The Rising Coder - Week 1/13 (Introduction Week)
Tags: javascript, beginners, bootcamp, codenewbie
Published: 2022-09-02 18:22:35

Hey! Thank you again for visiting my blog and this is my progress so far after Week 1/13 at the Northcoders Bootcamp!

Feel free to drop me a follow on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/anipi119), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-lam-792b90161/) and [GitHub](https://github.com/clam119)!

So, my first week out of 13 at Northcoders has finally come to an end! 

## How was my first week?
The entire week leading up to my start at the Northcoders Bootcamp was filled with waking up at 03:00 - 04:30 because I was both nervous and excited at how my hard work had paid off in getting into the bootcamp, and then finally starting my journey.

But the Northcoders Staff were very friendly and welcoming alongside my fellow cohort members, and so I felt like I wasn't just a cog in the wheel but a proper member of the community. (Thanks to that I finally stopped being nervous and waking up at completely unreasonable early hours!)

## So, What have I been up to?
Before I get into what I've been up to for my first week, I'd like to share how Northcoders' curriculum is setup:
* Week 1 : Introduction to HTML/CSS/JavaScript 
* Week 2 - 4 : Fundamentals of JavaScript 
* Week 5 - 7 : Backend Development
* Week 8 - 10 : Front End Development
* Week 11 - 13 : Project Phase

And so with that, let's jump into what I did this week!

### Setting Up Developer Environment & Command Line
One of the most important things for any developer is getting their development environment all setup. Before the start of the program and as part of the pre-course work, we had to configure our Windows/Mac/Linux laptops/desktops to make sure that we had everything that we need to get stuck in!

(E.g. VS Code, Git, Ubuntu WSL (Windows Subsystem Linux - If you are running Windows), PostgreSQL, Node.js, Terminal Command Line. 
 
### Git/GitHub & Version Control
The first topic that we covered on day 1 was the importance of Git & GitHub as a version control software. As Software Developers we will be working in teams and having version control software allows us to revert back to a time when the code was working before we **inevitably** break something and have to go back. 

I was pretty comfortable with Git/GitHub since I had spent the past few months working on the VS Code Command Line pushing my repositories and changes onto GitHub.

### Execution Context & Call Stack
This one was pretty tricky to get my head around because the execution context & call stack are background processes. But, essentially they refer to how JavaScript scans and evaluates code before they are run. I had to definitely watch a few YouTube videos such as [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTAzsODSCsM&t=6s&ab_channel=Codesmith) and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9c4CMMUKc&t=1s&ab_channel=TraversyMedia) which helped me gain a better understanding of these two concepts.

### Understanding Errors
One of the biggest things that I encounter is the dreaded error message. But after listening to the explanation of errors and how they are the most useful thing to have ever exist, was an eye opener. 

One of the mentors, Christian explains that there are many types of errors and they each have their own meaning. So first is reading the error type, looking at the path of the file that is causing the error, and then look at the line of code that the terminal is pointing the error towards, and then start trying to solve it from there!

Using the errors during the problem-solving for the challenges/exercises that Northcoders gave us was the most valuable way to start hitting the dopamine, otherwise known as the "Test Pass" ✔️ - Such a relieving feeling!

### Regular Expressions (Regex)
As part of the course's precourse material it was recommended to try and learn regular expressions (Regex). Regex allows you to search a string and match characters based on the condition you pass it. I'll be honest, I gave myself days and weeks to try and fully understand it, and I've accepted that I won't 100% understand it and that's completely fine! 

## Thoughts Going Forward
This week was a smooth introduction to how Northcoders does their bootcamp remotely and what we can expect for the structure, and so I'm looking forward to diving deep into the more tricky stuff next week!

## Socials
Thank you again for reading this blog post and feel free to drop a follow on my socials:
* [GitHub](https://github.com/clam119)
* [Dev.To](https://dev.to/clam119)
* [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-lam-792b90161/)
* [Twitter](https://twitter.com/anipi119)