FROM THE CENTER: Coordinating the journey

The first real world solution I ever built was a simple sales data collection app in 2009, with Java. Yes, I started with Java (whatever this implies).

Boy was that a proud moment because they used it even though it was supposed to include a “print out” function that ended up buggy as hell we had to forfeit entirely. Still it executed the basic CRUD functions seamlessly. Peachy!

This post is about finding my way back, having somehow lost it right at the center of the environment.

The past week has been quite the learning experience. No real world challenges yet but boy have I learnt a whole lot. My focus was mainly DOM manipulation and I came across a simple task that held me hostage for too long a time.

It involved animations and even though GSAP was recommended I decided to veer off my trajectory a little and dive deeper into ‘the Sea-SS’ animations. Swimming is not something I enjoy (I can’t swim) but my curiosity usually wins these battles. (This is merely a metaphoric detour.)

I try to take a foundational approach to learning new things so at the very least I have a basic understanding of how the system works before I get too comfortable with extra tools.

Hence my deep Sea-SS dive.

Halfway through the tutorial about manipulating animations in CSS, I got an idea on how to implement the task and immediately went to give it a try.

😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Big mistake going to war with my half baked knowledge. My idea failed woefully of course but it was delightfully fascinating to observe this failure dramatically unfold in slow motion.

This thing worked in my head. It still does 😑 (In my head)

Thankfully there is no knowledge lost even in failure so here are a few of my observations so far:

1. Understanding the syntax or learning the code is NOT the most important thing about (learning) web development.
2. Innovation, open mindedness and extra copious amounts of dedication, discipline and patience(x2) are very important traits to have or develop on this journey.
3. Copious Patience(x2)². Trust me. I thought I understood call back functions for a while the first time until…it called me back, over and over and even now I’m still in doubt. So I don’t beat myself up when I don’t grasp a new concept the first 150 attempts of watching and trying out the tutorials. Which leads me to number 4
4. Self doubt has been an unpleasant yet dedicated travel companion. I hear its voice every time I’m about to take on a new topic or try out a new challenge. “ So just because you barely managed to grasp flexbox manipulation you think you’re ready to take on the Dom?”. I’m not sure if it will ever stop speaking, or if this is peculiar to me but what I know is I’ve made it a duty to constantly prove that voice wrong.
5. CSS is beautifully fascinating and incredibly robust. Yet so many devs don’t respect it and as a result they don’t take the time to fully understand it. It is a powerful yet annoying attention hoarding needy petulant child.
6. A methodical approach will make your web dev journey so much easier. There’s so much information out there it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the tech paths, stacks and jargon. Have a plan and have people you can talk to, they don’t even have to be your friends. The resource for my current trajectory was provided by someone I reached out to on twitter via DM. He’s been extremely helpful as well, even made out time to help me with a CSS challenge via google hangout. Needless to say the problem was so embarrassingly simple.
7. Google everything! A person who asks questions never misses their way.

I’m not confident enough to share the tasks I’ve been working on, yet (I’m building up to that, bear with me), hence the lack of photos. But I will do soon enough.

Still making my way from the center of it all. Today, we go again.