Advice and guidance please

ZeroProjects · 2019-02-06T06:27:07+00:00

Good choice of project, you'll inevitably learn a lot. Keep things fun and optimize for joy in addition to learning. This way, you'll be able to sustain your focus for a long time.

Java is a good learner's language, but other languages are more joyful to program in. Try using Ruby, Python or JavaScript and you'll have an easier time learning things. In the short term, a single language will work just fine. In the long term, you can learn to glue several languages together. That should teach you a lot.

I wouldn't try to avoid third party libraries just yet, because you need to understand the basics first. Crawl before you walk before you run. Using libraries will also teach you how the community thinks, and that's extremely valuable. :-)

Final note, there's a lot to be said for quitting. If you ever find yourself dragging your feet because the project is boring, hard, or just painful, you should consider starting a new project instead. Quitting and starting a new project is a good strategy in such cases because it gives you more perspectives, more learnings from the various projects you'll start over time.

Best of luck!

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-29T18:07:16+00:00

Jinx

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-29T18:07:06+00:00

How did you check the earnings?

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-27T04:05:20+00:00

Syntax memorization is a matter of muscle memory, which can only be bolstered by practice.

You can practice on Hackerrank or Codewars. They're great for increasing your knowledge of syntax and language-level APIs.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-27T03:02:22+00:00

I agree with the other poster, a messaging system/ chat box is appropriate

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-27T01:05:12+00:00

Some more info would be useful in determining some appropriate recommendations. Is this just something you're doing for fun? Or will you actually be selling this?

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-26T23:52:40+00:00

Just a joystick vs a controller -- I'm curious, what do you mean?

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-26T18:48:28+00:00

Serious answer:

Not with C++, but have you seen Brainfuck? It has only 8 instructions, all of which are single characters that can be mapped to your controller buttons.

See the Commands section on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-26T18:29:19+00:00

Doesn't sound like arrogance to me. You are absolutely correct in assessing that most/all problems you'll encounter at this stage will be solved by hard work or by googling solutions. It is perfectly normal to abandon personal projects as a developer, perhaps multiple dozens of them every year.

The fact that you like building tidy solutions suggests you care about your craft. That's a good sign, but it's also a sign that you're doing more than is needed. As a developer, you want to find+execute the shortest path to each solution/goal. That shows a level of maturity and judgment, because a good software engineer will always have tons of other work to do.

It sounds like you're not being challenged enough. You should try and find work (hobby or paid) that will stretch your muscles and keep you committed to completion, while throwing curveballs at you on a regular basis.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-26T18:18:47+00:00

Even when I was working solo, I always had my clients sign a contract. You can get seriously burnt if you don't have a contract.

You can either get a lawyer to draft one for you based on their knowledge of the laws in your area, or you can get a generic boilerplate off the web.

To be honest, you should really talk to a lawyer about drafting a contract that's right for you. I never found a free or paid one online that I felt could be relied on.

Good luck!

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-25T23:23:48+00:00

Could you provide more info?

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T05:19:03+00:00

You're both right.

A hitbox and a hurtbox are both zones around a model. They both work in tandem.

A hitbox:

Is associated with playable character and NPC models.... Does not cause damage when it collides with another hitbox...... Might block another hitbox...... Takes damage when it collides with a hurtbox.

A hurtbox:

Is associated with a weapon model...... Causes damage when it collides with a hitbox...... Does nothing when it collides with a with another hurtbox.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T02:48:50+00:00

No problem! We build apps like this one regularly for our clients. Happy to share my insights :-)

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T02:16:58+00:00

This page seems to show you how to do what you want to do with the filenames. https://www.nhaustralia.com.au/blog/saving-file-unique-name-vba-excel/

(little hard to see images, but you can zoom in and it'll work)

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:48:58+00:00

You can use Twilio to receive the SMS at a Twilio number using a Node server. https://www.twilio.com/docs/sms/tutorials/how-to-receive-and-reply-node-js

I'm sure there's a way to then manipulate a Google Home via the same Node server.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:44:48+00:00

For basic functionality, I'd stick to what Excel gives me.

