Scenario:
I am at my desk immersed in correcting my homework. What did I miss? Probably left out a bracket or semi-colon because life is a sick joke and if you miss just one of those symbols, it throws the whole program off.
I hear the crescendo of footsteps drawing closer. The door creaks open and then the dreaded words:
"Whatcha up to?"
"NOTHING, MIKE. JEEZ!" I reply without looking up from the computer. Suddenly, I remember that is a human being that I am talking to and not the Charizard I "rubber duck" with.
Snapped out of work mode, I am suddenly filled with shame. I turn to my wonderful husband of eight years and say, "Sorry, Mike. It's been hard. Just doing homework. Oh, and happy birthday!"
Week 1 Summary:
Tech Elevator was not lying when they said the program would be time intensive. I don't go to bed until around 1am most days. While the scenario above has been slightly embellished, it is fair to say that I don't have nearly as much time to spend with Mike and my friends. I know it's only temporary, which helps. Plus, you just can't beat the thrill of struggle busing through code until you finally find a solution that works.
I feel very lucky. My instructor, Brian, is not monotone and comes up with great analogies that make concepts like loops and arrays easy to understand. On Friday he included a very helpful bit about peer programming etiquette and assigned us our first partners.
I was extremely nervous about starting peer programming. My fear is that I don't know enough and will be deadweight. Thankfully, Ross, my partner, seemed to be in the same boat and was incredibly patient and up for trying anything. For the final exercise we were searching Stack Exchange and Googling different ideas and plugging them in until something worked. One of our classmates, Christina, also swooped in to help and gave us a fresh way to reconsider our code.
It's been hard, but tons of fun.
Some practical takeaways:
- "Rubber ducking" is the practice of explaining code to something that doesn't talk back. It really is helpful for recognizing errors.
- I took a writing class in college where the class mantra was "kill your darlings". Basically, it means you shouldn't get too attached to what you write; there will always be something better or a way of improving it. You are not your writing. Don't take criticism personally or be afraid of throwing things away. The same principle applies to code.
- Step away from the computer. Take a break every fifty minutes or so. If I'm feeling really frustrated, I will go to bed and tackle things again in the morning. It's like flipping a switch; I wake up and suddenly everything clicks.
