See My IBM Developer Dev.to Tutorial!

When I was first learning how to code, Tuesdays became my favorite day for blocking out time to work through a new tutorial. I will be posting quick and easy tutorials occasionally on Tuesdays to help all of you level up your Dev skills!

For purposes of this Tutorial Tuesday, I’m going to show you how to deploy a Cloud native application to IBM Cloud Code Engine from both a container image and using Code Engine’s source-to-image, with the IBM CODAIT team’s Max Object Detector in 5 easy steps!

Once you get your application deployed successfully, you’ll be able to start using the object detection model to detect object from the images you upload or from your web cam!

First, a little about IBM Cloud Code Engine. Code Engine let’s you focus on writing code instead of worrying about managing infrastructure. Code Engine is a fully managed, serverless platform that allows you to bring your container images, batch jobs, or source code, and let Code Engine manage and secure the underlying infrastructure for you. No need to size, deploy, or scale container clusters yourself! No networking skills required, either.

With IBM Cloud Code Engine You Can:
* Create container images from source code using Code Engine’s source-to-image
* Store source code in repositories
* Push images to registries
* Integrate into IBM Cloud and all IBM Cloud services
* Handle all cluster provisioning, configuring, scaling, and managing servers
* Auto scale workloads up/down or to zero when no requests are active
* Built on OS Kubernetes, Knative, Istio, and Tekton, keeping apps and jobs portable

I’m going to walk you through how to deploy an application, any application, with IBM Cloud Code Engine. Do you already have your container images? Great! Don’t know what a container image is? No worries! I’ll show you how to deploy your application using both an existing container image AND directly from your source code in your project repo!

Let’s Build Something!

Steps
1. Sign Up for a Free IBM Cloud Account
2. Install the IBM Cloud Developer Tools CLI(i.e. command line interface, the commands you type into your Terminal)
3. Install the IBM Cloud Code Engine Plugin
4. Login to Your IBM Cloud Account via the CLI
5. Deploy to Code Engine 2 Ways (with a Container Image OR with Source Code)

Setup & Installation

2. Install the IBM Cloud Developer Tools CLI

* For Mac and Linux, run the following command in Terminal:
```
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM-Cloud/ibm-cloud-developer-tools/master/linux-installer/idt-installer | bash
```

* Verify the IBM Cloud Developer Tools CLI is installed
```
ibmcloud dev help
```

* For Windows 10 Pro, run the following command as an administrator in Powershell:
```
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = “Tls12, Tls11, Tls, Ssl3”; iex(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString(‘https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM-Cloud/ibm-cloud-developer-tools/master/windows-installer/idt-win-installer.ps1')
```
Note For Windows Users: If you encounter a Git error similar to the one below, you will need to install Git in the correct path.
```
bash: git: command not found
```
Follow the Windows Guide HERE

3. Install the IBM Cloud Code Engine Plugin

* For Mac, Linux, and Windows 10 Pro, run the following command:
```
ibmcloud plugin install code-engine
```

* Verify the IBM Cloud Code Engine Plugin is installed
```
ibmcloud ce help
```

4. Login to Your IBM Cloud Account via the CLI

* For Mac, Linux, and Windows 10 Pro, run the following command:
```
ibmcloud login
```

* Enter email and password

* View available resource groups
```
ibmcloud resource groups
```

* Assign a target resource group (default to your “Default”)
```
ibmcloud target -g Default
```

5. Deploy to Code Engine 2 Ways

Deploy to Code Engine with a Container Image

* Create a new Code Engine project and give it a name
```
ibmcloud ce project create — name PROJECT_NAME
```
```
ibmcloud ce project create — name max-object-detector
```

* Create a new app from a Container Image
```
ibmcloud ce application create — name APP_NAME — image
```
**(Optional)** If you need to change the default port, run the following command:
```
ibmcloud ce application create — name APP_NAME — image IMAGE_LOCATION — port PORT_NUM
```
**Note: IMAGE_LOCATION is not the URL where the app is deployed. The port defaults to ‘8080’ unless specified.**

Run the following command:
```
ibmcloud ce application create — name max-object-detector — image quay.io/codait/max-object-detector — port 5000
```

* Check the application status
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n APP_NAME
```
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n max-object-detector
```

* Get the app URL
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n APP_NAME -output url
```
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n max-object-detector -output url
```

* View the live application at the URL in your browser
```
URL + /index.html
```
```
https://ibm.biz/max-obj-det
```

Deploy to Code Engine with Source Code

* Install the IBM Cloud Container Registry Plugin
```
ibmcloud plugin install container-registry -r ‘IBM Cloud’
```

* Create an IBM Cloud API Key
```
ibmcloud iam api-key-create cliapikey -d “My CLI APIkey” — file key_file
```

