#what was funny was that they learned about forms in .php and i had to sit there going ‘ohhh that’s how you do it’

[fingertipsmp3]

The way I had to TA a class full of STEM bros on international women’s day 😭

[womanlalaboy]

Panhik #3: TUCLAS Climbs Gulugod Baboy

Do you ever get that feeling like you're supposed to be doing something else, but you’re just too stubborn to acknowledge it? I always do. But I'm slow in processing signs and was too scared to try different things. So when a hiking club was formed in my company that I've always wanted to establish or at least be a part of, I chickened out. Instead, I joined a more comfortable club: the book club.

I enjoy reading, discussing books with people, and recommending books, but the club I joined in wasn't in any way what I've expected it to be. I still tried to help make changes and move it towards a more stable direction, though, but I still can't quite feel the belongingness I should get from being a part of a group that does everything about what I'm infatuated to. All the while, I've been feeling a great and heavy connection to the email blasts of the newly established hiking club inviting other employees to join their climbs.

On November 2018, I decided to participate in one of their climbs. TUCLAS (TaskUs Climbing Association) facilitated a climb for a cause to Gulugod Baboy and a part of the fee the participants have paid for was allotted for the benefit of the Little Angels Home, Inc. Foundation. I did what I could to persuade my friends to climb with us, but no one would want to come with me except for a friend who has already hiked Gulugod Baboy. So needless to say, I went on my own. This is by far the only time I've tried being a lone joiner in a travel adventure, but I'd definitely do it again if I have to go back in time.

We met all the participants around 2:30 AM and waited for the others to come until 3:00 AM. You see, every one already knows every body. I remember how I nervously walked from the terminal to our meet-up place thinking of good ways to approach someone. The stupid little dork that I am stood a few feet away from those that I'm supposed to climb with who have already formed themselves in a semi-circle, tapping my phone- pretending I'm texting someone, thinking this wouldn't make me look awkward. But it did. Eventually, I mustered the courage to approach. I've decided to talk to someone and blurt out the lines I've been trying to memorize while I tell my inner self that I can do it and that I will make friends; I just have to start it right. Before I could even speak, the organizer noticed me walking towards them and asked if I've already filled out the attendance sheet. My enthusiastic greeting line faded and I only came up with, "not yet."

I filled out the sheet feeling like a dumb-ass, and went to being a tree trunk again; away from everybody. I wouldn't have been this awkward, I thought, had I attended the pre-climb meeting where I would have met all the participants before the actual date of the hike. It's basically a briefing and an opportunity to get to know everybody, and I failed to attend that. So I had to suffer the consequences and be left out of place feeling jealous of them having someone to laugh with. I was full of self-pity, but I decided to use this as an opportunity to learn how to make friends with strangers (which I'm terrible at), and enjoy how things will unfold (even when I'm surrounded by people I don't know and can't seem to connect with).

The road trip was basically silent. We're all tired and some of us went straight from their shifts. We arrived at the junction around 6 AM. There, we did our prayers, stretching, the negotiations with the coordinators and there, we also discussed who would form the head, mid, and the tail of the group. I was supposed to be a part of the mid, but I was too fast for it (since I don't have anyone to talk to and no one to distract me) so I eventually transitioned to head. We were going too fast so there were a lot of stops to accommodate those that were being left behind. There were a few times when we had to stop to treat those who felt nauseous and dizzy. The org. officers are really efficient in those times. They're very caring and flexible to go back and forth, to check up on the others. Sometimes I wonder if they were able to maximize the hike while carrying those responsibilities.

The hike was still fun. I allowed myself to be present in that moment. I allowed myself to enjoy the opportunity to be within and without. The goal changed from definitely making friends there so I wouldn't feel left out to just enjoying their company without feeling the need to be a part of their circle. I felt like a spectator, but not as detached. Weird, but oddly satisfying. I got to observe my body as I go through the entire experience. My mind was thinking non-stop, but it's filled with good thoughts unlike the usual. I get to practice listening without the intent to respond, but to understand. Most importantly, I've learned how to turn this trip from a sad and uncomfortable one to a fruitful one without having to try too much.

After a few hours, we finally reached camp. I've heard that there were 3 peaks at Gulugod Baboy (from SE to NW: Gulugod-Baboy, Gitna, and Pinagbanderahan). We required ourselves to visit two, I guess. Those peaks were where we took our group photos. We then stayed at the sari-sari store near the summit so that everyone can get their breakfast. We rested there for a while. The owner said she has tableas for sale which many of us bought for souvenir. I didn't. Our hike was along the days of petsa de peligro so reasonably, I didn't spend more than I'm supposed to. After that, we went back down and stayed at the Philpan Dive Resort. There were some miscommunication between the officers and the coordinators there so we had to shell out a hundred peso on top of the Php 600 we paid for- all to get us a cottage. Some of us went to the lomihan first before staying by the beach for lunch.

Before leaving the place, we did a game which wasn't planned at all. I recommend Pinoy Henyo at any team building or group trips. It’s hilarious! After the game, we did a post-climb meeting. The organizers thanked us for participating, cooperating and for being understanding. They then asked each one of us the things we could say about the hike- the pros and the cons. Only a handful of people mentioned the cons of the trip. Someone said that it would have been better if there was an activity that will let us to get to know each other better. Someone said that there was a little problem when it comes to money management- that they should have foreseen the conflicts so they could have been more prepared for it. The officers took it nicely and reassured us that this will be practiced in the coming hikes.

Many among us mentioned how nice it was to have a sound trip while hiking. We all agree as well that the officers were really responsible. Some have commended one of them for constantly checking up on those being left behind. I commended all of the organizers for practicing what they preach. See, when they announced that there will be a pre-climb meeting, they've sent out a presentation with the agenda of the meeting being included there. They said that we should prepare our own first-aid kit (I didn't), and when someone got wounded after the hike, two or three from them immediately went for their own kits, and I think that is something to be recognized.

