“ Do you know how to build software ?… I didn’t think so…”

The guy acted like a complete ego manic with terrible people skills. The experience left me wondering if all experienced software developers are condescending?

I was visiting this software development company in long beach about building an app for a non-profit.

It seemed that he was discriminating against us because of my race and maybe he thought we didn’t have $30K to drop.

He said we would need to fly him to the headquarters and pay for hotel fees and daily hourly fees while he watches us do the process before he can advise us on the software we need to build.

I’ve never heard of such a thing and felt this was unnecessary. He could have just said that we will need to work out the process first before we can help you build the software.

Later I did find out that there is indeed a problem with software developers and people skills.

Being from heavy customer service background I felt inspired to do a better job myself. I want to build software that people will use in a non-condescending way.

Only problem… He was right, I didn’t know anything about programming and barely knew what a computer was.

Fast-forward many years later I “self-taught” computer hardware, stripped a computer down to just the motherboard, and even looked up what the motherboard was made up off and learned enough about etching to know that I’m total ok with someone else doing it.

I got a job at staples easy tech while in school to get a bachelor’s with a focus on software development. Before then I took Cisco’s CCENT certificate and passed with flying colors which help me land a job as an enterprise employee help desk tech job. 6 years later I left that to free ball my own web development company.

The experience inspired me to explore technology for myself. To create a better experience for clients needing software solutions to complex problems.

The non-profit never did find a good solution so I’m about to create it.

How I Gathered Requirements

I worked in-depth with the organization and know enough about what the problems are to put together a critical features-focused solution.

They will use a computer with the internet and will need to emphasize crud features for admins and a client portal to view invoices and make payments.

The idea is to build a working prototype then approach them with a solution to test-drive and then pitch a sell.

It cost me zero dollars just time and effort so any sale would be pure profit.

• it’s 100% cloud using google firebase
• custom coded using reusable code I created from other projects.
• plain javascript and custom CSS styles
• borrowed UI design for dashboard and client portal using Figma

Tools going in:

• stackblitz to code in the cloud
• github to save templated code
• envato elements to get icons and css styling in figma
• JavaScript possible use react

I went to capterra to compare and contrast other software to help me narrow down the key features expected from such an ERM-type software.

How I Designed

I went to Envato elements to look at UI for a medical dashboard

Went with this type of dashboard but branded it to their company. I looked for a design that had a Figma import option.

I created a div for each “frame” I renamed some of them “Wrappers” or “Containers”.

After I created each div I would copy the style that was in figma under the related id.

It’s saved me a lot of time just typing all this stuff. There are points where you need to change position to relative or you need to change the width to auto or 100% as this Figma image is meant for a concept but not a working website asset.

I deployed it as a repo in GitHub as I think I will be able to reuse this for a future project up to this point. I plan to make it private repo later.

I also deployed live using google firebase hosting. I do this early to catch any mistakes before I start adding complexity with features and data requests.

How I structured the data

Now I want to make sure the data is organized properly and that we can get it from the database into this app.

I saw interesting database training on youtube google firebase so I spent from downtime watching the whole playlist.

…..

Here What it looked like…

Here is what it looks like in the code

I started an Unordered list <ul> using this format.

I selected all the text that you see above.

I counted the lines or used the line count to the left of the code editor

Then I cut the selected.

Hit Enter 24x’s as in this example

Then clicked each line while holding the “ctrl” key (using windows)

The typed li then tab to auto complete the <li> List Item. This would give each items it’s own line and bullet point to the left.

Then paste

Note

Some times it doesn’t work so clean and perfect if you doing too many lines at once.

Also you may have to clean the code up a bit to make it readable

But in most cases it is worth it.

You can use this multi line selection for other too

for more vs code editor shortcuts visit their website here: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/tips-and-tricks

I was trying to write a program for a kung fu movie theater.

I was about to hoist my variables and give them names.

I usually start by thinking about my immutable values and hoist them at the top.

