When in Rome ...

- What roman numeral can climb the fence?

-IV.

  
Hello, everyone!

  I have been working my way through Chris Pine's book, and I am done with Chapter 9. The two challenges that I have been working on the last couple days are programs that would convert the modern number into a roman numerals.

 The first one was a little bit more straightforward. It would convert the number into ancient roman numeral. So a 9 would be turned into a VIIII. It is just straightforward addition, from larger to smaller. This is the code I wrote: Ancient Roman Numerals Challenge.

  The second challenge was to rewrite the code so that it converts the number into a modern roman numeral, in which in order to avoid repeating a symbol 4 times (like IIII in VIIII), you are supposed to subtract from the higher number. So a 9 would be IX. At first I thought it would be just a minor tweak to the code, and I really struggled to make it work. I had to redo pretty much the entire code from scratch. This is the final version of that program: Modern Roman Numeral Challenge

  As as a beginner, you can really get hung up on the smallest things. After I finished the above challenge, part of the code would not behave properly for some reason. It took me about an hour to realize that
     x = 2
     if x == (1 || 2 || 3)
     puts 'x is equal 1 or 2 or 3'
     end

is not the same as

  x = 2
  if (x == 1) || (x == 2) || (x == 3)
   puts 'x is equal 1 or 2 or 3'
  end

  As soon as I changed my code, everything worked. I understand the difference now, but at first to me both of the codes above were the same thing.

  I started Chapter 10, and I am trying to wrap my head around recursions, which is going a lot slower than I hoped, I must say...

  Thanks for tuning in,
  til next time,

 -Andrei

So excited by Ruby!

  Hello, everyone!

  I finally started to learn the basics of Ruby, and I am already on Chapter 9 of Chris Pine's book Learn to Program! I am having so much fun! I know, I know, it is all very basic stuff to some of you, but I feel like I can actually create things. It has not been too difficult so far, but I am sure the tough stuff is coming ahead!

  One of my biggest "accomplishments" so far is the code that prints out the entire lyrics of "99 bottles of beer".  https://gist.github.com/anonymous/6b690a557bd0a6dab601 I am sure there is a more elegant way to code it, but I was super happy when it finally worked :)

  I also did a program that lists all the leap years within any range that you input.

  Also, just today, I learned about irb. This must be how superheroes feel! This really is like a super power! :) So many questions that I have been struggling with for the last couple of days can be answered just by using irb. Simply amazing! If you are out there, beginning to learn Ruby, learn about irb asap. What does this command return? nil? Integer? String? irb has an answer.

  My wife is arriving home from Ukraine tomorrow, so I will not have any studying time. I will go to the airport after work to pick her up, and spend the evening with her. It will be great to see her! It feels like it has been a lot longer than a week that she has been gone!

  And back to the Ruby grind on Thursday! Chapter 9 awaits: Writing Your Own Methods!

 Have a great day, everyone,

 -Andrei

 

  

CSS and Robots

   Hello, everyone,

   I feel I am making good progress so far. I finished Epicodus and General Assembly html and css introductory courses. They teach same subjects but very differently. I finally feel I am understanding positioning a little bit better after making an animated robot entirely out of html and css. Pretty cool! I tried pasting the entire code here in blogger, but it does not seem to play well with javascript. (so here is just a picture of the little guy :))) I highly recommend both courses. They are both very well done! :)

  I ordered Chris Pine's book Learn To Program and should be receiving it early next week. I am excited to finally start learning Ruby. I will try to work through that book as far as I can, I hope it is beginner friendly. :) I will start working through it tomorrow using the free online material at https://pine.fm/LearnToProgram/ until I receive the second edition book in the mail.

  Have a great weekend everyone,

  Thank you for the feedback, and thank you for following my blog

  -Andrei

Html and Css week

  Good evening everyone!

  Pretty good day today, and I spent solid 4 hours of studying. My wife went to Ukraine for a week to visit her family, so I am hoping to make a lot of progress during her absence.

  Over last couple of days I have spent several hours trying to get my head wrapped around git, github and version control. As I was doing the tutorials and exercises, I felt like I was getting it, but after everything was said and done, I was not sure I would be able to do it all on my own. I am not going to stress too much over it now. When I start actually using git, I will hopefully iron out all the details in the process.

  I started brushing up on html and css, and I will probably spend the rest of the week on that topic. There are a couple of online courses I will try to finish that teach html and css, and see where I can go from there. Right now I am half way done with the Epicodus's Learn to Program Html and Css Tutorial. It seems pretty easy, and I am blowing through it. I am learning about bootstrap right now. I don't feel the course is giving enough info about it, so I will probably spend a little bit of time outside the course reading about it, and trying to understand the basic functions of it, and how it is to be used.

  Goal for next couple of days: Learn about bootstrap, and learn to apply the bootstrap themes to my dummy sites.

  Goal for the week: Finish up with the html and css basics.

  Till next time,

  -Andrei

Terminal, I command Thee!

        Oh, man, I thought learning code was supposed to be fun, but as it turns out, there is all this technical stuff you have to install first, and as far as I am concerned, I might as well be reading instructions in Ancient Greek.

With a little bit of luck and a lot of Googling, I finally got command tools installed, 3 ruby versions, iterm2, RVM, homebrew and Sublime 3.

If you are a beginner out there, I ended up following this excellent guide:
 http://www.moncefbelyamani.com/how-to-install-xcode-homebrew-git-rvm-ruby-on-mac/ and most installations went without a hitch.

I am still having some issues with Sublime 3, I tried installing several plugins and I broke something. At one point, my Package Control was completely missing and I could not find it in the Command Palette, so I reinstalled it again. Even though I got an error message in the console, it seems to be working now. There are so many settings in Sublime 3, I have a feeling I will be learning it for a while.

Also, it seems silly but sometimes I get stuck in a weird mode in the terminal, where the line will begin with a ">" and it is not recognizing any commands, like it is waiting on some specific input.
I usually get into that mode by making a syntax mistake in the command. It is not responding to any normal commands like pwd or clear or exit. I usually have to Comm+W and restart the terminal. What is that? I will have to remember to look that up, it is driving me crazy.

What's next: keep tweaking Sublime app, get comfortable working in the Terminal and rely less on Finder

Note to self: start keeping track of hours I spend studying.

Have an awesome day, everyone

-Andrei

puts ‘Hello, World!’

Hello, my name is Andrei Daniel Koenig, and this is the first entry to my blog.

I am learning to code, and this will be a record of my journey from being a “coding zero” to a self-taught “Ruby Hero”. This blog will help me stay true to my goals, and keep me accountable and motivated. I am planning on blogging at least three times a week, and share my wins and fails with anyone who is interested in following me on my journey.

Main goal is to get hired by an IT company for a QA position by January 15, 2016. I am planning on studying at least 21 hours a week (or an average of 3 hours a day).

For the last 10 years, I have made a career in the hospitality industry, and since I don’t have any coding background, I have my work cut out ahead of me. I have read a lot of inspirational stories of other people learning code by themselves and successfully switching careers, and I am determined to do the same.

I would love to hear from any of you, veterans and beginners alike, as I embark upon this journey.

Wish me luck! I am sure I will need it. :)

-Andrei