But my short-term goal is just to get better at coding.
Not only so I can be productive but so I can build projects that excite me.

So this post is an assessment, a starting point of what I know and what I need to work on.

What can I do?
What do I need to be able to do?
Do I know what I will need to be able to do? No not really.
How will I prove what I can do (if I need to)?

As I don't know what I don't know, I initially intend to focus on getting better with core concepts.

⭐️ Represents tasks I'm feeling especially anxious or unsure about about.

📦 Represents not a stand-alone project but to be incorporated into other projects that bundle together my knowledge.

🔄 Represents a perfect swap out for time-killing activities like tv, gaming, commuting etc

When will I do all this:

• Dedicated practice time

• Mentoring sessions

• While TV is on and I would usually just be mindlessly browsing

• Work breaks and commute time

What do I need to work on

Improve foundation knowledge of PHP

I know how to work with and write simple php scripts.

• Practice the fundamentals frequently. (2-3 times a week making use of new learnings and engaging in exercises and resources in w3 resource & code wars type sites). 🔄

• Use knowledge to create own general projects - which increase in complexity. (4-5 a month) practicing syntax and programmatic thinking

• I need to be able to understand and incorporate the work of others into projects by reading the repo's created by others and contributing. ⭐️

Learn the laravel framework

Currently, I have some understanding of how aspects of the laravel framework works

• improve on building crud applications (so i don't need to reference and can explain without referencing).

• be able to incorporate the work of others meaning I understand it and how to use it without help.

• improve on testing (so I can explain without referencing).

Get better with layouts

My current CSS and HTML is rusty, there is much that's new and much i never had a grasp of in the fist place

• Get a grasp of structural layouts. 🔄

• Learn some of the interesting and fun aspects of CSS and animation. 🔄

• Learn about modern HTML page structures and incorporate them into general projects. 🔄

• Take on the challenges in code pen (1 a week) 🔄

• Make my website look more.... fancy!

• Be able to use tools like Tailwind and Bootstrap

Improve foundation knowledge of Javascript

I don't know much about Javascript, but my PHP experience helps me understand its components. I already see there are lots of avenues

• Know how to recognise parts of Javascript, practice syntax and programmatic thinking. 🔄

• Be able to confidently talk about how data is passed about in a script basically know what is going on.

• Be able to make use of other people's code in my own work 📦

• Be able to tell the difference between JS, JQuery and recognise when things like node, typescript, vue, react, inertia and other JS extras are used.

• know what a framework like vue can do for a projects, how to make use of the JS concepts I know so far 📦

Database

I know I need to work with databases but I don't know how to create and connect to them.

• Learn the commands and do exercises on a w3 resource-type site to help me learn an SQL-type language to interact. (1 - 2 times a week) 🔄

• Learn the difference between the language and how to make use of databases in Laravel by incorporating them into projects. ⭐️

• Make use of the knowledge in PHP projects.

Be competent with dev environment and tools

I have a grasp of what tools are needed but not their capabilities, usecases or application.

• Gain competence with my IDE 🔄

• Be better informed into what needed to be installed on my machine so I could even write my first line of code and it's time, place and purpose.

Portfolio building

No presence beyond this git hub

• Build Projects

• Upload to GitHub frequently

• Create repositories and share my work ⭐️⭐️

• Maintain my website

• Contribute to the work of others on GitHub ⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Blog frequently about what am up to on Hashnode ⭐️⭐️ 🔄

• Engage with other developers on social ⭐️⭐️ 🔄

• Get comfortable talking about my work to an audience (YouTube to practise) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Share frontend work in places like code pen ⭐️

What I already have in my favour

✅ Experience of strong proximity to a development team enough to understand how a team operates, functions and communicates, plans work, and allocates tasks.

✅ Related to the above I also have a strong sense of the resource and community available to the industry and know how and where to look for help.

✅ Foundations of knowledge of how coding works (if not the exact syntax) as well as tools of the job, although much has changed.

✅ Testing experience including Jira.

✅ Research and development experience, particularly on the financial and recording side.

✅ Contacts, people who are already in the industry.

✅ Experience with technical writing.

This list may be a little much, but I can revisit and adjust if needed after a month or so.

So I will set myself a revisit on December 1st in 2 months.
I will assess strengths, weaknesses, what I'm doing with my knowledge and the styles of projects I'm building.
(and yes that will be after I've put up the Christmas tree) 🎄 🎄 🎄

In case you are curious this self-assessment took me about 1hr 15min to write up. #INTJ