I thought we'd leave after lunch, but we stayed there laughing the hours away until the sun set. There were still a few moments where I go, "fuck it. I just wanna go home," but I reminded myself to find something to be grateful for. Luckily, I hiked with funny people. Luckily, the sunset was so good, and that I get to experience a few moments of stillness. I think I needed this, but I wasn't aware or was too stubborn to notice. There have been many things going on around us and within us, but we don't understand what those are for until the very thing everything happened for comes. There are many things knocking at our doors, but when we’re too caught up with other things, we choose not to listen. And maybe sometimes we don’t have to, but the gut feeling lingers there and it stays at the back of your head, telling you something.

Maybe I needed to experience how to be alone again in a crowd and be okay with it. Maybe I needed to learn how to go along with a situation without the intention of controlling it to my preference. Maybe I needed to learn not to crave fitting in. Maybe this experience will prepare me for something in the future. I don’t know. I don't think we'll ever fully understand how this world works. I don’t think we’ll ever be certain on what doors to open and when to answer a knock, but we always have a choice on how to look at things. I chose to look at things as opportunities to learn. I chose to look at things with gratitude. I hope you do too.

MORE...

Also read: Womanlalaboy's Travel Guide to Gulugod Baboy Also see: TUCLAS Climbs Gulugod Baboy photo sets

📷 : Aldrich Dherrick Juanillo

[mikumanogi-blog]

2017-05-04 “Avoiding the rails” Kubo Shiori Blog #12 [ENG]

The other day Riria asked if we could ride the train together and so together we waited on the train platform. The two of use waited for the train to come with a hat over our heads. The second the train came into the station our hats were magnificently whisked away by the wind. We both quickly ran after them, it’s a heartwarming and hilarious story. Be carful of the wind, and the flu. 

(TL Note: although serious in topic it is play on words as she uses both 風 (wind) and 風邪 (flu)both pronounced ‘kaze’)

Hello everyone, thank you for your continuous hard work! I am Nogizaka46’s 3rd generation member, 15 years old, 1st year high school student Kubo Shiori. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

I know this is kind sudden but thank you for coming to our April handshakes.

During the 3rd slot…I wore a little purple parka.

During the 4th slot…I wore a white shirt, red bandana, and an embroidered skirt.

During the 5th slot…I wore an off-the-shoulder shirt and an embroidered skirt.

It’s probably hard to imagine since you can’t see it and so…

It looked like this! As a result of the bandana showing in my blogs, there were a lot of people that wore it too (´･_･`) am I happy or... (´･_･`)

During the handshake event someone came up behind me, hugged me and asked “whooo is iiit♪” “huh? Huh?!?” I said in surprised, but I knew right away who it was. Manatsu san!!!!! For some reason I could by how Manatsu san smelled that it was her LMAO.

The fact that I wore an off-the-shoulder shirt our of respect to Manatsu is a secret. I’ve also grown a teeny bit since becoming a high schooler.

During the event I talked about a bunch of different topics with the fans but I feel like one of the topics I heard the most and made me the happiest was “I read your magazine article!” It made me even made me happy to hear people say, “the contents of the magazine where you got the opportunity to talk with the senior members was fascinating!”

Next week is Nagoya! I have the national handshake and the individual handshake back-to-back! I’m very much looking forward to it, I’ll be in your care.

That’s right! During the handshake the topic of NOGIBINGO also come up a lot! A few days a new episode of NOGIBINGO aired, did you watch it?? On this episode I also appeared in NOGIROOM, if you haven’t checked it out yet please do〜! The cheerleader cosplay was embarrassing (´･_･`) Way more than when I was an actual cheerleader… maybe I’m just getting old.

 Well then, I think it’s time to start the comment Q&A!

·         What’s a special skill that you’ve discovered recently?

A special skill…On Namadol san (Namaidol) I put pens under my nose for the first time in a while and I managed do get 11! I beat my previous record. The trick is concentration.

·         I find it hard to make friends when in a new environment.

I’m the same way…I don’t like spring that much, I’m always afraid of the class changes. When I first started cheerleading, I tried to overcome my fear of strangers and in the process make new friends, but in the end nothing changed. I did find some joy in being by myself, but it would have been nice to have at least one person to talk to! Let’s both do our best!

·         What’s your morning routine?

Going back to sleep. Although I think the correct answer to your question is “HISSSSS!” recently I’ve been careful to not fall back to sleep after waking up.

·         What something that you want to eat the most?

Whaaaat (´･_･`) I want eat everything… (´･_･`) yogurt, ice cream, gratin, pizza, white rice, bracken-starch dumplings, tarts, curry, gyozas, cheesecake, acai bowl, hamburger, strawberry smoothies, udon, dandan noodles, miso soup with tofu, beef bowl, nori bento, squid tempura, Takoyaki, monja, doughnuts, fried chicken skewers, pizza bun. Mmmm I want to eat all of them, I don’t think I can make a decision between them. (´･_･`)

Recently、。、。、 After reporting to Ayachan (Ayatii) “I ate ___ today! It was delichious” shocked she would respond “You ate that much!?” I have an insatiable appetite. I wonder why food makes me this happy.

 Today I’m going to end the Q&A here! Until next time!

 Right now all the 3rd generation members are putting all their effort into their lessons as we approach our solo live. Each lesson we learn more as we start to reach for the stars.

There was a time where I was just hitting a wall and I couldn’t seem to overcome it. It was days of thinking “how can I overcome this hurdle.” But somewhere along the way I realized I never even hit a wall, but rather I was standing in front of it. Out of fear of hitting the wall my feet had stopped. I wanted to run away from the problems I was having. I couldn’t dance well and I had so many feelings of impatience and anxiety. I’m such a truly spineless human. It was during that time that the other members and everyone else came along and renewed my feelings of positivity.

