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Growing as a web developer

Carl Setzer
numbers projected on face

So, I finished a associates in web application development back in June. My skills are ok, but pretty basic. I realize I want to code better. As I’m working on being more proactive, I opted to sign up for some Udemy courses. Right now, I’m working on 50 Projects in 50 Days. This one focuses on expanding my HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The first two projects were basic, but I needed that. Rattling through the rust. Plus, my typing has gotten…lame. I used to be highly accurate. Coding, though, is petty and will fail by missing one character, a space, a semicolon. Sometimes, the biggest challenge is simply finding the error.

So, I’ve completed two so far:

With this, I updated my hand-coded site on Github’s free service (check it out here). I’m posting these projects here, as well as in my github repository for these projects.

Part of me wants to significantly up my coding game. Perhaps event to the point of being able to take part in a hackathon. However, I am trying to juggle several things and we’ll see how far down this rabbit hole I venture.

Quote of the day: everyone’s contribution is important

Carl Setzer

One thing that I need to do better: value my contributions. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of “my work does nothing”. This mindset sucks life away. Contributes to depressing destructiveness.

Remember: you have value. Your work matters. Your life matters.

Finished, and Next Steps

Carl Setzer1 Comment
information sign on shelf

I just finished my final in Enterprise Architecture. By successfully completing this class, I’ve completed the requirements for some additional certificates:

I also have applied for the following certificates:

I’m done being a student for the near term, but I think I’ve accomplished a lot during these past 2.5 years. I’m proud of all I’ve done and look forward to finding ways to implement all I’ve learned.

Another goal is to land a full-time role with a company that will pay for me to continue my studies. There’s so much more to learn! I plan to start a new role sometime around the end of this year, and then be able to start classes with that company in 2023.

Some thoughts on the Dark Brandon thing

Carl Setzer2 Comments
mad formal executive man yelling at camera

A blogger I highly admire, Bernie Michalik, posted this article looking at the whole Dark Brandon meme that’s running through the internet right now: On The Good and Bad Aspects of Dark Brandon (a quick aside for those unaware of the meme “Let’s Go Brandon”, it’s basically an anti-Biden euphemism. If you wish to explore it further, here’s the Wikipedia article.)

I understand that it feels good, at one level, to meet political invective head-on. However, I find it counterproductive. Bernie pulls an apt quote:

“Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

George Bernard Shaw

So, my thoughts? As Luke Skywalker put it, “This isn’t going to go the way you think”.

It’s best to keep our end goals in mind. Which, hopefully, isn’t just to score pyrrhic points in the eternal game of poltical one-upmanship.

Quote of the Day by Richard Feynman

Carl Setzer

I’ve long admired the wit and wisdom of Dr. Feynman. This quote took me a bit, though, to fully embrace. For so much of my life, being “wrong” was embarrassing, something to be avoided at all costs. Generally by avoiding speaking out, by avoiding risk. I’m pleased to have passed through that, worked to embrace humility, and to risk being wrong in order to learn. That is what’s most critical.!

Some thoughts on Web 3.0

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I came across this video today, which I think is a great, high-level, introduction to Web 3.0, and how it relates to Web 2.0.

As I just finished a degree in Web Development which focused on the Web 2.0 stack, I see the importance to expand into Web 3. It is the future, after all. Still going to be a bit for the key details to shake out, but I want to be ahead of the curve. And have every intention on making that happen.

Function over Form?

Carl Setzer1 Comment

In the great debate about which is more important, form or function, I prioritize function. Ultimately, I don’t think “important” is the right word. Form, style, design must support and enhance functionality. Then the overall experience is better.

The user experience is what’s most important. “Form” takes functionality higher, makes it better. When done right, it turns users into fans. Neither is more important. Form and function are both critical to creating quality. And that should be the goal.

The Web and the Future

Carl Setzer
black laptop computer turned on showing computer codes

Ah, web dev! The path of the future! Well, that’s been my thought for the past few years. I believe that web interfaces are a key part of most every software system we’ll be dealing with over the next few years (not sure what I mean by few…but, you know).

With that focus on the future, I want to consider what the future of the web looks like. I’ve explored web 3.0 a little bit, but there’s quite a bit more to wrap my head around. The key parts seem straightforward: immersive experiences and dispersed architecture. How much of that is the “metaverse”? What’s the role that blockchain will play? That is quite hard to glean right now.

