Back to DDT. Well, what the heck is that? DDT is what many beginning developers call TDD. The TLDR of TDD is initially writing a bunch of tests that will fail (because there is no code)and then writing code that passes those tests. So if you have a function you want to write, you first write some tests to test the function then write the function that will pass the tests.

Unfortunately, many noobs (of which I am one), rush to write the code first, then once they are done with the functionality, start writing tests for the code (sounds familiar?). Once done, they pat themselves on the back (is that even possible?) and say they have done TDD. No, that is not TDD, that’s DDT. In TDD, your code should be driven by the tests you write. In DDT, your tests are driven by the code you write. I don’t think there’s anything bad with DDT. The problem comes when you do DDT and deceive yourself into thinking you have done TDD.

Don’t let my tone deceive you that I am any better. I have and still write bad code (though my code is sucking less day by day). I have written large blobs of code without tests (gasp). The kind that would make Linus Torvalds switch to Windows (is that even possible?). Ever since I learnt about TDD a couple months ago (thanks to Andela), I have been trying to practice it. But old habits die hard. So first instinct is to always dive into the code and then write tests later. I’m trying to do more TDD and less DTT but haven’t perfected that yet. I think i’ll get there someday not toolong from now. The goal is to use TDD in 100 % of the projects I do.

If you’re reading this, it’s too late (see what I did there?). Please get back to whatever you were doing before unless it’s DDT.

The app had come a long way but was still far from completion. I was done with user authentication, displaying an editor whose contents could be edited from different machines, persisting user sessions. But I was yet to add functionality that would allow online users to invite each other to each other’s sessions.

Despite the odds that I would not have implemented everything by Friday morning, I was still determined to push on.

The great thing with Andela projects is that they always stretch you beyond what you think you could do. While nervous about the presentations on Friday morning, I was also looking forward to the presentations since it would be a chance to assess oneself and also get feedback from everyone present during the presentations.

My project is coming along well, albeit slower than I have liked. Who would have thought that (for a new pythonista), some things would be such a joy to implement and some would be downright confusing? For example, blueprints. It was not necessary to use blueprints and I could have done the whole project without them, but to can you imagine the large blob of code that could have been? And how confusing? So I went for blueprints

Each of us have different projects. Each varying with their degree of complexity. But Friday shall be a chance to share what we have ben working on. In a way, I look forward to it, and in some it makes me nervous. The thing is, regardless of how good the projects are implemented, Andela will only pick the best six.

In the mean time, Let’s see how it goes.

Do I have a clue as to how to implement it? Just a rough idea of what I should do. I spoke to my trainer and he clarified his expectations. My role is ‘just’ to implement it. I think it’s a doable project but it has its challenges. Like making sure each user can see changes in real time. Also, implementing the chat functionality will be challenging but I am one for challenges. Luckily, there is Google, Stack Overflow, my colleagues, ‘Pythonistic’ Andela fellows and of course, our trainer.

I reckon it shall be a long week and it may not be possible to describe my experiences as succinctly as I would like, but for now, you can watch my progress here and here.

A significant chunk of the day was spent discussing search algorithms. Most notably linear search and binary search. It’s amazing how a different approach can save you time. Linear search generally executes in O(n) time so in a worst case scenario, there would be n comparisons. Binary search on the other hand generally executes in O(log n) time so for a worst case scenario, it would take (log n) comparisons where n is the number of items to be compared e.g. a list.

Despite the interesting comparisons, you could tell the mood in class was different. We were fewer in number, and everyone was eager to see what project they would get to implement. The projects would have varying complexities to accommodate for the variance in programming proficiency (between bootcampers). Talk about a strict implementation of fairness. There would be two categories of projects:

1. Command line applications (CLI) built with python
2. Web apps powered by a Flask backend.

The suspense was cut short by our trainer promptly sharing the trello board containing the projects and boy was he democratic*. You know those free offers you come across but there is a ‘*’ and below they explain that the ‘freeness’ is subject to terms and conditions? The democracy in project selection was also subject to terms and conditions. And here was the catch, if he (the trainer) was of the opinion that you picked a project way below your abilities, he would assign you to a different project. One that matched your skills. Also, since the number of projects was equal to the number of bootcampers, he would intervene if two or more people chose the same project.

A couple of fellows were also graduating to D1. That meant they would start working on client projects after having undergone 6 months of intensive training. As I saw the smile on their faces, I wished that one day, just like they, I would get to D1. However, there is this hurdle called bootcamp that I have to overcome and hopefully, I shall get there.

