I recently made a decision. I decided to put the lab on hold because I was running into roadblocks and have been stuck for a while (it appears three weeks have passed since I last wrote!). So, I am moving on in the book and will come back to the lab to complete after I have been working on something different. When I was working on the lab, I would write code and it would do nothing like I would expect and so I would search, change the code, and find it also did not work. Frustration was growing until I finally said I need to take a break and learn something new. So, chapter nine hear I come. I think this will be an interesting chapter, it is teaching me how to read and write to objects, like a file or database. This is nice, we write to databases at work and I think it will be nice to understand how we are doing it.
This has brought me to think about coding in general. How do you know when you need to reach out to someone for additional help? Yes, I can continue working on the lab (and I will return to it) to finish and ask others around me for help on what needs to be done. I have done some bug fixes and small feature work for my job. I have received help all along the way while doing these. Usually, I would search on Stack Overflow or other forums reading to see if I could find the solutions I need. Then I would try some of the code and if it didn't work after a few times I will reach out to someone. The person I reach out to can usually answer my question and show me what to do in a short 15 - 20 minutes. I have just spent a couple hours working on it myself without getting somewhere.
OK, sometimes I do find the answer and I think I am better for it. I will probably remember the answers I took a few hours to find than those that are shown to me by someone at work. There has to be a balance, but what is the right balance? I find that sometimes I find the answer after just asking someone for help and talking through my issue. It makes me think about what I am trying to do and say what the code is doing out loud to someone else.
Sorry for the disappointment on the many weeks between blogs and not having the lab done. Maybe I didn't disappoint you, but I am bummed.
On a side note, I got a new job at work. I have been an Implementation Specialist. I would mostly work with clients to install our product and trouble shoot tier 2 issues. Well, they asked me to move to be a Software Engineer in Test. A lateral move, but I will be testing our product and possibly even coding more. I am excited for the change. I have been doing the implementations for almost two years and it has been great. I like working with the customers and really digging into our product. I will be moving teams and focusing on one specific function of our products so I will be deep diving into the code and how that portion works. I know I will start by writing tests and looking for bugs. Eventually, I will be coding, probably a lot more than when I was doing implementations because I won't have the tier two support to also work on. Exciting times!
This has brought me to think about coding in general. How do you know when you need to reach out to someone for additional help? Yes, I can continue working on the lab (and I will return to it) to finish and ask others around me for help on what needs to be done. I have done some bug fixes and small feature work for my job. I have received help all along the way while doing these. Usually, I would search on Stack Overflow or other forums reading to see if I could find the solutions I need. Then I would try some of the code and if it didn't work after a few times I will reach out to someone. The person I reach out to can usually answer my question and show me what to do in a short 15 - 20 minutes. I have just spent a couple hours working on it myself without getting somewhere.
OK, sometimes I do find the answer and I think I am better for it. I will probably remember the answers I took a few hours to find than those that are shown to me by someone at work. There has to be a balance, but what is the right balance? I find that sometimes I find the answer after just asking someone for help and talking through my issue. It makes me think about what I am trying to do and say what the code is doing out loud to someone else.
Sorry for the disappointment on the many weeks between blogs and not having the lab done. Maybe I didn't disappoint you, but I am bummed.
On a side note, I got a new job at work. I have been an Implementation Specialist. I would mostly work with clients to install our product and trouble shoot tier 2 issues. Well, they asked me to move to be a Software Engineer in Test. A lateral move, but I will be testing our product and possibly even coding more. I am excited for the change. I have been doing the implementations for almost two years and it has been great. I like working with the customers and really digging into our product. I will be moving teams and focusing on one specific function of our products so I will be deep diving into the code and how that portion works. I know I will start by writing tests and looking for bugs. Eventually, I will be coding, probably a lot more than when I was doing implementations because I won't have the tier two support to also work on. Exciting times!
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