As with any frontier, there’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s a lot of risk. And, let’s be fair, a lot of fraud/snake-oil/charlatans. But there’s also great opportunity. Discerning between the two is the challenge. And those that get that figured out the earliest will reap the greatest rewards.

My Work Over The Next Few Months

Carl Setzer1 Comment
top view photo of people near wooden table

In my current role, I’m preparing to cover for our communications coordinator while he’s out on paternity leave. This will last through November, and my contract is up at the endo of December.

I covered for him 2 years ago on his last leave, so I know quite a bit about the work (check out samples of that work here). Last round, though, we were at the beginning of the pandemic, so my main focus was on creating and editing video for our services. This round, our video production needs are minimal (we’re fully back in person and streaming. Not much video editing at all). Though we’re launching a stewardship campaign, which will have a video component, we’re outsourcing that. Most of this round’s work will be newsletter maintenance and bulletin creation. I’ll also be doing social media work, some graphic design, and some writing. It’ll be fun.

This gives me pause. I’m good at communications work. The main reason I chose to study web development grew out of comms. I get consulting work for my comms and marketing knowledge. Yet, I also love more general tech. I really enjoyed my Cisco networking classes, the hardware classes, and my current Enterprise Architecture class. Of course, more traditional IT work seems to pay better. And there is a lot of competition for communicator roles, especially with all the changes in journalism careers.

So, I’m not sure what will come of all this. Will I try to leverage my experience in this contract role into a FTE comms role somewhere? Or do I want to be straight tech? Or is there something else I haven’t seen yet? Oh, the mystery of life!

The Basics Of Scrum

Carl Setzer4 Comments
man in gray sweater standing in front of his colleagues

Over the course of my studies, I’ve heard about Scrum, but we never really went into it. Well, as part of a project a little bit ago, my team dove into Scrum. My part of this was to write up how Scrum is implemented. So, I thought I’d share that with you.

In order to understand how SCRUM is implemented, we need to understand Scrum’s basic roles. There’s the:  

  • ScrumMaster
  • Product Owner
  • And Team Members

The Product Owner is the customer or the customer’s representative. They have the authority to allocate resources, as well as make decisions about product scope and scale. 

Team members are the people tasked with completing the work required to finish the project. 

Lastly, there’s the ScrumMaster. Their role is to advocate for the team’s needs, hold them accountable to timelines and goals, and remove any roadblocks the team comes up against. 

The Scrum process creates three key documents or elements, which are called artifacts. Those artifacts are the:  

  • Product Backlog
  • Sprint Backlog
  • and the Product Increment. 

The Product Backlog is the list of features and requirements that define a successful product. This includes all the functionality the Product Owner needs. The backlog is arranged by priority, enabling the entire team to be aware of what remains outstanding and the importance of each of those items. 

Before we talk about the next artifact, the Sprint Backlog, we need to define what a “Sprint” is. Sprints are distinct periods of focused work. A Sprint is anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. During the sprint, the team only works on a subset of features and requirements. And the Sprint Backlog is the list of those project elements worked on during that specific Sprint. 

The last artifact is the Product Increment. Simply put, it is the product that is being worked on. For example, a web application or database. It is what will be presented to the Product Owner and shipped at the end of the Sprint.

With all that in mind, a SCRUM cycle starts with a Sprint Planning Session. These review the Product Backlog and ascertain which priorities will be focused on during the upcoming sprint. All team roles are present: product owner, team members, and ScrumMaster. Those items that are selected for this sprint are added to the sprint backlog. What is NOT selected will remain on the Product Backlog. It’s important to note that many items will remain in the product backlog, waiting for future sprints. 

During a sprint, there is a daily meeting, called the daily scrum or a “stand-up”. These are short meetings, around 10-15 minutes. During this, the team and ScrumMaster will review what was accomplished the day before, what will be focused on today, and what roadblocks or other concerns have come up. After the daily scrum, work is performed on the product increment. 

At the end of the sprint, a sprint review is performed. This is when the product increment is shared and evaluated with stakeholders, teammates, and the product owner. 

After the sprint review, there will be a sprint retrospective, where opportunities for improvement are identified and implemented. The whole project cycles from sprint review to sprint planning and then back to sprint review until the entire product backlog has been cleared.