It’s hard to write. It’s even harder to write when you are nursing stomach pains and a running stomach. I made the mistake of taking honey this morning and I am now dealing with the consequences. Thousandth note to self: Never take honey again. I repeat, never take honey again.

Back to bootcamp (Friday), I started the day with a really bad headache. What’s with the pain? I imagined all the possible ways the day could go wrong because of the pain. Two hours later, the pain was gone thanks to a pill given to me by a colleague and of course, the daily dose of coffee.

We did the warm-ups as usual but there was a new exercise. One that involved running to the gate screaming out your lungs and stopping when you were out of breath. Such a loud way to die. Huh? I managed to reach the gate and joined the list of defending champions. Here’s something you probably didn’t know about me. Back then when I was a young man, I used to sing in the high school choir. So you can be sure my lungs can pack in quite some air.

Back in class, you could sense the tension. Only half of us would proceed to next week. Except, we didn’t know which half. We discussed the day’s food for thought and I learnt of so many ways to improve a solution’s speed. It was a brown bag Friday. That meant one unlucky Andela fellow would be sharing with everyone their passions. The stage was Mahad’s and he sure loves football. And his sisters (lol). It got me thinking. If I became a fellow and had to do a brown bag, how would a presentation on chapatis look like? Anyway, let’s cross the bridge when and if we get there.

The time to know who had made it to next week came and I was fortunate enough to be among those proceeding to next week. I was 0.4 happy, with the remaining 0.6 pegged on next week’s outcome. The project I shall be implementing shall be powered by a Flask backend. How the heck do I even do that? Anyway, I still have the weekend, Google, youtube, my colleagues and our trainer to help me figure that out.

To my colleagues who did not make it to week two, it was a pleasure meeting and sharing a class with each of you. I hope the future shall be kind to all of us. Cheers!

Coffee o’clock is upon us and we enjoy the morning’s dose before heading out for warm-ups. Most of the games are done in split groups and my favourite one had us shutting our eyes and people randomly saying numbers incremented by one. But here’s the catch, if two or more people say the same number, you start again from zero (sorry, one). There are definitely some lessons to be learnt here. They include:

1. In a group setting, you do not have to do something every time. Give others a chance to do it as well.
2. Still connected to the first point, trust others to do the right thing.
3. We all make mistakes, but it’s more fun when you make them together.

Back to class, we had been introduced to Andelabs (a collection of code challenges for practising what we had learnt). Our trainer gave us some time to work on the challenges and consult him if need be. He introduced us to gitter which we used to ask and answer programming issues in a chat like fashion.

You know God is working miracles in your life when they finally serve chapatis at Andela. By now you should know chapati is bae and today we finally got reunited. As I enjoy my lunch it dawns on me that the week is almost over and tomorrow they make the first cut. So assuming the class is an array, it will be sliced to roughly two halves with a half proceeding to week two and the rest being encouraged to reapply next time. I believe I have put my best foot forward so far and I hope all goes well.

In the afternoon, we get to revisit python classes and writing unittests in python. The last part of the class was student lead and I shared with my colleagues my understanding of python lambdas. My colleagues presented on keyword arguments in python (*args and **kwargs), list comprehensions and exceptions. Interestingly, I had a far better understanding of lambdas after presenting than before. Another lesson learnt; you learn more by teaching others.

My back is aching now, maybe it’s time to reconsider my posture. Looking forward to what tomorrow holds and I hope it all goes well.

By now you should be familiar with the morning rituals;

1. Arrive
2. Take the daily caffeine dose
3. Play some group games (warm ups)
4. Start classes

During warm-ups, we played a game that involved secluding one group member and the secluded member would come back and try to guess from who the group was taking visual cues from. I was one of the volunteers and even though I pride myself on being very keen, I could not figure out the source of the cues. Despite this being a failure, it was celebrated by everyone and just confirmed the often cited claim that failure is celebrated at Andela.

Onto more technical issues, we covered Object Oriented Programming in python, how one object can inherit from another. We also learnt how to use the famous *args and **kwargs arguments in python. I had stumbled onto *args and **kwargs on some blog before but I did not grasp the concepts. However, our trainer demystified the concept and I can start to see how you can use them as below:

Despite my best prayers, we still did not have chapatis for lunch but the chicken helped distract my attention from that.