* Create Container Registry secret and add access to Code Engine
```
ibmcloud ce registry create — name myregistry — server us.icr.io — username iamapikey — password API_KEY
```

* Create a new Container Regisry namespace
```
ibmcloud cr namespace-add MY_NAMESPACE
```

* Verify your namespace has been created
```
ibmcloud cr namespace-list -v
```

* Create a new app from Source Code
```
ibmcloud ce build create — name BUILD_NAME — image IMAGE_REF — source SOURCE — registry-secret REGISTRY_REF [ — commit COMMIT] [ — context-dir CONTEXT_DIR] [ — dockerfile DOCKERFILE] [ — git-repo-secret GIT_REPO_SECRET] [ — size SIZE] [ — strategy STRATEGY] [ — timeout TIMEOUT]
```
```
ibmcloud ce build create — name max-obj-det-build — image us.icr.io/MY_NAMESPACE/max-obj-det — registry-secret myregistry — source https://github.com/IBM/MAX-Object-Detector — commit master — strategy dockerfile — size medium
```

* Check the status of your build
```
ibmcloud ce build get — name BUILD_NAME
```
```
ibmcloud ce build get — name max-obj-det-build
```

* Run the image build
```
ibmcloud ce buildrun submit — build BUILD_NAME — name BUILD_NAME-run
```
```
ibmcloud ce buildrun submit — build max-obj-det-build — name max-obj-det-build-run
```

* Check the status of the build
```
ibmcloud ce buildrun get — name BUILD_NAME-run
```
```
ibmcloud ce buildrun get — name max-obj-det-build-run
```

* Verify that your image is in your Container Registry
```
ibmcloud cr image-list
```

* Deploy the app with the Code Engine CLI
```
ibmcloud ce application create — name APP_NAME — image IMAGE_REF
```
```
ibmcloud ce application create — name max-obj-det — image us.icr.io/MY_NAMESPACE/max-obj-det
```

