Forem: Cole

Skill Up! - (Re)acting!

Cole — Sat, 03 Sep 2022 03:46:27 +0000

Hi,

To the new, Welcome; To the current, Thanks for coming back.
I've been learning React and it has actually been fun.
The MERN stack now has an official spot in my inventory.

There is one thing that I've picked up along the way, that has made everything SO MUCH EASIER.

Perseverance

I've been on and off coding since '05, and my issue was pushing through when I felt like I SHOULD HAVE known something, but I had just started. So my dreams grew faster than my skills, and my pride couldn't take it. So I stopped.

But with React, I just kept going. Even if no one will look at that repo, finish the project.

At a minimum, that's one more project.
At maximum, you're now that much more competent at something.

Thanks for reading.

(React)ion news : Easy As Pie

Cole — Mon, 02 May 2022 20:35:17 +0000

So I've been busy.
I've learned the basics of react, created a tutorial app, and re-did one of my past applications in react.

Its actually really easy. I LOVE react hooks.
From the outset, it seemed really confusing.
But once you realize how they work, you won't be able to stop using it.

Here is the component from my redone application.

import {useState} from "react";
import './quotes.css';
function Quote() {
    let [quoteText, setQuote] = useState("");
    function getText()
        {try{
            fetch('https://ron-swanson-quotes.herokuapp.com/v2/quotes')
            .then(response => response.json())
                .then((data) => setQuote(data));
            }
            catch(err){
                console.log(err);
            }
        }
    return (
        <div className="MainDiv">
            <header className="quote-header">
            <h1>Random Swanson Quotes</h1>
                <div className="row">
                    <div className="col">
<button onClick={() =>getText(quoteText)}>Sage Wisdom</button>
                    < hr/>
                        </div>  
                    </div>
                <div class="row" id="mainrow">
                <div class="col-sm-12" id="quote">
            <p id="quoteBlock">{quoteText}</p>
        </div>
        </div>
        </header>
    </div>
    );}
export default Quote

From this, I've discovered that my biggest issue is getting ahead of myself.
Especially when learning new tech, I put the cart before the horse and then wonder why I haven't moved.

But now, I create micro apps to become adjusted with the language, and grow with the language from there.

I highly recommend React to any beginners. Once you learn it, its a very helpful tool.

General React Disclaimer

Cole — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 20:57:20 +0000

Once I finished the setup (which seems to be painful for no reason),
React is both more helpful and easier than I thought to use.

Creating a Wordle Clone (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Vowel)

Cole — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 13:12:23 +0000

*Disclaimer, I've never seen the film. Just love the title.

I had this idea

for a wordle clone of sorts.
Well, it is and it isn't a clone.
My idea is to take the aspect of a crossword and merge it with the wordle idea.

Rules are : you get one guess, but you do get a hint.
I'm struggling with two main things at the moment.

I'm not sure how i want to style the inputs
I'm not sure If it should be one try and three : One try may make the user more annoyed. : Three tries may be too many.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Building a Portfolio Pt 1.

Cole — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 14:58:19 +0000

So quick story, you've probably heard it.
I've applied to numerous "entry level" positions and received numerous rejections and zero feedback.

I'm also interested in starting my own business (possibly freelance or consulting) because as some of you may know, businesses aren't really paying too well.

To be efficient as I like to be, I've decided to start posting my progress (however terrifying that may be).

a(href="https://swansonquotes-one.herokuapp.com/")|Ron Swanson Quotes (Node.js, Express, CSS, HTML) - Heroku div(class="col") h3|Desktop/Enterprise Projects ul(class="projects") li a(href="https://github.com/CharleeBrown/Data-Entry-Form-Java-")|Data Entry Form (Java, Swing(UI), MongoDB) - Github ul(class="projects") li a(href="https://github.com/CharleeBrown/RefFinder")| " (Java, Swing(UI), MongoDB) - Github

I'm currently building a portfolio site, its very barebones right now, and I might keep it that way. Above is a snippet of the front page.
My skills lie more in the backend rather than the front, so design is not my forte and I'd be lying in saying I'm interested in learning.

But

I've seen the advice, warning?, that entrepreneurs wear many hats, at least at the beginning. So I'm learning React to become more modern in my frontend skills.

Will he succeed, or drag his psyche further away from reality as the CSS haunts him in his sleep?

Find out next time on Dragon Ball C-SS

19ths Time the Charm

Cole — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 16:47:46 +0000

Hi, I'm Cole

I've been programming since around '06/'07.
Programming well for about a year and a half.

The journey has been very start and stop.
For instance, back in sophomore year of HS i was downloading python on the family computer.
The installation finished, I stared at the syntax and immediately became discouraged.

What the hell was a variable?
Why is there x and y everywhere?
I deemed programming as : lame (read:difficult), yet interesting.

Senior year. New school, new classes.
I took an introduction to programming class and learned VB.Net.
It was way easier to work with.
Combolists, Inputboxes. I could see exactly what I was working with.
(Thinking back on it now, I am most likely a visual learner, but besides the point).

The final project was a Santa Claus kid list. It showed the kid, their alignment, and what they wanted.

Fast-forward to around 4 years ago. My new job deals with ALOT of Excel. Realizing everything was super slowI discover macros and userforms, and from there it was like riding a bike.

From writing macros, I started to learn C-sharp in the hopes of working my way into the company's Software Development department.

C-sharp has a way steeper learning curve and I'm still learning the ins and outs through projects, but I wanted to pivot to web development.

I've found that Web development innovates a lot faster and it isn't a field that I can ignore professionally. So as it is with most things, I threw myself headfirst into only web development topics.

I'm currently using the MERN (Mongodb,Express,React,Nodejs) stack, without R.
For front-end, I have been writing everything by hand, and just recently learned how to write/use Pug.

As for me personally, I am a huge introvert, so forcing myself to write out my processes and make posts is both terrifying and cathartic.

I look forward to posting my journey. You can also follow me on my Github.