After lunch, we discussed the day’s Food For Thought (FFT) which was “How to make sure our code works.” The main idea was testing code and more so writing unit tests. We discussed Test Driven Development (TDD) and I am keen to implement that more on the projects I work on. I know it shall be a huge paradigm shift because my first instinct is always to dive right into writing the program code then (MAYBE) test later. We wrote some unit tests in python and code that had to pass the tests.

So far, I have learnt several habits shared by great software developers. Great developers:

1. Use source control to manage their projects.
2. Collaborate with other developers to write better code.
3. Know when and how to quickly seek help.
4. Write tests firsts and develop later.
5. (more shall be added as we go along)

Something else to love about Andela is the willingness to share ideas and knowledge and nowhere was this more evident than during workshop Wednesday (sessions where a fellow presents about an interesting topic). We learnt about UI and UX, the difference between the two, elements of design, typography (size, types, weights) and so much more.

Overall it was a good day and I know it shall get even better(busier) as time passes. Hope they serve chapatis tomorrow :)

#TIA

After the daily dose of caffeine, we went for the morning warm ups. What I like about the warm ups is that they always leave you feeling rejuvenated and excited to face the challenges of the day.

On resuming class, we shared our two cents regarding the FFTs and it was refreshing to hear the responses of my fellow colleagues. Something striking about the FFT discussions is you think you googled everything there was to the FFT and then someone mentions something new. That is one thing I am loving about Andela. There is always something new to learn everyday. Something that stood out is the importance of presenting your ideas in a way that people can understand your message. That means being audible, clear and confident as you engage the audience.

Most of the time was spent discussing Git and learning how several developers can collaborate on a project. Having had a brief interaction with Git before, learning the concepts again helped cement the little I knew and also add new concepts. I learnt how to configure git and define shortcuts to often used commands.

Though I imagined becoming a better software developer entailed being really good at writing code, I have come to see it is a lot more than that. Writing good code is only one part of the equation. A great software developer must be able to relate well with other people and work well in teams, be able to communicate effectively and most importantly be able to develop solutions to problems (using code or not).

To wrap the day, I played chess with a new friend and unfortunately, I lost both matches. In addition to working on becoming a better developer during bootcamp, I also hope to win a chess match. It looks to be an interesting two weeks and looking forward to what they hold.

We get some coffee and my intestines thank me profusely. Although the coffee would have been more complete if accompanied by something solid. I tell my intestines to suck it up and get ready for warm ups. Now if you had no idea what they are, warm ups are short group exercises and games designed to foster camaraderie between groups and especially so new people. I somehow think I will have an upper hand because most of these games are familiar but it seems my reflexes conspired to have me lose almost every one of them.

The clock keeps ticking and 10 a.m. is with us. Time to start our classes. We shuffle back to the bootcamp room and even though I screwed up in most of the games, I wish we continued for some 10 more minutes (high school anyone?). We introduce ourselves and have to say something fun about ourselves. Now, just so you know how hard this is for me, eating chapatis is really top of my interests. But how do you break that to a room full of young, talented and ambitious programmers without you losing your reputation as an equally if not more able programmer? A fun fact about me, I belong to the elite 1% of humans who believe God invented chapatis to reward hardworking men. Enough about chapatis. The introductions come to a close and our awesome trainer explains to us that we are here to have fun. I think he meant chapatis but for the love of chapatis, I let it slide.

A quick glance at my watch and it’s 11:47 a.m. My intestines can’t keep calm now that lunch is 1 hour 13 minutes away. I try to concentrate but my mind tells me there is a 20% chance they might serve chapatis today. I say a short prayer and try to come back to class. We discuss why python (the programming language) is cool and a ton of features are explained. I offer my answer so as to not give the trainer a clue as to how eagerly I am waiting for lunch.

We break for lunch and there are no chapatis. To distract me from my heartbreak, I join some fellows playing poker at an adjacent table. Except, I have no clue how to play the game. I try google for some tips under the table but for some really weird reason I am out of bundles (thank you safaricom) so I decide to come clean and admit I do not know how to play. I am quickly taken through and we enjoy a game. I think I grasped most of the rules but what I can not get my head around is why some guy (name withheld for security reasons) always banged his cards so hard on the table.

The afternoon quickly flies by and we learn about list comprehensions, how to reverse strings, how to convert numbers to words in python. It is really fun even though my pc keeps overheating (despite running the coolest language I know). I call it a wrap, get ready to go home and remind myself that maybe, just maybe, there is a 20% chance they shall serve chapatis tomorrow.