Top 3 under-the-hood concepts to understand as a visual learner.
Coming into Flatiron School, I've been able to learn so many new technical concepts and skills that have ignited a passion for tech that was previously only a curiosity. Though I have had a great time building my knowledge and seeing my skills produce interesting and fun results, there were unique moments of struggle I found myself in as a visual learner. These are 3 under-the-hood concepts that I had to pay extra attention to throughout my studies:
Fetching. When making the transition from JavaScript to React, a new and powerful concept was introduced to me. Fetching is the process of calling a website in your code using a command called fetch(). When this command is called, it sends a request to the server or website that is being called, asking for certain data back. This data can be specified through headers and content that should be specified before making the fetch request. Most commonly in my experience, we would want to specify that we want to work with JSON data, however, there are many options to choose from depending on your project.
What is a server? I wrote briefly earlier that when we make a request for data, we are requesting it from a server. A server is a centralized computer that users can connect to to retrieve, send, and store data. These servers can be either in physical form or on a desktop. Using desktops as servers, however, can be risky as most desktops are not built to handle large amounts of incoming requests at once which puts your desktop at risk of overheating/crashing/or losing data altogether. Servers are specially built to hold large amounts of data and have much more extensive memory storage. Though safer, they are much more expensive and are typically dedicated to large organizational work.
CRUD. Transitioning from language to language, you will learn the process of learning itself. Being able to be a continuous learner and maintain a hunger for learning will be essential to move forward in this ever-changing industry. CRUD breaks down the essentials of learning any new coding language. CRUD stands for create, read, update, and delete. These 4 key elements, when done skillfully, will be the bulk of what you do in any project. Creating new elements is where you start building out your initial website. Through reading, you will able to fetch and sort through data and filter the information on your page. Being able to update and delete will keep your stored memory current and allow your website to stay up for years to come.
Bonus: Understand how you learn. Though not a tech concept, I highly encourage any prospective students to take the time to learn how they learn best. Knowing yourself, your skills, your weak points, and how to get around them will alleviate much of the anxiety about the content. It is hard to be passionate about something you do not enjoy and many of us have a hard time enjoying the process of struggle and problem solving. The better you know yourself, the easier it is to focus on content rather than process and fully have fun with what you do. For many, this will come with simple practice but it is a great thing to keep in mind.