An Update on 2018

It's been six months since my last blog post, which I can 100% say is due to having a jam-packed six months. Also partially that I didn't know how to sum all of it up!

So, updates on what i've been up to in the past six months..

Finalised my Front End Project: I was making a static site to advertise a golfing holiday resort as my front end project. The aim of this project was just to showcase some front-end skills, and didn't need to be hooked up to a database. I had been working on this in the early part of 2018 but revisited it to add some extra functionality/fix any little bugs I found. I changed the map image on the booking page to have a Google Maps API functionality, and edited the form so that a 'thank you' pop up appeared if the form was validated and submitted. Github here and static site here

Completed the Practical Python project: After I had finished the Stream One module for my course, I migrated over to the new version of the course content to begin the Practical Python milestone project. The specification of the project is to produce an app, using Flask (a Python micro framework) - for my project I created a science riddle app (can't take the science nerd out of the girl!). Users should enter a username, then proceed to answer each question (without cheating!). They are then presented with their list of answers, alongside the correct answers. The user can then view on the leaderboard where they placed in comparison with their peers. This project was a real learning curve, building the back-end in Flask and then linking it up to the front-end with Jinja2 templating was great fun and i've learned a lot! There's still some tweaks to do in terms of making it look a bit better UI-wise but overall i'm happy with it :) Moving on to look at the Data Centric Development module next.

In June there was a restructuring of our team at my workplace and I was moved onto doing more complex changes for clients (my previous role in the company had been to carry out the small, free of charge changes to clients sites). This was exciting as it meant I could build my skills and complete more difficult changes such as implementing payment plugins, creating advertising plugins and writing data feeds for clients.

In October I was offered a new job as a Junior Application Developer for a company called My PT Hub. Their product is an app for personal trainers to manage clients, training programmes etc. I'm really excited to be joining the team on Monday! :)

This week I filmed a video testimonial for The Learning People regarding my course. I had a great morning with the team!

With my new adventure in mind, i've been thinking about the direction I want this blog to go in so that it benefits me as a reflective piece, and fellow/future students who are getting into coding. So, new aims for the blog are:

• Updates on my career for me to look back on, and for friends/family/colleagues to follow!
• How to's on little things i'm learning along the way
• Showcase projects i'm making for my course

I think that is all for now.. :)