Time Management

Codefighting Progress

Okay, first, if you're not following my other blogs, it's worth noting that I'm simultaneously studying to become a pilot. I had no idea the time it's going to take to study everything for the flight school. The amount of information covered is insane and demanding. I'm going to keep both up, but not nearly at the pace I had initially hoped.

The actual ground school lasts 12 weeks, and then I take a written test. I'll have to get actual flight time in and eventually take the flight test within 2 years to be a full blown pilot. That being said to iterate how much my focus will be divided briefly, but I will come back more focused to this task at hand. I'm in the 2nd week of the 12 week close so only 2 1/2 months left, then my flying time is only on the weekends. I'll figure out how to do that.

As far as the what I've been doing lately, well, I haven't progressed further than the 2nd chapter in the book. In my spare time, I am still doing the Codefighting website mentioned on the materials page. Much of what I've seen there isn't very revealing, but I'm actually starting to grasp some of the concepts. I can tell you that nothing feels greater than looking up and writing code that works.

Talking with my supervisor, one of the key components to writing code is to sketch out how the code should function. In other words, once you have a formula with a road map developed, you can write the code easier by following those instructions. My biggest problem is lack of exposure. The book is spoon feeding me and the Codefighting is instant immersion. Between the two, it's challenging, but I think both are a great mix of information to keep the learning from becoming boring.

I'm hoping to get the 3rd chapter covered by this weekend. It gets much more into the code, and as I find out how it all ties together, I'll briefly explain it in another blog post.

Comments

Starting the Path

Where did it all begin? To start, I love computers. I always have. The technology in them and around us is intimidating to say the least. There are many things I would do differently and wish could be done differently. So, why not me? I decided to actually try computers more than what I had in the past. I can troubleshoot and setup computers with some basic concepts. I couldn't build one from scratch, but then again, I never tried. I loved computers, but it was my hobby. I was afraid that if I turned my hobby into a career, I would lose my hobby because I wouldn't want to mess with computers outside of work. Eventually, you just have to get past that and try it out. I had been in Customer Service for over a decade. I excelled quickly in that department, but it became very clear after several efforts that I was simply not going to move forward in that department. Though I had advanced most of their technology from the first year I was there, created and wrote several poli

Pet Project Progress

Well, I've started my pet project, and I've got a GUI laid out. It's a little slow going, but it should work well in the end, I think. I'm sure there's going to be lots of feedback and many different ways I could do things. Right now, however, I'm limited to what I am learning in the text. As promised, here's the screenshot of my first program. Help? I'm trying not to ask too many people how to write any of the code yet for a couple of reasons. First, I haven't learned any code yet, and I likely won't understand a word of what's being told to me. Second, I'm afraid that what I'll be told I'll understand at that moment, but since I didn't have to work for it, it won't get burned into my memory like the knowledge I have to seek out. Those long hours searching usually scar you to the point you never want to forget those lessons again. Function Since I don't have too much to show, I'll just explain what th

New Pet Project

Okay, I've got my next great idea for my pet project. It's a little more complicated, but not terribly. My biggest complaint I had when I transferred from the Detailing Department to the Customer Service department was the loss of my trusty HP48G calculator. This thing was awesome! You calculated feet and inch calculations with formulas. The format was feet.inches and sixteenths. For instance, 14.0608 = 14'-6 1/2". The formulas removed parts of the inputted number and converted them from a foot to a number to add and subtract, and then reconverted the number to a foot answer to display. I and a colleague created several excel sheets that essentially did the same thing, but it just wasn't convenient and didn't flow very well. So, I'm going to create a program that looks close to this calculator. In addition to the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of feet-inch numbers, there were formulas that calculated roof slopes, weights, and

Path 2 Developer

Search This Blog