Starting a New Chapter: Dev Bootcamp

I am officially a 2015 Bobolink and will be starting Phase 0 at DBC tomorrow (or technically today)! I feel excited yet nervous in several ways. Thankfully, Dev bootcamp is amazing at explaining what to expect so I feel secure and ready to begin this new journey. I have decided to record my raw experiences as I move along this new chapter of my life.

This week was called Week 0 and mainly consisted of configuring my computer, setting up web applications for the curriculum, and learning about DBC's culture and expectations. Luckily, we are the first cohort to use Canvas as a learning platform. I have used Canvas before for an online course at UCLA and it was a great tool to help organize my learning and keep me on track. After watching videos and taking some learning style quizzes, I was able to reflect on how I will utilize my time at DBC. Videos included advice on how to succeed in Phase 0, how to give and ask for feedback, and emotional intelligence. In a video called, "Embrace Confusion," Sherif Abushadi taught us to get excited by confusion instead of feeling discouraged by it. He also said to have the shamelessness of a 3 year old when it comes to needing help when you're stuck. I feel more at ease knowing that DBC's staff and instructors really want you to just communicate your troubles and get help whenever you're stuck.

For setting up web applications, we were asked to install Homebrew, configure Github, and of course install Ruby. We also installed a few other applications, such as Rspec and SQLite. I honestly have no idea what some of these are for but installation went well with no complications.

I would give DBC a thumbs up for helping me transition into Week 1 so smoothly. Overall, I feel very welcome at DBC and really look forward to continuing Phase 0!

For Loops in Javascript

"I just can't wait to graduate!" goes across my mind as I try to fit in some coding practice in between classes. My mind has been a clutter lately. I'm feeling anxious and beginning my prep for development bootcamp applications but also trying to memorize enzymes and proteins for my biochemistry class. I figured starting a coding blog would help me declutter my learning and retain all of this new syntax that I am practicing! Currently, I am learning JavaScript via Codeacademy. I have realized that organizing { }'s helps understand your process better as you write for loops. At first I was confused at why we do myName.length + i instead of just myName.length  (in line 11) in order to write out all the letters of my name when text[i] is equal to 'E'. But I get it now! The letter 'E' at position text[i] is not only at 0 but also in other parts of var text when there is 'Eunice'. This Codeacademy post helped me understand this much better.