Portfolio page

There is  one that I have learned in the past few months and that I am bad front end designing, but I have been wanted to make a portfolio page for a while. I haven't quite grasp the concept of github pages and will hopefully figure it out soon.

In the meantime I created a Webydo page and linked it to brianllamar.com

After next week I hope to start learning Javascript, and other things besides bootstrap.

Lots of Ruby Workbooks and Strong Params w/Rails 4

So in addition to working on my Chuych app I have completed some additional Ruby work. In the last week I have completed 8 chapters of Chris Pines Learn to Program and all of Ruby Monk (Primer).

After those two things I find that I need more and more practice in Ruby (Not Rails). I have no trouble building a web app and googling how to do things I do not know how, but one of the downfalls of learning as quickly as I have done is that I still do not understand the most basic ideas in programming.

For example: I got stumped on a while loop question. I planned to do some live coding with Ruby Newbies. To explain some questions I got stumped on. Hopefully teaching will help ingrain it in my mind.

Rails 4:

So Chuych is actually my first rails 4 app since One Month Rails. I never got a chance to go back to OMR after creating ilikerobot.com but have used it frequently when reference thing like jQuery Masonry.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why my Rspec test were failing and found out about Whitelisting in rails 4. Basically attr_accessible is not the best way to white list params, so the Rails crew added params to the controller and removed them from the Models.

I missed out on the memo but it explained in great detail in my meeting Adam.

My goal was to completely implement create Churches and associating them with Users, but fell short of the association. This weeks goal is to completely implement Users, Churches, Post. In addition I will be implementing a Geolocation Gem, as well as a Landing (sign up page) using some front end.

Freelancing opportunity

I recently filled out an Elance profile and have a taken the Ruby test. I have yet to pass any but feel I have an idea of what I need to learn, which is more Ruby command programming.

At this point I am intrigued with regex but have now idea how to use it properly. FYI, If you plan on taking the Elance test, knowing some of that will help.

Regardless I want to share I job offer I received through Elance. I feel I am at the point where I could tackle this project, aside from the Beanstalk portion. I have to attribute that to Bloc and their method of teaching through pseudo client work. I will be declining this offer but hope to start an Elance project by april or June.

*I assume this job was sent to everyone who had Ruby listed in their skill set and I was not sought out for, but an offer is an a offer. I highlighted in red how I would approach this.


Elance

*A site with user registration, user profile, password reset, email confirmation etc. (Devise Gem)

*Connectivity to Paypal payment service. This is a commission based system, not a product resale applications. (I haven't done this but found a gem to try.)

*Connectivity to Facebook and Twitter API (Omniauth gem) 

*Code application-specific features that ties in to the back-end. More on this will be discussed once contacted.

*Familiarity with GitHub for managing code and coordinating task necessary. (Done)

The web application is build from scratch using Ruby on Rails. The code must scale using Elastic beanstalk technology. The database used is DynamoDB. (I now know from googling beanstalk is handled by AWS.)

Capstone Project

So I spent my Sunday Evening typing a quick plan of my capstone on my phone. But I thought I would share a bit of it. I already got some valid feedback on approaching it my mentor and it sounds like its going to be a fun little project.

So here it is:

The ultimate goal of the app will be to supply church reviews to individuals new to a city (Think like Yelp for churches). The reviews will be generated by the users of the app who can also share short information (similar to Twitter) about the church.

My goal is to have a my basic MVC laid out before starting (hopefully tonight) and test using Rspec. I am determined to use Rspec more than I have in the past , since it will help some of the tedious debugging I get stuck on.

Here is the MVC

Models:
Churches
Users
Voting
Follow (favoriting)
Reviews/Comments

Views:
Reviews#Index
Welcome#Login

Controllers:
These will be the usual controllers, and will be.

I haven't given up Postmarks but pretty much done and although I would never submit it to client "as is," it is functional and I must move on to the next app, since my Bloc time is limited.

If you care to look, please POSTMARKS. Try not to break anything :)

I will also try to do a good job of documenting the process of building this app.


https://github.com/brianllamar/chuych

[:failed] Elance quiz for freelancing

Although I am working towards an apprenticeship post the Bloc program., I thought I would try my hand at Elance. I like the idea of freelancing and wanted to see if I was getting close to a professional level.

