Pseudocode helps you to transition from visual mapping, as you did in the last episode, to a textual format. It’s written in a generic non-state specific format. It’s the building block of code before you write your actual code.
Labs
Labs are hands-on coding projects that you build along with Tonya as she explains the code, concepts, and thought processes behind it. You can use the labs to further your code knowledge or to use right in your projects. Each lab ties into the Docx to ensure you have the information you need.
Each lab is designed to further your understanding and mastery of code. You learn more about how to think about its construction, quality, maintainability, programmatic and logical thought, and problem-solving. While you may be building a specific thing, Tonya presents the why of it to make it adaptable far beyond that specific implementation, thereby giving you the means to make it your own, in any context.
Computational Visualization
In this episode, you will learn about different techniques for visualizing computation. You’ll learn about how to conceptual view your code, do visual mockups and maps, flowcharting, and thought and planning tools. Your key takeaways are: Conceptual view of code Visual mockups and mapping help you see the big elements Flowcharting helps you to map out the individual steps and conditions Thought and planning tools Study Notes How do you visualize the steps to do something? Using visualization, we’re able to map out the process for registering. Now convert this into something useful. Think logically. The flowchart helps you with […]
Computational Thought
Your next step is to learn about computational (or programmatic) thought. Your key takeaways are: Computers are stupid Software tells the computer explicitly how to solve a problem Computational thought is the act of expressing how to solve a problem Building software is a thinking profession Study Notes What is computation? Per Merriam-Webster the act or process of computing or calculating something a system of reckoning What is computing? Per Merriam-Webster to find out (something) by using mathematical processes Why mathematical processes? Remember: computers are comprised of circuitry and software. Methodical Logical Step-by-step expression Proof Drive to the solution What […]
Expressing Solution Steps
In this episode, you will walk through how to express the solution in steps. Remember that the computer requires the exact steps and conditions in order to execute the code. You’ll do various exercises to identify the exact steps. Expressions must be explicit, step-by-step, repeatable, and absolute. Oh, and you get to learn about algorithms too. Your key takeaways are: Software tells the calculator (computer) how to solve the problem The solution is expressed in a language The expression attributes are: Explicit Step-by-step Repeatable Absolute An algorithm is a recipe. It is a set of explicit, step-by-step, repeatable, and absolute […]
Lab Introduction
Let’s introduce this lab to you. You are going to learn about how to express and visualize problems. Fact Computers are very fast, but they are stupid. Why? Because you have to explicitly tell them what to do. Step-by-step. Never forget this. How does a computer do complex things? Software! Computers do not think and they do not reason. That’s your job. Computers are 1s and 0s – circuitry. You have to learn how to get the computer to do what you need. Software explicitly tells the computer how to solve a problem. The computer runs the program exactly the […]
Problem Solving Expression
As a software professional, your job is to solve problems through web technologies. You are a problem solver. In this lab, you will learn about the problem expression solution steps, computational thought, computational visualization techniques, and pseudocode. This lab is about how you express and capture the problem and its solution.
Reordering Hook Not Working on the First Post – Problem Solving Lab
In this Problem Solving lab, your website is broken, as the first post in the loop is exhibiting unexpected behavior. You want to reposition the post info (i.e. date and author’s name) above the title. It works on all of the posts except the first one. Why? In this active, hands-on lab, you and I will walk through how to find the root cause, why it’s happening, and then how to resolve it.
Make it More Performant & Wrap it Up
In this episode, I explain why the previous solution is not as performant (as fast) as it could be. I show you why it’s not as fast. Then you will refactor the code to make it faster. You will see the results for yourself. Once you refactor, then bam, you completed this lab! WooHoo! Excellent
The Root Cause
Now you understand the clues and what they are telling you. Let’s identify the root cause and discuss the why of it. Why are the callbacks out of order on the first post in the loop? In this episode, you should have a huge “Aha” moment where it just makes sense to you. Then you are going to resolve the root cause by changing the code. Woot! If you need to brush up on variable scoping, here is the link to the PHP Variables Bootcamp.
Analyzing the Clues
At this point, the clues are telling us about the anomaly. Do you see it? The data you see in your browser is clearly telling you “Hey Silly, the problem is right here.” Let’s see if you can figure out what the root cause is from the clues at this point in the lab. It’s time to analyze the clues. In order to understand what they are telling you, first, you need to visualize in your mind the order in which things are happening in the code, how PHP is executing, and when stuff is getting put into the Event […]