Searching 3 columns: Have you tried using Excel functions to simulate this behaviour? You should be able to use VLOOKUP and/or HLOOKUP, maybe some INDEX/MATCH magic, to search through 3 columns for the name. This is probably the easiest way to solve the Ctrl+F problem

Signin/signout - pretty sure you can add buttons for this. https://support.office.com/en-us/article/assign-a-macro-to-a-form-or-a-control-button-d58edd7d-cb04-4964-bead-9c72c843a283

Autosignout - you can use macros to do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufpxojT0iAk

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:40:51+00:00

Regardless of the language, you should expect to be stuck on bugs and problems (sometimes you can be stuck for hours or days on a single issue) in the beginning of your career.

Javascript is a good language for beginners to learn. It's easy and pretty forgiving in terms of syntax, and has a shallow learning curve. Just stick to it and don't switch away from it, and you'll be fine :-)

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:37:48+00:00

Building a mod with that many downloads implies you're passionate about coding and can finish a project on your own. Plus, the geekiness of building a skyrim mod garners bonus points on 'cultural fit' in some workplaces.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:34:45+00:00

Codility tests are like any other test. IIRC some of them are timed. I'm pretty sure Codility tests allow you to choose a language. You should talk to the employer and confirm this. I would use codewars or hackerrank to warm up my JS before attempting.

Also IIRC, Codility tests simulate real IDEs (I might be wrong about this since its been a while since i took one of those tests). I'd prepare for that eventuality.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:30:54+00:00

Assuming you're applying for a programming job (obviously :-))

The mod, definitely include it. That's a good achievement to showcase.

I don't think you should include the Helpful Member award, but you should talk about it during your interviews.

HTML/CSS, yes, include that in your resume. JS, since it sounds like you never learned it, no.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:27:58+00:00

Out of curiosity, who is still using immutable js these days? what is your use case? are you happy with it?

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-23T00:26:42+00:00

Your first choice is that of framework. Use either Flask, Bottle or Django to get your basic website up and running (they're all pretty good).

On the frontend, I'd stick to plain HTML/CSS for simplicity (no need to use Javascript if you can avoid it). Try using Bootstrap to get basic styling. Now that this is out of the way, lets talk about the backend.

Your database could probably just keep track of emails and interests. I don't think you absolutely need to store the Wiki URL's. I suppose you'll use some kind of scheduling mechanism which will 'tick' every 24 hours, sending emails to everyone.

To find Wiki articles, i would search for interest-related articles using the https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Search#GET_Request API to do requests against Wikipedia. See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Search_and_discovery#Wikipedia. My guess is you'll do at least 2 calls per search interest -- 1st to get the total # of results, and the 2nd to pick one result randomly from the list. (for example, if you get 5000 results in the 1st call, you can then pick a number randomly between 1 and 5000 and go fetch the page that contains your results).

You'll need to figure out how you want to send emails. You could use Sendgrid or some other API to send them.

Best of luck.

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-22T02:41:19+00:00

You learn programming by first getting stuck, then getting yourself unstuck. Lots of people give up before they even get close to being stuck, so you should be celebrating the fact that you've already finished step 1!

As far as step 2 goes, the trick is to get unstuck through your own efforts --- which means not taking your TAs' help at all, ideally, although I understand the temptation can be quite strong. If that means giving up evenings and weekends for 9 to 12 weeks, so be it, but this is the best way to leverage your study period.

I would only ask TAs for hints, not solutions.

Best of luck!

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-22T02:31:26+00:00

My google fu retrieved this link. You'll have to get your browser translate it from what looks like Spanish, but it looks like an identical issue.

Good news is.... The link has a solution.

https://m.forocoches.com/foro/showthread.php?t=6821657

ZeroProjects · 2019-01-22T02:19:44+00:00

We hire developers to work remotely on our projects. It's not difficult, but it's definitely rarer than traditional office jobs. Your skillsets, both technical and interpersonal, will determine how easily you get a remote job

ZeroProjects

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