Webdev on Janusworx

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #11 - Got a Django Certificate! Some Reflections

feedback@janusworx.com (Mario Jason Braganza) — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:42:52 +0530

Been a few days since I wrote about Django.
Last week was a roller coaster personally, so I took things slow.
And then got back to a rhythm this week.

The daily work’s paid off and I managed to hit a milestone.
I got done with my Django course, today! :)
Hurrah!

Cert online.

Some Reflections (in no particular order)
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I should keep better logs and notes about how I go about doing work. I kept deleting my sqlite database, trying to fix model errors, forgetting that I’d moved to Postgres.
This whole Django journey has built up on the last one. While I stood up a Django project the last time, I didn’t understand or grasp what I was doing.
This time around, I’ve understood the why and I’ve gotten a better mental model of how it all hangs together. What the request response cycle is. What needs to happen then. How it’s mostly all CRUD. How Django enables me to tie all these pieces together using models and views and forms and templates and a million and one little things to ease my life.
I’m now confident enough to go try standing up a Django project on my own and then muddle through, to build something I want.
I started the year, flailing about in the world of programming, because everything interested me. I’m thankful I took the time, to figure out what interested me and where I wanted to apply my focus to. Once I zeroed in on doing web development with Python, I’ve made much better progress learning.
While I understand that I need to write a lot more code, I want to finish building up a firm foundation first. To that end I want to learn Postgres, finish up CS50W, crash learn Data Structures & Algorithms (for my Indian interviews. Nearly every Indian company I’ve interviewed with, has made me do this and I’ve flunked miserably every time. I hope to miserably pass muster at least, going forward) and a wee bit of C. Also JavaScript. Lots to learn. I need to do this bit by bit daily, just like I did this part so far.
I understand what folks say, when they talk about programming. I understand their opinions better. Makes me realise that I’ve gotten the basics down pat enough.
To wit, Dr. Chuck was opining on destructors in classes in Javascript, and why there weren’t there in the early days and why they might be desirable now. And all the while, I was nodding my head in agreement, having understood every word, going uh-huh, uh-huh. Why? Yes! It’d be a darned good idea. I could do custom cleanup when my classes get torn down. (And this, from someone who has not written more than two pages of JavaScript yet 😂)
I kept waiting all this while, for it get easier, to reach some abstract level by means of some deep insight, hoping once I’d master that, I could then just fly along, spewing stuff, left right and centre, creating amazing works of code.
What I found instead, is a bunch of primitives that folk all over the world, take and put together in different ways, using various methods of combining them.
I realised that most of programming is just convention, based on a few truths. Which means that there is no grand unifying theory that ties all this in a neat bow. It’s just a lot of dedicated folk putting in the toil to create said works of code and polishing them to make it look beautiful. It’s mostly hard work. Not Genius.
Actual breakthroughs and genuine insights that change everything are few and far between.
And this makes me strangely happy. If it’s just hard work … well that I can do :) Why didn’t someone just point this out to me earlier? Knowledge work is just work? Putting in the hours and work and toil? Sure! Sign me up!
I figure, it’s turtles all the way down. The work consists of studying something complex, breaking it down, understanding it, practicing it, making it your own and creating a portfolio to show it off. Basically the same journey as a carpenter. Apprenticeship -> Journeyman -> Craftsman.
Finally, I’ve spent so much time telling folk, that becoming a good reader, took me years. And as usual I’ve been domain blind. I did not see, it’s the same thing with becoming a good programmer. Toil and patience.

I’m on a break for the whole of next week, and will be back after, to begin the rest of the journey, refreshed.
Here’s to upwards and onwards!

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #10 - A Very Long, and a Really Good Day

feedback@janusworx.com (Mario Jason Braganza) — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 17:55:52 +0530

I did. I really did have a good work day!
I had one of those, whatchacallit, flow states.

What I learnt in Django land
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I learnt nothing!
Well I learnt nothing new. I spent the whole day and what little I time I had yesterday, trying to crack the assignment for module three of the course.
I struggled and struggled and then, struggled a bit more.
The more I write Django, the more intuitive it feels, like I can never make out, what’s provided by Python and what has been built for me by Django. It all feels like one seamless whole.
The blow up Django cycle continued today, to an extreme, it felt like. But it felt good and iterative, like I had a sandbox to play in, as I wished.
There’d be a decimal error and I’d fix it and then there’d be some sort of bounds error because I’d built too little capacity to hold stuff in my models and I’d go fix it and then I’d figure that this method returns a tuple, so I need to catch it in two variables and throw one away, just so I could have at the data I was interested in, and I learnt how to rebuild my models and migrations and reset my database and I spent two exasperating hours on a consistent Django blowup that just should not have been possible. And then I realised, I was assigning the same data to two models (same variable.) Long story short, I learned a lot.
Working over the past two days reminded me of this Julia Evans page, that I serendipitously came across a while ago.