I created an Elance account to browse the different jobs available and understand how to approach most of them as far as planning, thanks to the preferred method of leanring in Bloc (using pseudo freelance projects).

I took the Ruby on Rails test on Elance and got a 45%. To put it in persecutive, a 60% is the minimum to pass on Elance. now I do not take this as the testament of being fully freelance ready but I am pretty glad I am somewhat closer to the bottom level. They require you wait 14 days before taking the test again, so I will be looking through some of the books I have collected in order to get over the 60% mark.

If you are learning I recommend taking the test to help gauge where your learning is at, but keep in mind passing a test on a ruby doesn't necessarily make you good at it. Practicing daily is what will get you freelance ready.

3 hours of debugging to learn I need to test better

I had multiple errors on Friday which were all solved thanks to my mentor with Bloc. We spent 3 hours afterwork with my mentor combing all lines of code fixing errors only to have one left, which was with Masonry, a gem he did not have familiarity with.

Adam actually recommend that he do a pull request to fix the final error on his machine, which was nice because prior I had not successfully completed a pull from github or seen how contribution works.

I am impressed at the determination and willingness of Adam to find an answer to a problem. even though he is admittedly stumped, he found the answer offline and solved actually rather quickly.

This morning I watch two different videos on TDD and now wish I put more emphasis on learning it with this app. I instead brushed past the testing once I got the Models and controllers established. My hope is to push my self to start with strict TDD on all Models and most controllers. If I dont push myself to learn it now with a mentor then I might develop bad coding habits that could take a lot of time to correct.

These are the videos that help me change my ways. The first is actually from Ancient Ruby which I will be attending this year.

Thinking hard about what's next (only 3 weeks left)

I have put a lot of thought in which apprenticeships to apply to after Bloc and due to the fact of the local Tampa apprenticeship is now closing, so I need to take serious consideration on moving out of state and to where will be the most feasible for my family of 3.

After a lot of long conversations, my wife has provided her blessing for moving out of state as long if the opportunity is there for me to obtain work post the apprenticeship. Some cities I have on my list are Nashville (My twin brother lives there), San Francisco(Obvious reason), New York, and Chicago.

I am excited at the thought of living in a city other than Tampa and hopeful that one of the now 4 companies I have applied to will respond back with the interview process (I am already in contact with Chicago). I am also purposely leaving the names of each company, but can let you know if you so desire. Just send me a message via social media.

My plans currently are to finish my current app, which I have so many thing s breaking its not even funny. but I have plans to spend a lot of time tonight with my mentor walking through the more confusing errors.

I am looking forward to the next chapter of my journey outside of Bloc and what's in store.

I am also planning on doing a hangout to discuss my thoughts the Bloc program. This weekend I am also hoping to put my plan together for my capstone project and will be posting it here soon.

RuningOutOfTime:Error

I did not expect to take this long on my current app but I also did not expect to be so busy with my day job...Another reason why I am pushing to get an apprenticeship. Costa Rica really put a real delay in my learning rails. I have also been given more responsibility and task to complete within my position and it has caused me to work longer during the day and at home...

My hope is to start an apprenticeship by April and anxiously waiting on their responses. I look forward to the day where I can focus on program during the day rather than late nights and early mornings.

My current error involves the connection between Griddler and Cloudmailin... I am trying to create a Bookmark from an email. This app has introduced few new elements and they have all thrown me for a loop, which is good.

I am trying to figure out how to parse the data from the email into the bookmarks table. Sounds easy in my head but I am stuck on the syntax and ambiguous gem file docs. With my work schedule, I have also not had much contact with my mentor to really discuss. I have a message out to him on this and eagerly wait on the solution.

1. Griddler Gem
2. Cloumailin
3. Devise like user Authentication without the use of gem.
4. Embedly Gem

I hope to have this complete this weekend and have 3 weeks to complete my capstone project. I did want to attempt the Blocapedia app project, but will have access to the instructions post Bloc and can complete it then. I have a strong desire to complete my capstone and it will have some Blocapedia functionality anyway.

Now, Back to focusing on the app. Monday marks only 3 weeks left of Bloc, sad and excited at the same time.

Bundler::GemfileNotFound

I saw this error while working on the airplane last week, I found the following Stack Overflow question. 

