Learning

I lost some momentum on my bootcamp journey in recent days. Both “embers” in the flame panel have gone dim (see banner), signifying I haven’t submitted any work for two days. I had made it a point of pride that those embers were never lost. So, what’s really going on? I was, and still am, working on Chapter 5: Storage. The lessons so far: CH 5 - Lesson 2 (Goose Migrations) - Postgres SQL schema migrations CH 5 - Lesson 3 (SQLC) - Code generator from SQL commands CH 5 - Lesson 4 (Database Review) - Quick notes about dialects and a pop quiz CH 5 - Lesson 5 (Create User) - We have the SQL defined, now wire up the API handler CH 5 - Lesson 6 (Create Chirp) - CRUD operations for “chirps” (where I am now) I’d already been down the Goose and SQLC road in a previous course, so I thought I’d blast right through this part. ...

I’ve been taking a break from gainful employment, and filling the craving for tasks by doing Boot.dev courses. My bio on the site currently reads: Rusty CS masters grad from Canada, minor in psych to help understand HCI. Taking boot camp to cure 5 years confinement to OPS, and prolonged exposure to business 4GL and wishful approaches to AI. I’ll unpack the snark in other posts. Today I thought I’d say a quick thanks to Boot.dev for their work, and to offer the perspective of an aging coder and what I’m getting from the online, gamified bootcamp experience. ...

I can’t say for sure what the poet William Blake had in mind in the early 1790’s when he wrote “The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction”, but I hope he won’t my comparing it to learning by building, also known as constructionism 🔗 . The educational theory of constructionism observes that people learn best by making and sharing things. If you’re looking for effective instruction, there is no substitute for facing the claws of a technical tiger, particularly one you have chosen to meet yourself. Conversely, you may find you can’t recall how to proceed with a new program in spite of having read a half dozen tutorials on the subject. If this is the case, perhaps you’re mistaking those forgettable horses for much more challenging tigers. ...