specifically been ruminating on my progress so far in my journey to become a web developer.
I have continued to progress in the ROOTs Technology Coding and Career Prep Course, and have grown immensely since my last update. In the most recently completed unit, we covered Git and GitHub. For any who are new to Git and GitHub, the easiest way to explain Git is that it is an open source version control software, which you can use to save versions of your software (hopefully), preventing you from losing progress as you build your project. The easiest way to explain GitHub, is that it is a hosting platform for version control and collaboration. It lets you and others collaborate on projects from anywhere. Basically, you work on a project, save versions locally to a Git repository, and then “push” those same updates to your GitHub repository hosted online. This process is similar to the process of backing up your files to a remote server “in the cloud”. GitHub not only provides that extra layer of safety / redundancy, should something happen to your computer, GitHub also allows others to collaborate with you on the same project. This is particularly helpful for large scale development projects, where teams of engineers from all over the world are working on different aspects of the project. This can be accomplished through GitHub. All this is to say, that Git and GitHub are huge tools for web development, and I had an amazing time completing a number of projects using these tools.
I’ve amalgamated my reflection on my growth in Git and GitHub below into a series of responses to prompts related to this journey…
What did I know about Git and the command line before starting this curriculum?
Not much — I knew that GitHub was a site that devs often used to serve as a de facto portfolio. I had never heard of Git before. I had used the command line before in a class in college.
What do I think about Git and the command line now that I’ve finished this module?
I really enjoyed learning about Git, and I actually love working on the command line, as the interface makes me feel (even more acutely how) I’m communicating directly with the computer, and thus, as if we’re a team. As strange as it sounds, I actually appreciate and respect my computer more as an amazing tool, and as a collaborator / teammate.
What was the most challenging part of this module for me?
Getting started in GitHub, and settling into the syntax and logic of the commands took a bit of adjustment, but once I did, it was smooth sailing. It felt the same as when reading Shakespeare: takes a minute to sink into, but once you do, it’s rich and rewarding. This also is the same with learning different software programs, or programming languages; once you adjust to the way they’re constructed, you’re halfway there.
Honorable mention: setting up to publish using GitHub Pages.
What was the most rewarding part of this module for me?
The most rewarding part of this module was when I customized and published a (draft template of my) portfolio to the web using GitHub Pages.
How did ROOTs Technology’s coding curriculum impact my learning in this module?
I really appreciated the tutorials, the projects, and the feedback and assistance. In this module, I needed a bit of mentoring assistance on the front end, and ROOTs Technology was huge in this process!
I have grown immensely in the most recent unit, not only in my facility with Git, GitHub, HTML, CSS (and CSS frameworks like Bootstrap), but also in my confidence, and my general understanding of programming, design, and web development. I’ve come to further identify aspects of this exciting field which I enjoy the most, and I’ve come to embrace my IT community through Twitter *@walkerjbarry .
The largest update for my coding journey, has been that I have landed a job as a web administrator, building, updating, deploying, and maintaining Wordpress sites! This experience continues to provide an excellent opportunity for “on the job training”, and has been invaluable in my development! With each successful deployment, build, modification, or update, I continue to grow in enthusiasm and confidence, and it’s been amazing!
This pivot in my professional life has been immensely satisfying. I code, watch tutorials, build my professional portfolio, refine my resume, expand and galvanize my network, or otherwise continue to grow professionally, for an average of 8–10 hrs. / day whenever possible, and this is outside of the time that I spend working as a web administrator. I feel fortunate that I really enjoy this work, because my belief is that this kind of tenacity and dedication is the way that you approach your goals, and frankly, the work toward our goals is 99% of the reward. The opportunity to work towards our goals, and thus progress and grow, is a powerful gift, and the feeling of working towards them is a powerful, invigorating tonic.
# learntocode #webdevelopment #programming #git #github #rootstechnology #career #tech