* Get the app URL
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n APP_NAME -output url
```
```
ibmcloud ce application get -n max-obj-det -output url
```

* View the live application at the URL in your browser
```
URL + /index.html
```

Play with the Max Object Detector!

* Upload an Image


OR

* Use Your Web Cam


And I aced it. No sweat. I knew what I knew, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

I had a dream the night of Valentine’s Day, and I had a long conversation with my best friend and my grandfather in the dream. They gave me the inspiration and support I needed to feel brave enough to take a chance. It was time. On Friday, February 17, 2017, I signed up for a gym membership and decided my life was going to change. I set into motion the plan we had discussed in my dream. I had decided that Dev Bootcamp was the right path for me, and I began searching for scholarships to help pay for my program. I called Dev Bootcamp, Facebook and Adobe, but without being a California resident I didn’t have many options. I called Dev Bootcamp on Friday, March 24, 2017 and told them I had decided to enroll and start the remote half of the program the following Monday, the day after my 30th birthday. I had decided that once I turned 30 I wasn’t ever going to be afraid of anything ever again. I drained my savings account, paid the program costs in full, and went to the gym. That Monday my life changed forever.

I had to refactor to take my Phase 0 assessment, still struggling with, well, everything. What am I even doing here? I had weekly 1:1s with my advisor to go over and talk through the code. This changed everything. If it weren’t for Glenna I would have never made it to the onsite, that is a fact.

San Francisco or bust.

I made all my arrangements and left for San Francisco on Sunday, June 18, 2017. I arrived at 6pm. I started my first day at Dev Bootcamp on Monday, June 19, 2017 at 9am. I don’t know how they do it, but my assigned advisor was everything. I took full advantage of my 1:1s, going in with a tangled mess of code, comments everywhere, explaining what I was trying to do, and he would take a long look at my code and then calmly open up his text editor and say, “okay, so talk me through what you’re trying to do here.” And we would work through the problem, step-by-step, from start to finish, like a normal conversation and then translate it into code. This is what I needed. This is how I learn. This is how I already translate in my mind from Spanish to Portuguese to Russian.

I remember my first day of careers. I was so lost. My career advisor gave my resume back to me with his revisions, and he had drawn giant Xs across the pages of my resume. Yes, I had pages of resume. I had no idea what I saw myself doing a year from then let alone if I would even make it through bootcamp. I was terrified to even have a vision with as inadequate as I felt. I also was starting to feel the pressure of being across the country, away from my home in Detroit, away from my partner, away from my dogs, with no friends or family, with a limited amount of time to make something happen before I run out of money, while still supporting my partner in their personal struggles to finally apply for grad school.

Make Beautiful and Meaningful Things.

If I needed to network and get a referral to get a job at that point then I was doomed to fail. I have panic attacks just being in a room with too many people. Careers kept a steady flow of resources available to us. Alumni would come speak to us weekly about their experience in the job search, where they’re at now, more than happy to refer anyone who was interested to interview with the company. The Dev Bootcamp community was truly amazing. I was able to practice and fail and work on my social skills until I was able to develop a system that worked for me. Now I can be the person I need to be in a social setting and focus on my immediate goals. I have finally met Jenna, the engineer and strong woman in tech. She’s pretty great.

My career coach also pressed us almost daily to attend alumni and meetup events. Where else do you have the opportunity to attend events at a different company HQ just about every night of the week? At the end of the day, my career coach would ask who was going to the event, ask that we make sure everyone knew about it and encourage others to come. EVERY time I went. I was broke in SF with the opportunity to network, possibly get a referral and a free meal all at the same time. I was living the dream.

I would work all day until 6pm, go to a meetup event to network and have dinner, then I would go back to DBC to work on code for a few more hours. I would take a Netflix break, pass out on the couch, and then wake up and start the whole thing all over again the next morning. I started going to hackathons and workshops over the weekends to learn new tech stacks and work on practice projects. I reached out to conferences to get discounted tickets for students so that I had the opportunity to attend their technical workshops and after parties and get lots and LOTS of swag. I scheduled coffee and lunch dates with DBC alumni to find amazing people to build meaningful relationships with. I signed up for MoviePass and went to the theater to eat hot dogs and watch new movies on the weekend.

I did all the things. Any opportunity, anywhere, I was there.

I graduated from Dev Bootcamp on Friday, October 6, 2018. The day after graduation I spent the weekend at a hackathon with 2 other Boots. That was one of the best hackathons and best times I’ve had in San Francisco, period. We pitched on Sunday, I slept or the rest of the day, and I was at DBC on Monday to continue working on my projects and help other students with their challenges and projects. I was honored to have the opportunity to work on a second final project and learn a completely new tech stack. I worked around the clock with very little sleep using the resources available to me in order to simulate what it would be like to work on a project at a real company. We had wireframes, we had a style guide, we had variations of mockups, we had a super sweet agile board, we had it all.

After our final presentation at our final graduation ceremony for Dev Bootcamp on December 8, 2017, I flew home to Detroit and worked on a virtual hackathon project with my favorite hackathon partner who had just flown back home to Japan. I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, all the way through New Years Eve finishing up our project and presentation for submission.

During this time I had been contacted by a recruiter from IBM for their Tech Re-Entry Apprenticeship Program looking to bring women into technical roles within the company. So after we submitted our project, I had 10 days to learn PHP and prepare for my technical onsite in Austin. I worked through PHP tutorials over and over again. Then I went back to work through binary search, fibonacci and fizzbuzz, but this time in PHP. I flew to Austin for my technical onsite, I asked lots and lots of questions, and then I worked through my solution and passed all the tests. I was so nervous going in, but I had lots of time to ask the engineers questions afterward to find out what they love about working at IBM.

I left my heart in San Francisco.

I flew back to Detroit to continue working on projects and looking for opportunities. I was offered an interview for Microsoft LEAP, so I scheduled my interview right away. I received a verbal offer from IBM a week before my interview with Microsoft, and I awaited for my offer letter. Nothing is real unless you have it in writing. My interview with Microsoft was fantastic, and I’m honored to have even been selected to interview. Once I received my offer letter from IBM I began making arrangements to move to Austin. I went back to San Francisco for a few more conferences and workshops and moved out of my apartment.

I owe ALL of my success to the amazing team at Dev Bootcamp in San Francisco. They were willing to take a chance on me, and it paid off.

365 days from my first day at Dev Bootcamp in Phase 0, I began my apprenticeship with IBM.

Today, 365 days from my first day at Dev Bootcamp in San Francisco, I’m starting my career as an IBM Cloud Software Engineer, a member of the SoftLayer team.

Don’t ever let ANYONE tell you that you can’t do it, that you’re not worthy, that you’re not amazing, that you don’t know what you’re doing. The people who love and care about you will celebrate your successes along with you.

You WILL figure it out because you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to. You just have to take things one day at a time until you get there.

EXCELSIOR.

I didn’t realize how many people have tried to hold me back from reaching my full potential until I actually thought about it last night. I even had multiple teachers in my high school give me a lower grade to teach me a lesson; "she can’t get straight As forever, it’s going to happen sometime. she needs to learn that."

A teacher of mine actually told my parents this after I told them my grade was wrong, and I had done all the calculations 4 different ways and it just didn't add up. I actually had other teachers give me lower grades after that as well, but I wasn't aware of it until I received my grades at the end of the year, and I didn't think I could do anything about it at that point.

Sometimes even those who are supposed to nurture and support your education and growth try to bring you down. Even with a few wrong grades I still graduated 3rd in my class and received early acceptance to the University of Michigan.

They can't put you down forever. Hard work and perseverance trumps everything. My parents are perfect examples of that. And as I sit here awaiting my written offer from IBM, I can finally give myself permission to have the last laugh.