When facing the mirror during dance practice I would see the enjoyment the other members were having and once every so often our eyes would meet and in that moment I could feel their warmth. Those moments would make me realize “The only reason I’ve come this far is because of everyone’s support”.

Riria, who roughly ties her hair to move her bangs has recently become someone I can rely on.

Renka, who never whines to the other members and who is always showing off her biggest smile.

Minamin, who always thinks the same way, more reliable than anyone else and who is able to unify us.

Momochan, who is always saying “I can’t do it” but who works as hard as two people and who is always watching out for everyone.

Tamami, who always smiles at me when our dance styles are similar, who’s always beside me and listens to my problems.

Denchan, who has an inherent ability to entertain makes everyone smile when everyone’s feeling down.

Reno, who’s spontaneous comments seem to calm down the room and who is often supporting from the side.

Hazuki, who just by being there makes you feel calm but who also works so hard that it troubles other people.

Mizuki, who looks about to cry every time our eyes meet and who is my favorite, but I will never tell her directly.

Ayatii, who, is like a big sister, will always come over and comfort another member if they’re crying.

Yodachan, who says “I’m bad at dancing” but manages to make me smile while watching her cute dance moves.

I can honestly write so much more, but if I write more, it will get long and so I wrote a shorter version.

These 12 members, who are overflowing with individuality, will be performing in all 8 concerts from June 5th to June 14th.

I’m going to keep going. Everyone, what do you think the concert is going to be like? It would be great if you could think it is going to be fun.

Everyone, it is sure to surprise you. This concert is going to dare to raise the bar! The venue is AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo. I believe that performing at this venue is deeply significant to us. Until that day comes I’ll be standing right here once again on that stage. I’ll be doing my best, so please, definitely, come watch.

Well then moving on. To everyone. I would like to say that I’m very thankful for all the cheers of encouragement at the handshake events, the comments on these blogs and not only that but thank you for all the advice that you have given me.

Thanks to all your word of encouragement I feel as though I can once again aim for the stars. To shine as brightly as I can, I think “I would be grateful if you were to cheer me on at the concert.” On top of that it might be a start of you becoming slightly interested in the 3rd generation member Kubo Shiori. Rather than “you might” I’ll have to do my best to make it “you will.”

Make it…ah, I want to eat food.

Haaazukichaaaan. Recently I’ve been eating as much as her. Haaaazukichaaaaaan. I love youuuu.

Denchaaaan! Believe it or not this our first two-person selfie. I asked her for it! Without a doubt Denchan is the queen of the dressing room. I would be amazing if I could hurry up and show off to everyone how funny she is.

Anyways, there are also the upcoming handshakes, I’m looking forward to them (´･_･`)! I’ll be in your care.

I’ll write again soon.

Kubo Shiori

I’m going to do my best at the concert. I’ll do my best even for the people that can’t make it. It’s been a while since the meet and greet where I declared that “I will change”. Have I changed? Please come and make that decision for yourselves, not even I know the answer. It would be great if you could come and check. This is not my final form, this only the start and the first evolution will be seen at our solo concert. One more thing, I will change.

https://blog.nogizaka46.com/third/2017/05/038447.php

[aly126]

Here new interview with Alexey Zaytsev personal coach in which Martianov says that Aliya will give birth to baby in JUNE :P also her tells some interesting facts about Aliya&Alexey love story :) and he says that Mustafina was chosen for doping control in Rio Olympics 6 times :/ www(.)aksport(.)ru/index(.)php?news=off&year=17&paper=on&num=19&script=sc29

He says the doping scandal is political, and mentions Aliya being tested 6 times in Rio. Alexey Zaitsev studies at the Moscow University of Physical Education and Sports, and him and Aliya will become parents in June.

He says Aliya and Alexey’s relationship met at a hospital where she had a knee surgery and he had a toe surgery. They began visiting eachother, in Moscow and Krasnodar. Aliya’s father was the last one to find out about their relationship.

Google’s translation for this is too funny to rephrase, so here you go:

‘And it was funny that her father, the prize-winner of the Olympic Games in the fight Farhad Mustafin, learned about their relationship literally the last.I also contacted Igor Ivanov, our great wrestling coach, my friend, saying that he himself would conduct face-control! He began to call the Ministry of Sports, where he was given an excellent description of Zaitsev.Somehow during that period, Mustafina flew to Krasnodar from the European Championships, where she won the exercises on a log. Alia was in such a form that she literally tore something to do. I was pulling her hand from the fence a few centimeters wide, along which she walked - she had a wonderful sense of balance, and in the form of just shiny it was. I told her: you owe me for diapers, when I look what you make.’

[delicateheartstranger]

March 17, 2020

Dear world,

Many things have been on my mind. My mind wanders a lot. So first lets talk about outing people. So recently the nurse at my php program outed my chosen name to my parents. Outing people sucks so fucking much. Like that was supposed to be someting I did when I was comfortable and felt safe. Not anyone else’s job. Sure slip ups happen, but that just makes me wanna go back deep in the closet. It isn’t the first time shit like this has happened. I’m talking about lots of other kinds of outings to. 

So when I was hanging with my friend DK (I have more about him later) and my friend LC we were talking about an ex friend of LC. She then proceeded to tell me how this former friend who lives up the street from me is HIV+. I didn’t know what to say. It made me kinda a mix of uncomfortable and annoyed with LC since that’s something deeply personal to just reveal regardless of how angry she was. And I mean yes the former friend was a cunt to LC from what I’ve heard, but being unstable and cunty doesn’t call for outing someone’s heath status like that. It kinda makes me trust LC less. Me and her have been friends for years although throughout them will lose contact for like a year or two and always randomly start hanging out again. So yeah outing, not good.

