Working on my Sinatra project was the first time that I got to flex my Google skills in the context of development.
In my first couple weeks of learning to code I took pages of notes, conflating memorizing syntax with learning how to be a software engineer. I quickly realised that I what I should be learning is not simply syntax, but rather concepts and how to find answers from credible sources.
Thankfully, I am no stranger to searching for answers online. When I went from working at a large corporation to running a start-up, the training wheels literally came off. There were no more manuals, training sessions or rotational programs. What I did have was my own experience and intuition, the ear of a few smart partners, and a search bar.
One thing I learned at that time is what is really means to be curious. I learned how to identify credible sources of information, ask my network for help when I couldn’t find one, and find the right way to do something through trial and error. I see the same skills as key to being a successful software engineer.
I have compilled the most useful links that I used in building my Sinatra project in hopes that a future student finds it useful when building their project.
CSS flexbox tutorial
I got really stuck on CSS styling, and finally landed on a flexbox layout to show both my book index and user index. This is a good wak through of the potential properties.
Find and kill a port in use
I ran into a problem using shotgun, getting an error that port 9393 was in use. This post helped me resolve that problem.
Ruby docs for Active Record associations
Not only a great bookmark to reference syntax for Active Record maros, but also features diagrams to visually represent associations.
w3schools guide to HTML and CSS
Rather than memorizing html and css syntax, I keep w3schools bookmarked for a quick reference.
RESTful routes
The best resource for building routes in Sinatra!
Vertical alignment
Aligning text and images was more tricky than I would have guessed. I found this Stack Overflow question that helped.
Deploying a Sinatra app to Heroku
This is a guide shared amoung current students of how to deploy a Sinatra app onto Heroku. Not required for the project, but great to do to make the app easy to share.