I then think of the other variable names such as var and let. I usually just randomly type var or let which overcomes to mind first, BUT I remember that I need to clarify the differences between the two.

One time I had a variable that was not defined error but didn’t know the reason. I suspected it was how I declared my variables or used a let vs. a var.

So today, I thought I should STOP and decide clearly which variable is the most appropriate.

1. I google “ differences between const, var, let.”
2. I came across this resource: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/var-let-and-const-whats-the-difference/.
3. Read it from top to bottom and even plugged it into sandbox.io to test the different scenarios to ensure I understood.

In summary, I made a practice to default to let

“DON’T USE VAR”

IF I’m working on a code base with VAR, I will not use it unless the coding guidelines instruct rules of when to use it and when not to.

If I have an “undefined variable error,” look first for another variable with a VAR keyword with the same name.

If not, check for proper hoisting, and this should resolve it. (assuming spellings are correct and syntax errors are caught)

I remember walking from Leimert Park to Baldwin Hills mall to work at Staples as anybody, a cashier, copy center, even a floor associate. I wanted some tech experience because I was in the wrong spot. My now-wife was pregnant with our first child, and I was broke, and it wasn’t a joke.

There was a lot of tension in those times, and I wasn’t necessarily a “Good Catch” in the provider department. I had potential, but you can’t pay the rent with it. In those days, I was filled with guilt, anger, and regret about where I was at that time. The truth is that what I was going through was what I needed to motivate me to do better.

These are the steps I took to get out:

I studied my ass off starting from “ What is a computer.”

Here is a link the video I watched five years ago to start my A+Certifcation training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLe7uz-7CM

I took a class at clover city college, an advanced networking course to get my certification in CCNA to be a network engineer.

I updated my resume and LinkedIn profile to fit the entry-level tech applicant for the Los Angeles area.

I put in about ten applications a week, and nothing landed. I would go into a second interview, but still no luck.

One day, I got a call from a hiring manager looking for entry-level techs with a customer service experience background and general technical knowledge.

I did ok in the first interview, but I aced it with my attitude and desire to learn in the second interview.

They took a 90-day change, which turned into full time. At the same time, I was going to school for software engineering. After about three years, I graduated.

I learned more about software on the web, and now I code web applications, tutor, consult, and freelance. I have the knowledge and skills to realize my web developer career dream.

Here are the things that I learned

1. When opportunities come, make sure you are the right person.

If it were easy, everyone would do it. Opportunities only come once a year despite what you may think.

If you go on Linked in and look for jobs that you want and fit you perfectly, how many do you see? And even if you see it, how many candidates does the job have at picking?

The reality is that opportunity doesn’t come around that much, and even if it did, it’s just an open door; you have to be the person fit enough to walk through the door, and you must have the attitude to seize it.

Bring your “A” game to your interview or client meeting and follow up. Remind them of your key highlights and how you are ready to crush it for them.

2.Think in years, not in weeks

It doesn’t mean you will be in the same place for years; it just means you will have to ramp up your activity week after week for years. Sometimes you look at other people on the internet, and they have a lot of things going on with advanced looking stuff, and you think you have to start there.

But it took them five years to get where they are, and things still are not perfect. This approach should take the unrealistic pressure that you need to have excellent everything by next week. Instead, push yourself to add 1–2 more impact things you usually don’t do every week.

3.Turn adversity into motivation to achieve

It’s easy to play the victim and say, well, I can’t go because of XYZ. Life is hard for me. “ I live in the ghetto, and it’s real out here.” All this focus on the current situation blocks ideas on how to elevate yourself out of it. You can’t control your case, but you can influence your perception and your decisions.

4.Know where you are going and stay the course

Web development is a mountain that is not easy to climb. If you need to get a job at McDonald’s to afford to pay for some skill or knowledge, you will become a web developer. The main point is to make each move you take a step toward to get you where you want to go.