Now with DK. I realized that we matched on tinder a few months before we knew each other. I stopped using tinder cause I tried using it for dating and just wasn’t getting the results I was looking for. Plus lots of people swiped left on me more often when I showed my double chin in photos vs when I hid it. Don’t need that bad vibes in here. I am thinking of downloading tinder again just to delete my account or unmatch DK before he can realize we matched. It’s not that he isn’t like attractive or that I wouldn’t date him, but rather I doubt he sees me the same way? Yeah we matched and even talked a bunch, but like that doesn’t mean he likes the real me. I don’t want him to be going through his old matches one day and see me (and my deadname which I had been going by back then). I value our friendship more than any potential relationship. I don’t want things to be awkward. Plus he’s got a thing for LC. Well he has a thing for a bunch of people, but LC is on the top of the list. I just don’t think I could live up to her prettiness level at all. So I’ll repeat what I did in middle school with SM, but at least acknowledge it this time round.

What did I do in middle school? In middle school I had a close friend group between me, SM, IM, and in 8th grade our friend KL joined. We stayed close in the first half of high school, but everything fell apart around 11th grade. Or at least I grew apart from the group which hurts. I don’t know if they are still together. I should message them. I think I will after this. Anywho, back to the point. In middle school I was severally bullied. The worst bullying was those years and my time at my 2nd high school. I was pretty in the closest about my sexuality and straight up denying any form of gender dysphoria. I was one them kids who was like ‘dang i’m jealous of trans people they get to transition to the gender they feel comfy in’. Major clown vibes and egg_irl shit. But the person I realized only recently I had feelings for was SM. She was super smart, funny, kind, anxious, and very gay. At some point I realized that there was some romantic tension between her and IM. So in a way subconsciously I stepped away from feelings for her. Top it off in 8th grade we had feelings for the same girl and I set them up. I remember feeling like shit and thought it was over the other girl. Nah it was over SM. I remember she used to have the longest brown hair that she kept in a braid. I thought it was beautiful and kinda was jealous. Even when she cut it short in high school I still loved her hair. I had kept pushing away my feelings for her in all of middle school. Then came high school.

I don’t have many memories from 9th grade due to trauma. But I managed to remember all these painful memories. Ahahaha nice job me, forget the good shit and only some of the traumatic shit while remembering a lot of bad shit and some the trauma. Either way what happened was she had broken up with this girl over the summer (different schools not worth it). Then comes in my toxic friend CH. She was kinda a huge bitch. She first had a crush on my friend RS. So being the match maker I am I set her up with my friend RS (who back then for context still identified as a cis male). CH was in the closet about being trans and they dated for like a week before CH broke up claiming she didn’t want her parents thinking she was gay. Okay fine. Then late in 9th grade me, CH, SM, and a few other friends hung out at lunch. CH told me she had a thing for SM and I could tell SM had a thing for CH. So with a lil bit of work and match making magic I got them together. It was kinda in a way me trying to make SM unobtainable even though by then I was okayish with my sexuality. I remember at many points feeling this deep sinking pain in my chest and stomach when I saw them together. The heat in my ears would rise and I felt like crying. I for awhile thought it was over CH. Then it hit me one day in 9th grade it was over SM. I was so ashamed and felt so fucking shitty that I just kinda pushed it away.. Tucked away my feelings and even the memory of knowing, although the memory of realizing could’ve left cause trauma. Another time I was looking for the two of them at lunch and I found them making out behind the school. The pain in that moment I could not use enough words combined with all the languages to explain that pain. It was worse than a speeding commuter train hitting me while watching a bunch of kittens get shot. I would later learn that same pain when I had to avert my eyes from seeing DW kissing this girl for a play. To cope with it in the moment I remember cracking a joke and leaving. 

I loved her. Soon enough the two of them broke up cause SM wasn’t i a good head space and she was like I don’t wanna hurt CH like that. CH was also plus size like me. That will be relevant later. So now the scene is 10th grade. SM introduces me to SMY. They had known each other for awhile and rode the same bus home. SMY was a year younger though. Soon enough SMY and SM started dating. I felt that same pain again. I didn’t know this time why as by then I forgot about figuring out. SMY a few months in came out as non binary. SM was fine with that and still liked SMY regardless. So when I left my first high school I kinda fell outta contact with SMY. She never was good with that outside of school with me. Then in my first year of 12th grade after KL saw me (yes even in 12th grade I was this bitch) cut on my snap story brought all of us together. I talked to all them and for a few months we were as close as we’d been back in the good old days. It was so refreshing to talk to SM. But nothing good last in my life. SM left the chat. Fine. Then IM leave. Then it kinda goes silent and we all fall apart. Or at least I’m not there. Again after this I’m gonna try and message all three of them. I miss them. SO YEAH I BASICALLY LET MYSELF NOT BE WITH SM. She was open to dating fat, non binary, non typical beauty people, and I just made up excuses to repress my feelings. I wouldn’t let myself be happy? Who knows. She could’ve rejected me and it could’ve made shit real awkward. 

I’m gonna just do the same thing? But knowingly this time and more self aware with DK. Sure it’s not really too healthy, but it’s with the pros and cons put together better than the cons of potential revealing of this info and me trying to pursue a relationship. Besides, me and him have wayyyyyy to much shit we’d needa work on before dating. Like you can and date with mental illness and should be able to. But if both partners suffer both need to have a certain level of stability or it could lead to lots of unhealthy shit. Witnesses enough where that wasn’t true and I ain’t signing up for that. 

