30. The Calculator Challenge

Hello there, 

There comes a day in a developer’s life when they have to build a calculator. Related to this, I have an experience can share, and some lessons learned.

Probably a year and a half ago, I was taking an online web developer course. It was taking place in the weekends, we had homework assigned which we were to present during the next weekend. We had different modules, one per week. The JavaScript chapter left me with a sour taste and the obscure idea that I might not be made for understanding JavaScript. 

One of the JavaScript assignments was to build a simple Calculator. Mine had a nice frontend with buttons to push. The problem was implementing the functionalities, I was getting confused and failing. 

In the context of that course, we were under the pressure of performing. We were told that in case of failing a challenge, we would not be rewarded with anything, not even a certificate.

That fact brought up questions in me. Do I really need the certificate? Did I enroll just for the certificate?  Does the certificate even matter it I don’t understand or learn?

No, the certificate does not matter. I did not go to that session, even if it was the last one. Negative thoughts came to mind…

It seems that under the pressure of performing in order to reach an external goal, I do not do well. On one hand, if I have to do something, but I do not believe in the idea - I have lousy results. On the other hand, if I have to do something, even if it might seem impossible, but I believe in that thing and I see the creativity and the skills I might develop, I’ll work for it and make it happen. 

Well, at that time, JavaScript was blurry and unfriendly to me. Even now, it is, but I grew a thicker skin and don’t feel discouraged if I struggle with a problem. My problems stem from the fact that I do not yet have a good grasp of how things work in the depth of JavaScript.

By grasp, I mean the understanding that would allow me to move things around without getting lost. The amount of information is huge, and I don’t try to remember everything, but I do try to understand. This takes time and a lot of practice. 

These days I have been spending a lot of time learning Python. Building a simple calculator was one of the exercises. This time, I could resolve it in a few hours. Yay! Of course, it is a very basic calculator, but that is where I was failing before in JavaScript. Could it be that the year of struggle made me stronger ? 

Very much possible! 

I know one fact - grinding though the discomfort, the confusion, the negative emotions and thoughts is the only way to move forward. If some months ago, I would turn against myself, generating negative thoughts and existential black holes to fall into, now I learned to open my wings and fly through the storm. The confused me takes the passenger seat, while the calm, confident me is driving.

I’m so happy that I arrived at the point when I support myself instead of making myself dwell in those dirty waters. 

Until next time, be curious and learn every day 💫

Victoria

P.S : I know that on smaller screens, the code part is not rendered correctly. I'll try to solve the problem and avoid using code examples for a while.