5.Let go and wish it well.

Letting go is difficult. If you want to be an excellent web developer, you will put in the hours learning and coding. You only get 24 hours, so something has to give in its place.

If your a video game head, you have to be willing to let it go to become someone better. If you are a social butterfly, you have to be willing to let it go and spend time talking with people about your code and getting feedback.

Please don’t take what I’m saying the wrong way. You don’t have to give up your core self-interests or speaks of being. I’m saying unproductive time spent doing something will need to be on the chopping board because you will trade that for skill.

6.Beware of the fast or the shortcuts.

Suppose someone says that if you pay X, XXX amount of dollars and shortcut you to developer stardom. Think long and hard. Why? Because there is no shortcut. The only shortcut is to know there is no shortcut. The fastest way to get to point at point b is a straight line. That is the most a person can do for you. You WILL go through challenges, and YOU will need to overcome them mostly by yourself.

7. Learn like nobodies business

I need you to imagine you haven’t eaten in days. Then you go to a buffet of all your favorite food and a bottomless stomach. What kind of damage do you think you’ll do? Probably eat the restaurant with it. That’s how you have to be with web software, not in an erratic way where you don’t have any core languages and frameworks but in a “T” shaped way.

Learn a lot about things connected to the core thing you know the most. For example, you know a lot about web design in general, but you know the most about websites’ database structures. Do you see what I’m getting at?

If you get nothing else from what I just wrote, remember this, everyone gets the same about time in a day. The time you spent reading this, you can’t get back. What you DIDN’T DO yesterday is the reason why you are in the situation you are in right now.

Before you know it, you’ll be celebrating your birthday again, but would you still be the same person? That all depends on what you spend your time doing.

If you haven’t seen this yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsNzAuYDgy0

I went from really motivated and confident to feeling like I’m still a rookie. These moments have you feeling like you need to go back and relearn how to initialize variables.

What’s Happening?? am I still a coding rookie? Did I waste my energy preserving through all these other coding projects?

Weirdly, you become familiar with all of the components when you’re working on a coding project. You know what each line of code is there for, you recognize class and function names, the picture of how your code is structured is clear. But when you see it again after about 1 month, you try to decipher it like a puzzle, and your question is usually, did I write this?

Dealing with Paralyzing FEAR 😨

Feeling like you don’t know what to do, but you just haven’t spent enough time to break down what you don’t know into smaller pieces…

For example, let us say you build an interactive modern login form with HTML and CSS. Now, you add interactions using JavaScript but don’t know what to do. You get stuck right there.

What typically happens is…

After about 2 hours, you can’t figure it out and, in response, end up watching YouTube videos of people doing what you are trying to do now. You try to follow along, but then you can not fully because another problem arises while trying to follow them…

You get an error that is not covered in the video.

You have to search that error on stack overflow

Some super experienced software Jedi gives some Oscar winning response that you can not understand enough to even begin implementing it.

Somehow you are on Coursera and Udemy and begin to complete whole courses. Somewhere around, video number six. You realized it is overkill. “I just need to figure out how to connect JavaScript code to HTML element,” so you start again, and the cycle repeats itself.

When I go through that, never quite ask anyone any question. Days will go by while my self worth as a coder plummets. 🤦‍♂️

Meanwhile, intuition kicks in then I start to think to myself that maybe I should slow down and take my time on where I’m stuck at.

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

So I begin to clarify what is unclear

• I don’t understand how to connect the user experience interface and the JavaScript code
• I don’t know how to search for it or what key terms or phrases
• I don’t know what this I’m asking for is even called
• I don’t understand what needs to happen in the code to connect the two

This is ground for me to search each one of these or ask someone in a group for guidance.

Spend just 15–25 minutes, clarifying what exactly you don’t clearly understand. You will be to immediately feel unstuck. You will have specific questions to ask and to search for. You will move out of coding paralysis quicker and restore your coding motivation. 🐱‍🏍