Good things that happened today was that a cosplay tik toker I like liked my comment I put on their video, after I did a cosplay duet to another one that I like they also liked the video I made and commented something nice, and soon me and my mom will watch The Goldfinch together.

My brother’s school is forcing him out. The state was like ‘yea no ya’ll better gtfo and go home while corona up in this bitch.’ So there goes my mental stability. I’m kinda fucked now. My parents are leaving tomorrow to pick him up. So yeah world I’m actually fucked. I am worried that I might do something I will regret in these coming days and weeks. I have had a bit more non passive thoughts about self harm and SI. I won’t have anything. No where to hide. No where to cosplay. Even more judgment. I’m actually screwed. Wish me luck. Hopefully things will turn out good? Probably not. Hope if you’re reading this things are good for you. Any advice?

Yours cordially,

A

[siliconwebx]

How to Comment Your Code Like a Pro: Best Practices and Good Habits

Writing code is a lot like writing prose. Every person does it a little differently, and because of that, we all have a distinct voice when our code is read. We have different naming conventions and different problem-solving logic. We all think our code makes sense — especially if it works — but someone else might not. To combat this, we all need to get better at source code commenting. That way, whoever comes next to the project will have a clear path to understanding and improving/fixing our code.

How to Comment Code – The Basics

To begin with, let’s make sure that we’re all on the same page regarding what comments are. In this article, we’ll be discussing in-line comments within the scripts themselves. Stuff like this in a CSS file, for instance, where the readable code is broken up by comments that are ignored by the processors.

/** Body Element Styling **/ body {color:red;} h1 {size:17px;} /** Sidebar Widget Styling**/ #email-signup-1 {text-transform:uppercase;}

Each programming language has a different way of commenting in the source code. PHP and HTML and JavaScript and C# all have slightly different symbols that begin and end code. While there are some language-specific practices, too, there are more shared than not.

We’ll discuss some of the different kinds of comments that you will run across, their uses, and best practices (or maybe just good habits to get into) when using them yourself.

The basics tenets of commenting your code are simple:

Make them brief

Keep them relevant

Use them liberally, but not to excess

If you can keep those in mind, you’ll be doing pretty okay.

A Moment to Discuss Naysayers

Very briefly, let’s touch on the source code commenting naysayers. There is a not-small subset of developers who believe that commenting your code should be an exceptionally rare occasion. That when you need source code comments, that’s an indication that your code is weak in some way. That your naming conventions, logic, or something else isn’t as transparent as it should be.

And, to be fair, this argument makes a certain amount of sense. However, a number of circumstances exist that make more than enough of an argument to include documentation in the form of comments, regardless of how well-written and factored your code is.

The primary ones being that you’re not always going to be the one working on the project, and you can’t guarantee how experienced the next person will be. Even if you write great code, there’s a chance for confusion and ambiguity.

Header Block Documentation

If you look in some files, the code doesn’t begin immediately because there’s a large header in the file that describes what its purpose is, the variables, functions, methods, and so on. They might even be in a giant box around it to call your attention to it.

This isn’t a good habit to get into. Because it’s kind of pointless. Well, it’s really pointless, actually.

Also, look at the example above: the comment header is absurdly long. There are very rarely reasons to do that. So don’t.

Anything that you would put in that file should be put into your documentation anyway. Having it in a comment is redundant. Additionally, the end user is likely never going to get into your source code, so the comment would only be seen by other developers (or hardcore users of the software who already know the documentation).

Plus, whenever the documentation changes, you have to change it in that file. It’s easy to miss a step, and then your codebase can seriously get fouled up.

When Header Comments Are Useful

Header comments are useful in source code for simple explanations of what to expect in that file. For instance, this is a script that comes with a game development engine called RPG Maker, and the core JS file that controls each game scene begins like this:

//============================================================================= // rpg_scenes.js v1.6.2 //============================================================================= //============================================================================= /** * The Superclass of all scenes within the game. * * @class Scene_Base * @constructor * @extends Stage */ function Scene_Base() { this.initialize.apply(this, arguments); } Scene_Base.prototype = Object.create(Stage.prototype); Scene_Base.prototype.constructor = Scene_Base;

Additionally, note that the version number is listed at the very top. Do this. Do not, however, provide a comprehensive list of dates on which the file was altered and new versions published. That is recorded in Git or other version control software, and it should be available to anyone who needs that information. The version number is sufficient for most people who would be looking at this file.

In-Line Documentation

The most common type of source code comment is the in-line comment. There is a fine line with these between doing it right, going overboard, or being too sparing with them. It’s a balance you have to just learn over time, but there are some pretty good rules of thumb to consider.

Do not do line-by-line comments. In-line commentary is one thing. Line-by-line commentary makes the code look almost unreadable. See below:

function sourceCodeComment () { //calls a function var comment = document.getElementbyID("Code Comment").value; // declares a variable if (comment != null && comment != '') { //starts an if statement to evaluate if there's a comment return console.log("Thank you for your comment.") //prints a string to the console }

That’s overkill. If you have to, do it before or after the function. But not on each line. It is obtrusive and generally unhelpful. A comment before the function (or element) is good for organization and clarity. More than that should go into the documentation.

If you feel like it’s necessary to document, something like this will suffice.

//checks to see if there's a comment. If so, returns a thank you message. function sourceCodeComment () { var comment = document.getElementbyID("Code Comment").value; if (comment != null && comment != '') { return console.log("Thank you for your comment.") }

The naysayers will mention that even this kind of commentary is redundant because good naming conventions for your functions, variables, and methods will make the code readable. That is true to a point, but if you’re going for keeping ambiguity to its absolute minimum, a quick comment is the way to go.

It’s Okay to Put Warnings in Source Code Comments

Sometimes the obvious solution to a problem doesn’t actually solve the problem. In these cases, developers who come to a project later in development may look at a file and consider refactoring it take in that obvious solution. Doing so will be a complete waste of time.