![Julia Evans comic explaining the importance of tracking progress][jeiln]

Focus Follow Up aka Flow what?
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This probably, was the first time, I had a state of flow while programming (I used to have them all the time at work as well lots of times, when I am writing).
This probably means I am comfortable with the level I am at, and I should stretch a bit more.
Did eleven, 30 minute sessions with no aborts. I lost track of time, quite a bit.
Am done with three out of the four modules of this course, I’m on.
After yesterday, today’s progress really feels good.
While I’ll take my wins where I can find them, I should be cognizant of the fact that it was the uncomfortable practice of the week that brought me here.
And so, I want to get more comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.

Here’s to finishing strong!

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #9 - A Very Long, and Not Very Good Day

feedback@janusworx.com (Mario Jason Braganza) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 20:09:18 +0530

Today is a short post.
I worked a lot.
Did not get much work or progress in.

Life got in the way.
Hope tomorrow is a better day.

I did do, 2 hours of work though, and I did learn a lot.
So there’s that.

Until tomorrow …

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #8 - Many, Many Relationships

feedback@janusworx.com (Mario Jason Braganza) — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:42:17 +0530

Another day of doing only Django.
Not that I’m complaining. Finishing up this Django course is my priority.
Followed by PostgreSQL and Data Structures and Algorithms.
I just have to do them step by step, one after another.

What I learnt in Django land
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I like calling it Django land. Reminds me of Tarantino’s Django and Candyland.
I learnt all about many to many database relationships and how they’re done with models in Django.
They’re a logical extension of one to many relationships.
It’s like one of those who know who games. I know Carol. Carol knows Amelia. And so Carol is my through table, my join table, my junction table. I can request things of Amelia through Carol. That in a nutshell is what it is like.
I realise that all these complicated terms I feared are actually succinct names for simple, yet long winded processes or things.
I’m going to practice all this tomorrow morning.
Heuristic, whenever I see repeated strings vertically, I ought to be thinking databases for efficient storage.
Heuristic, whenever I see multiple things relating to multiple other things, I ought to be thinking many to many models/relationships (many books to a genre, many genres to a book, an author with multiple books, a book with multiple authors)
Use integers for primary keys. Integers are fast.
I now love the folk who designed and built Django. The more I learn about its innards, the more I realise there is no Django magic. Just back breaking hard work and lots of thought put into building this beautiful edifice over the years. Makes me appreciate learning Django, even more.

Focus Follow Up aka How did I do with focus today?
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Did seven, 30 minute sessions of Django and one aborted session
Had a lot of housework today and still managed to wrangle 3 and half hours of deep work.
Writing notes, seems to be helping. I get my quizzes right the first time around.
Deliberate practice and focus are not easy, that’s for sure. I keep looking at the clock. And then I keep moaning about how time passes too slowly when I am struggling with stuff.
Also noticed that whenever I start working on something tough, my mind gets really uncomfortable and wants to do everything else, but focus on the problem and do the work. I want to suddenly call people I haven’t spoken to in ages, check my mail, my messages, peek at the fediverse 😂 I resist. And tell myself, I just have to hold on for 20 more minutes 😂
I serendipitously came across this tweet, just a few minutes ago, which tells me I am not alone :)
- Writing code is often a constant struggle against distraction.
  — Joy of Clojure
This focus is now bleeding into other areas of my life. I am slowing down and doing other stuff, slowly, intentionally.
My mind feels like it is slowly expanding as if it was in a vise. It feels a bit more relaxed, a bit more freer

Here’s to showin’ up!

Webdev on Janusworx

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #11 - Got a Django Certificate! Some Reflections

Some Reflections (in no particular order) #

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #10 - A Very Long, and a Really Good Day

What I learnt in Django land #

Focus Follow Up aka Flow what? #

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #9 - A Very Long, and Not Very Good Day

Learning Backend WebDev, Log #8 - Many, Many Relationships

What I learnt in Django land #

Focus Follow Up aka How did I do with focus today? #

Some Reflections (in no particular order)
#

What I learnt in Django land
#

Focus Follow Up aka Flow what?
#

What I learnt in Django land
#

Focus Follow Up aka How did I do with focus today?
#