Day 14: Event Theoretical Time and assignments

Dylan Thorwaldson
Aug 27, 2017 · 2 min read
A couple of bros theorizing, probably about the DOM API and what happens under the hood during click events in Chrome

We had the best theoretical time of the program so far today. We were tasked to come up with what we think happens during click (or any other) events in Javascript.

We needed to theorize:

  1. Where the string “click” comes from when you’re adding an event listener, and how it has meaning.
  2. What actually happens when you click the mouse. Where and how is that information stored.
  3. How does the browser know which element is being clicked, especially with scrolling, multiple renderings, etc.

As we got going in our groups, our brainstorming time produced so many questions that our instructor thought were great that we came back together as a class, consolidated all our questions and then were able to open our laptops and research the answers.

I love these theoretical times even though they are really difficult for me. Approaching complicated topics from a theoretical standpoint and just sitting down and thinking about how I would solve issues is really cool, especially when we get to discover how they were actually solved right after. It’s rewarding to see how many of the basic concepts we can think of as a class before actually knowing the actual way that these problems were solved by computer scientists in the past.

This type of day also makes me feel grateful for the current age of computer programming. Something our instructors say often is that we are standing on the shoulders of giants, and thinking through these types of problems as if they don’t have a solution yet really drives the truth of that home.

Today I also presented my Fancy Reading Time. I chose the subject of Javascript closures because it was still pretty fuzzy to me after our initial lecture on it. I think I was able to explain the concept at least a little bit, but I definitely don’t feel that I’ve mastered JS closure in all its nuance. It was fun to do a deeper dive on a certain subject on my own, but I honestly wish I had spent a little more time on understanding the subject matter, rather than just putting together a presentation.

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Dylan Thorwaldson

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Software Engineer

The Road to Code

A place for people taking their first steps into the wonderful world of software development

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