Or maybe something else will come up in the future, and they try to call a function that breaks everything and brings the project to its knees.

Regardless, if you have something that you know for a fact won’t work and that you know other people will likely try in the future, it’s okay to warn them about it.

// Don't bother trying to use goodCodeComment() here. // It breaks bestPractices() despite seeming like the best option. // We went with simplyOkayCodeComment() instead. function simpleOkayCodeComment() { //some kind of code goes here }

Also, did you notice what we did in that example? We not only gave the warning to future devs, but included a placeholder comment in the middle of a function. Because source code comments are ignored, you can use them to keep placeholder text in the file (sort of as an annotation to yourself to return there, or as an example to someone as an explanation).

Don’t Be a Jerk

I have seen this happen before, especially in open-source projects that weren’t moderated terribly well. Someone will find a less-than-stellar snippet of code and use a comment to denegrate the author.

//This function looks like it was written by a third grader. //It shouldn't work, but it does somehow. I don't want //to fix it because I want you all to see how bad it is.

Or maybe they do fix the code, but include the code, simply commented out, so that they can show off their code, while at the same time mocking the previous author.

//The old code was so bad, I just had to leave it here for you to see. //I fixed it. My code is below. But look at this. // function theMatrix() { // var neo = maybeTheOne.data + theOracle.data // if theOne() !== neo // return console.log("you got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something") // }

Just make sure that you never do this. Even if you think you’re being funny or that it makes you look good, it isn’t and it doesn’t.

The real use of commenting out code is for you to keep that code handy while trying something else. Or to give an example of what didn’t work before so someone doesn’t try it again fruitlessly.

Source Code Comments for WordPress

In general, WordPress is run on four different languages. HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript. Making sure that use the right characters for the comments is imperative.

For HTML:

<!-- comments go here and can be single or on multiple lines --></em>

In CSS:

/* Any number of lines will be a comment until the comment is closed */

Both PHP and JavaScript have the same methods for doing single- and multi-line comments:

<?php function(); // a single line comment is like this ?>

or

<?php /* unlike above, you can carriage return and no matter how many lines you use, the comment won't stop until closed */

Conclusion

If you’re in the trenches day in and day out, writing code and pushing to GitHub, your organization may have a style guide for comments they want you to follow. If they don’t, however, or you are on your own, keeping this stuff in mind will not only make your job easier in the future, but will also help out anyone who comes after you, too.

What are your tips and tricks for getting the most out of commenting your code?

Article featured image by Skillup / shutterstock.com

The post How to Comment Your Code Like a Pro: Best Practices and Good Habits appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐ElegantThemes

[dorothydelgadillo]

What’s It’s Like to Work in Tech Without a Tech Background

I’m a Junior Editor here at Skillcrush—my job is to work with our editorial team to edit this website you’re reading at this very moment. When you picture editing, you probably think about someone staring at long blocks of text on a computer and making cuts or even marking up a manuscript with a big red pen. And you’re not wrong—a lot of editing does look like that. It can be super low-tech and there are certainly editing jobs that don’t require any tech skills. But those are becoming fewer and farther between, and as someone who doesn’t come from a tech background, it was clear that my career wasn’t moving in any positive direction taking the analog approach. I just knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the changing media landscape if I were only to rely on my red pen. I never expected this, but if I wanted to keep editing with any type of job security, I’d need to start applying my tech skills—and up skill—to my career as an editor.

When I started at Skillcrush, I had just the basics of HTML under my belt and a solid background in tech skills like video production and sound editing. There was still a learning curve with the amount of skills I needed to gain to be a digital editor, but luckily, picking up things on the fly is kind of my favorite thing, and learning tech skills isn’t exactly a huge time investment.

In addition to more job security, moving from media to tech gives me flexibility I couldn’t have imagined—especially in the form of remote work. Since I began this position seven months ago, I’ve logged in everywhere from Ohio, to Chicago, to Dallas, to Martha’s Vineyard! A typical day for me is filled with equal parts chatting with coworkers, organizing marketing strategies, adding to my growing tech skills, and of course, a lot of writing! Here’s a breakdown of how I spend my time.

7:30 a.m. On a good day, I like to get up, start the coffee, and prioritize my to-do list before jumping on the computer. I’m currently based in Brooklyn and live with roommates—three human, one feline—who all work outside the home (except aforementioned feline, who is my daily co-worker). Mornings can be quite busy at our place, with people vying for bathroom and kitchen space. I like to avoid the cluster and sip my coffee while plotting out the day or catching up on reading for one of my book clubs. (Right now, I’m very behind in three of the book clubs, but doing okay in one. Making a mental note to carve out some extra reading time this week.) Taking time to assess what I need and want to get done for the day has been critical while adjusting to my position with Skillcrush. I also have a background in the arts, and enjoy having several side projects going in addition to my day job, so its vital that I create at least two—usually three—daily to-do lists to address the separate needs of each facet of my life.

9:00 a.m. Time to log on! Depending on the day of the week and what projects I’m helping facilitate, I may get on a little earlier to make sure things are running smoothly. Skillcrush was my introduction to many tech tools, but the one that has most dramatically reshaped my thinking is SCRUM.

My day runs on the principles of SCRUM—a project management strategy that began in the software industry and is now widely used to track projects and help keep team members connected. We use a program called JIRA to track our SCRUM progress, which allows us to break projects down into smaller tasks and move them from To Do, to In Progress, to Done. I love this system because—as I mentioned above—I love checklists! SCRUM also bakes in time to check in daily, to have hard and fast deadlines, and to spend time looking back over the last working period (these are called sprints) to see what went well and what needs to change. In fact, I’ve just finished implementing SCRUM to every facet of my personal, creative, and professional lives and use free online tools to manage my own projects. (Airtable and Trello, I love you.) I’ve been SCRUM-ing my life for about a month now, and I’m already seeing improved results. So first thing in the morning, I’m likely looking at our JIRA dashboard to see what tasks I need to do today, see if there’s anything I need to run by my co-workers, and make a plan for what I hope to move to the Done column by the end of the day.

