#javascript reactJS react programming selfImprovement

[warmonger0]

#100DaysOfCode

Day 1 -

I’ve dabbled in web development on and off for years. I have the basics of html and css down and I can read most javascript but i could really use a formal deep dive into web development.

Even thought I’ve played around for so long, I’ve never successfully built more than a static website or two.  I’ve made the excuses that real life is in the way, that I don’t have the time, or or that it’s too hard. But, the truth is that I haven’t been disciplined enough to devote just a little time to working on it, regularly.

So, I’ve decided to make a commitment to myself to spend time, each day, diving into web development.  The mission is to work for at least 15 minutes a day, each and every day, for 100 days. A successful day is NOT just listening to someone talk about code for 15 minutes.  A successful day IS reading, listening, and then actually applying what I read and heard with actual time typing code.

My goal is to use the knowledge I gain to develop the front end of a web tool for use in my law firm.  That app will need to track my time spent on individual clients and matters, track and manage open tasks, and remind me to follow up on open items.  There are plenty of off the shelf solutions to this but after testing out well over 40, I have yet to find one that suits my practice needs.  That would also defeat the fun of making it myself.

To that end, i’m going to be focusing on vanilla javascript and React to implement the front end design of my web application.  I’ve been halfway into a React course for months and today I finally felt like I needed to take the plunge and commit to myself and my learning. The winter break and wind down of year end legal work mean that I have a few moments each day to focus on programming. 

Today, I ran through some old lessons from react and have started an introductory course on javascript.  The short term goal in doing this is to reinforce basic javascript principles and remind myself of where I left off in my React lessons.  As an added bonus, scrimba.com is running an advent calendar of daily javascript problems.  You can find more about that my going to scrimba.com or by searching the hashtag #javaScriptmas on twitter.

For today’s #javaScriptmas challenge, I was able to complete the solution with a bit of research, but I got through the problem quickly.  Thankfully, logic and math are strong suits for me but I am a bit rusty. Drafting contracts, I rarely have to do math.

Tomorrow, I’ll probably be back to a couple more lessons of vanilla javascript, another lesson on react, and I’m going to tackle setting up my environment in VSCode.  I think that by week end, i’ll try my hand at my first react component for use in my law firm application. 

If you read this, I hope you’ll wish me luck and, if you have the time I hope you’ll encourage me to post more.  Starting a new habit is never easy but encouragement really helps. Thanks in advance.

-p