#100DaysOfCode: Day 1
Day 1 of my #100DaysOfCoding challenge! I plan to mini-blog my 100-day coding journey. Posts will include reflections on my Turing School of Software & Design journey, discussion on concepts I am currently learning, and thoughts about the road ahead.
Before I start, I think it important to start off with my why. Why did I make this change? Why did I take my life in this direction? Why did I decide coding was the next skill set I feel is worthy of my time?
I think it’s important to write this ‘why’ down. This ‘why’ is more than a simple blog post. When the road gets rough, a strong why is what is going to keep me going. A strong why is going to make the late nights worth it. A strong why keeps me going when I want to quit.
In the shortest amount of words, my ‘why’ is freedom. Freedom to create a future how I see fit. Freedom to work remotely at a long list of companies whose mission aligns with my own. Freedom to earn a living wage and not need to work until I’m 70.
From my past experience, I know there is no guarantee that pursuing a specific interest will automatically manifest into a fulfilling career. All I can do is roll the dice, go all in, and give it my all. I am already 30, so time is of the essence to find what truly ignites my soul.
React: The Virtual DOM
Right now I am in Module 3 of 4 at the Turing School of Software and Design! We just started learning about React and holy wow do I love it! It makes building functionality take hours instead of days or weeks.
React uses something called a ‘virtual dom’ to make our lives easier. The virtual dom is an under-the-hood javascript object representation of what is being displayed to the user on the webpage. React uses this virtual dom to help understand what changes are happening in the real dom.
So when a user interacts with the webpage, React looks at differences between the real dom and the virtual dom and will only render the components that are different between the two. This sounds messy and convoluted but it means a more fluid experience for the user and developer. The developer doesn’t have to worry (as much) about the data model and the DOM becoming separated because they are more closely aligned. It’s hard to understate how important this is!
We are just getting started with week 1 of mod 3 so more to come soon!