Oftentimes, the first thing on my agenda is to build posts in our content management system, WordPress. Sometimes I think of WordPress as the coworker with whom I spend the most time. WordPress is a staple for any editor—tech or otherwise—since so many sites run on the platform. Every story that appears on our site has to be formatted and scheduled through WordPress, which requires some HTML know-how. One of my big goals right now is to dive deeper into HTML and to finish learning PHP, the coding language associated with WordPress.

In the last minutes before I start our big meeting blog, I spend a few minutes every morning checking in on our social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This ends up being one the most fulfilling aspects of my day, since the Skillcrush community is so active, funny, and supportive. Getting to celebrate goals with students, check out the work they’re posting, and laugh at the latest corgi gif being passed around is a pretty perfect way to start the day.

11:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. The Marketing Team works across several time zones, and 11 a.m. is our sweet spot for daily check-ins, planning, weekly reviews, and the hottest gossip about everything from goat yoga to paragliding. We use Google Hangouts to connect with each other, as well as the chat program HipChat to talk throughout the day. Though it was weird only connecting on video at first, I now absolutely love the balance between facetime and digital chatting. Having focused meeting time makes it easier to concentrate on hitting goals, and makes my workday way more efficient—and we use this time for my favorite thing: SCRUM! Every day we have a 15 minute daily check in where we provide updates, resolve blockers, or ask for support, and then we either have a planning session for our next sprint, a presentation of the sprint that’s just ended, or a review of how we think the sprint went. There’s also one-on-one meetings with my boss or worksessions with other coworkers where we collaborate on projects.

1:00 p.m.—2:00 p.m. Lunchtime! Stepping away from the computer for a bit helps me to refocus after a block of meetings, so I try to force myself to take this break. It can be tempting to just keep going, but I need the down time so that I can shift into writing or editing—which for me requires more uninterrupted concentration.

Since I have chronic back pain and often have trouble sitting for long periods, I also use my lunch break to do yoga or go to a class at a local studio around the corner from my apartment. I feel super strongly about how the flexibility of remote work helps me to accommodate my physical needs—which change day to day—and have often been difficult to work around at other jobs. Although this daily exercise may seem insignificant, it has radically improved my physical and mental well-being.

3:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m. The second half of my day is reserved for writing and editing, since it’s usually not as meeting-filled as the morning. I start by checking in with the Editorial team about what stories we’re working on, what stage my teammates are in, and what we need to plan for in the coming weeks. Then it’s knocking out edits, fact checking, telling our writers what changes I need from their articles, marking the stories as done and ready to be built in WordPress the following morning. I also write a fair amount of articles for the site, so that means researching, interviewing experts, and then—of course—the actual writing. My favorite editorial task is interviewing Skillcrushers—both current students and alumni—for articles we run about learning to code, remote life, or their winding career paths. I’ve picked up so many new tips and tricks just from having to do research for this position, everything from how to timebox my day like a pro, to what houseplants I almost certainly can’t kill.

6:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m. After work I like to cook dinner, look at my personal and creative to-do lists, and start knocking some things out before I have to hit the hay. In a perfect world I get to roll into bed around ten, read for a bit, and the turn out the lights. But living in Brooklyn, there always seem to be events, creative meet-ups, dinners, or other fun things to attend, that often keep me out later—what a great problem to have! Depending on what kinds of artistic projects I’m working on that are most pressing, I’ll look for events that sound like they’ll help me network or will add to my skill set. Often, I’m working on deadline and am stuck drawing or editing right up till bedtime, but the satisfaction of finishing something I love is totally worth the late nights. And, having a packed schedule forces me to be more conscious of my time and more organized at the beginning of every day. So whether I’m logging in from my house or the highway, I know what I need to do and how long it should take me. In another seven months, I’ll be moving onto new coding languages, video calling in from even crazier places, and still touting the magic of SCRUM—watch out.

from Web Developers World https://skillcrush.com/2018/02/01/working-in-tech-without-a-tech-background/

[topicprinter]