Bundler::GemfileNotFound

My first thought was that I messed something up in my gem file, but a quick search shows that you need to install bundler gem.

install rubygems-bundler

This is confusing since I my app was created using "rails new"

I scrolled down further and found an answer stating the following: "cd into a directory that has a Gemfile"

I was not in the correct folder and I did the same thing this morning. Since I had o look this up twice I thought I would share on my blog in case someone else has the same issue. 

The actual answer was voted 51 times, but was not at the top of the page. Prior to this SO question I would juts look for the first answer but now I will be scrolling down to read all the answers. I realize the right answer might not always be the first. 

I am now Back Stateside and missed the internet

I thought I would of got more rails work done last week, but I underestimated the workload while in costa Rica. The trip was a lot of fun but its time to get back to work. I also did not expect to not have wifi on an international flight, which made it impossible to debug or research.

I did on the other hand get through half of the The Book of Ruby. I like it because it basically a Ruby definition book. I like Whys Poignant Guide, which I used previously, but find it hard to reference or review for specific info. The Book Ruby lays out all the elements of Ruby and makes it easy to reference. After reviewing the book over the week I was able realize stuff I had already forgotten.

I learned Ruby pretty hard 7 weeks ago in the beginning of block but have been implementing Rails since. I find it important to review the basics periodically especially now, since I can now implement more things.

Currently working on a Tic Tac Toe game, which I could not do last week due to the lack of internet and research. *When I had internet I had to do my day job work.

Took me forever to figure out how to list Board = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 ] in



I am currently right on schedule with the Bloc program. Each new element of Blocmarks has me going on a rabbit hole to learn something else. My current place is creating post from email.

At this point I will most likely not attempt the other two projects but will move on to the capstone. I am looking forward to starting work on a Church related app. I will write more details on what it will be this week, once I write my plan out.

One thing that caused a lot of delay was building my own solutions and not using Ruby Gems. I understand the importance of learning how code works together, but I love implementing gems and moving. I have also realize I like creating apps and figuring out the best course actions to complete. I might attempt freelancing after Bloc, maybe find a small project to work on.

Off to Costa Rica

I am currently typing while awaiting to start my journey in the Tampa International Airport. Thanks to my promotion I now have to do a bit of travel and will hopefully get some good Rails work done on my flight. I am planning to complete the Rspec book while in flight.

I also have a mentorship planned for this afternoon, which will be fun to continue with Bloc while in a different program. Just another luxury of an online mentorship program.

I also hope to finish my current app. I have had some delays due to preparing for this work trip and needing to dedicate time to that.

On another note I did apply to 3 separate apprenticeships in preparation to the conclusion of Bloc and have already heard back from one. The first part of the application process involves me building a small game. I have some experience with this from the code retreat. I look forward to starting that this weekend.

Started the Ruby Newbie Communtiy

Last weekend the Ruby Newbie Google plus group held it's first hangout. The idea came after realizing that there still is a large amount of individuals deciding to learn Ruby just as I am. I also realize that programming last only as long as the community does so in order to hedge my decision in learning Ruby I would love the opportunity to assist others in learning with me.

I have played music most of my life as well as sports and know that when you surround your self with others with the same goal or passion your skill level increases at faster rate.

That is my goal with this group and I hope to see you this weekend at the Hangout. It will be focused on "How much time do you spend learning? " and "What do you use to track your time?"
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On another note I have applied to a couple apprenticeships, 3 to be exact. They are all highly sought after apprenticeships. I have 5 weeks left and imagine that I can prepare enough for the interview in the meantime.

Things I learned last week.

Implement user authentication without using the devise gem. I also signed up for railscast in preparation to business trip to Costa Rica. I am actually looking forward to being on a plane where I can dedicated some time learning some new things.

Used a Gem: instead of struggling to build my own solution

So I spent most of Thursday and Friday Morning trying to create my own tags for my Bookmarks app, but after a long conversation with a Bloc Mentor this morning, I discovered how to use the Ruby toolbox and found the acs_as_taggable_on gem. I was set on getting this done on my own but had to implement my 3 hour rule and ask for help.

It still took me a while to figure out that I had to rake db:drop:all my database in order to implement the new gem properly, I got it to work with less code. I also gain a better understanding on how to properly work with the database. 

If you are interest here is the railscast thought was recommended for me to watch and get this done.