Code Academy: Week Five

I can't specifically pin point what finally became clear this week, but by Monday afternoon while still working on the application we had built the week before, a lightbulb went off and things started to click. During the first four weeks, I understood each individual concept on a fairly superficial level, but it turns out that a somewhat superficial understanding isn't all that useful in programming. Trying to orchestrate your web pages, controllers, data models, and browser requests with code requires an understanding that allows a programmer to see how everything works together, and looking back on where I was last week versus where I am now, I think it was this deeper understanding that was missing. I understood the various parts in isolation rather than in the context of how everything was working together, and it wasn't until the lightbulb went off on Monday that those same isolated parts became one - a beautiful application with several moving pieces working together to output exactly what I was telling it to do.

The lightbulb continued to burn bright this week and I've surprised even myself with what I've been able to accomplish on my own. In thirty minutes I was able to rebuild the same application that took me two days last week, and after conquering that, filled with confidence, I started to tackle two of my own projects - an application for learning about and exploring city neighborhoods and an application to submit and vote on ideas. This new ability to turn a vague idea and a blank screen into a functioning application is empowering and exciting. The whole world opens up with possibility. New apps, new ideas, new things that I CAN BUILD.  The work involved is creative, satisfying, frustrating, simple, complex, beautiful, and fun. I've found myself not wanting to do much else this past week but build. The lightbulb came on this week. I don't think it's turning off anytime soon.