Hi Reddit!My name is John and in February 2017 I was let go from my cushy, corporate job in Finance where I worked for the past ten years. Admittedly, I had become complacent and needed a serious change. I was given a few months to look for a job while employed, but since I had not kept up my learning I found it difficult to move into a similar position that paid close to what I was making (due to other candidates being more qualified).Why not just get another job?Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to start a business. However, the demands of my job had made it difficult (not impossible) to start something on the side. Looking at the situation as glass half-full, it seemed that this all may be happening for a reason. I also had the benefit of not having any kids (yet), and my car was going to be paid off in March.The IdeaI spent the first half of my twenties learning everything I could about the stock market, options, trading, and anything similar. The second half of my twenties my learning fell off, and when I picked it up again, I found it extremely difficult to get good data unless you were:A programmer (I was not)Rich (nope)Worked for a company that had access to it (no, and certainly rules against using that for personal use)I was very good with Excel (non-vba), and highly-knowledgeable with basic to advanced financial concepts. I knew how to value companies, but I did not know how to get good data. I was very interested in programming and automation concepts, but did not have years of time to learn how to code.I worked towards a simple idea: an online repository of data. This dropbox-like navigation would house different datasets from multiple categories, starting with the data I had trouble getting in the first place: stock prices. It would contain CSV files (since Excel and Sheets is what I knew how to use) and would be a familiar interface for uploading and downloading. Users would not have to know how to use APIs, advanced programming languages, or complicated programs. And since I knew how to use Excel, I would also include automation templates that users could download and use on their own.I now had an idea, seed capital (aka severance) and time. I presented these pieces to my wife who was…not happy. She was, rightfully so, worried. Starting a business is risky, daunting, and ruthless. If I was going to do this, she wanted an exit plan.The MilestonesWe worked together and come up with these milestones. While aggressive, they have provided me with an actionable framework to work towards.Get one sale within the first two monthsGet 100 sales by the sixth monthGrow at 10% per month for months six through 12As I left my job on February 13th, this left with the following timeline:One sale by April 13th (completed on April 12th)100 sales by August 13th175 paying customers by February 13th, 2018While extremely excited, I am nervous.The ChallengesSince being out on my own, I have found a few things to be rather challenging:What is an appropriate way to balance time?How do you juggle product development vs. marketing?I always hear the term “minimal viable product” but how do you know when it becomes minimum viable? If a website loads in 3 seconds, is that fine? What about 10 seconds?I come from a background in finance. I can forecast with my eyes closed. But when it comes to marketing, I sometimes feel lost.Things break and have unexpected consequences every dayI use the rule of 5: Estimate how long something will take you, then multiply it by fiveProducts I currently use (not affiliated with any of the listed products)Wordpress. Enough has been said here, but I now know how to build a website that loads faster than 90% of the websites out there. FREEDivi theme. While a bit pricey, the features and ease of use are AMAZING. Would recommend to anyone. I actually stopped the monthly piece, so you can still get the theme, you just lose support and updates. $89 one-time, FREE on-goingVultr and Digital Ocean. High performance SSD cloud hosting for the website. I needed a solution that offers good performance, and could be modified for future scaling. Two servers (one for site, one for vault) @ $40 per monthNextcloud. Open-source, dropbox-like software. This is the interface for the data repository. FREECanva. Awesome for coming up with graphics for anything you can think of. $13 per monthNamecheap. Where I purchased the domain name. Negligible cost, not worth noting. If you go with a less used TLD (such as .club instead of .com) it comes out to $0.88 a YEARCloudflare. Great for speeding up websites, however the current website is pretty light load so this may be overkill…but it’s freeBlockspring. Awesome Excel/Google Sheets add-in that makes calling APIs extremely easy. I use this in a good amount of the automation templates I offer on the vault. $15 per monthZapier. Automation tool. $20 per month. Currently used to fill up my…Buffer. Scheduling tool for social media profiles. $10 per monthUpwork. I have one developer on staff who I sourced from Upwork. She is amazing, and has been extremely helpful in initial development I was unable to do. Ranges from $200 to $400 per month. I do not have the link at the moment, but someone on this subreddit had a great write-up on sourcing talent from UpworkData feed. The most expensive piece, but absolutely required to put the data into the repository. $500 per month. This is exactly the barrier to entry I am trying to knock down for young investors and data-minded individuals. The price is so high due to redistribution (and I foresee this being the most expensive piece going forward)Monthly cost: ~$838 to $1038 per monthProducts I have stopped usingIntercom. At this stage in my business this is not needed. Too expensive considering the traffic to the website is very light. I can get around this with a simple contact form, or use a cheaper solution (like Cugiq). However I do think the product is rock-solidHunter. While I think the product is really awesome, it is pretty expensive for a newcomer and Blockspring provides some workarounds that give similar functionalitySocialQuant. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a large twitter following to gain credibility. This was a waste of money, and apparently there are ways to boost your followers on Twitter quite easily without any money (but pointless). Makes more sense to grow organicallyWix. My original website was here, but it was missing some needed functionality. I was also worried about the SSL issues they were having (might still be having) so I went with WPKickoff Labs. I had an idea for an initial launch with a viral marketing campaign, and so I started a kickoff labs subscription. This was dumb because Wordpress offered ways to build landing pages and viral campaigns, so I stopped usingBuzzstream. Only temporary, as I believe I will use this in the future, but Blockspring has similar functionality that can take up 90% of what Buzzstream can do. The remaining 10% will be when the business growsI went a little product happy in the beginning, but now I have settled down a bit. I now look for ways to consolidate functionality.Skills I have gained since being on my ownIt is quite amazing what you can learn when you are excited, motivated, and ready to tackle the day every day:I can now setup a Wordpress website that will load faster than 90% of the websites out thereIntermediate knowledge of VPS, dedicated servers and baremetalBasic scripting in PHP, PythonLearned how to call, and modify APIsAdvanced Nextcloud integrationBlockspringZapier, where I setup an automatic updating of my Buffer queue based on specific pages of the website. I also setup a Twitter marketing tool that will search Twitter for specific terms (less retweets), extract out the users that sent the Tweet, check to see if they are currently following me, then send the list of names and tweets to me by email every day at 9amIntermediate knowledge of bash commandsI have read about 6 books, including: Traction, Growth Hacker Marketing, From Impossible to Inevitable, 7 Day Startup, Ask, and Platform ScaleI now know what the hell people are talking about when they refer to new technology (for example, two months ago I couldn't tell you what Hadoop is...just thought it was a funny word)A good portion of these learnings came about from wanting to save money instead of hiring a developer. While I believe I saved a good amount of money by attempting to do these things myself, hiring a developer for the more difficult parts would have definitely made sense.ConclusionLuckily, if I happen to fail I will have gained a good amount of additional skills to put on my resume. I look at this situation as a win-win. I plan to buckle down and go pretty heavily in marketing for the next couple of months, in pursuit of reaching 100 sales by August.If anyone is interested, I would be happy to provide updates on how everything is going. I have learned more in these last few months than I did the prior year.*Edit - Some peeps have asked what the website is, so here you go: Spreadstreet.io