Back End Developer Education

I have always been interested in back end development, and I've dealt with it a lot off and on throughout my career, but never to a point where I become an "expert" in the field. I would like to change that now, and since I have the time I have been really focusing on this program called Boot.Dev.

I have gone through a pretty good amount of the program over the past few months, and the amount of knowledge available here is pretty incredible. A big difference maker for me is how everything is structured more like an RPG game with gaming rewards built in and a lot of the theme is based around gaming, even the ads that they run for their program are very interesting, and a lot of them are based around gaming specific concepts. I will go through what I have covered so far throughout the program:

• Learn to code in Python - a fantastic module that covers all of the Python basics in a fun and easy to learn format - you basically start from scratch and end up with a pretty comprehensive understanding of Python while using their gamified interface and learning platform. It's very well done
• Learn Linux - You cover all of the basics related to Linux - Terminals and Shells, Filesystems, Permissions, Programs, Input/Output, and Packages. This course was a lot of fun. Because I don't use Linux regularly, I am always having to refresh my knowledge as I use it a lot, but not enough to become truly proficient in it. I want to change that.
• Learn Git - I had always struggled with Git and Github for a long time. I always got it to work, but I was always fiddling with something and going back and forth and taking a lot of time and trial and effort to get my local and remote repos synced up. This course fixed all of that. They go through so much useful information on Git (and a lot of stuff that is way beyond normal everyday basics). The course covers all of the basics, and by the time you have complted it, you will know more then you ever needed to know to use Git and Github on a daily basis.
• Build a Bookbot - you build a CLI application that does static analysis on text files or entire novels - It was a fantastic first project that included setting up your environment, and working with Github, while reinforcing your Python, Linux and Git skills.
• Learn Object Oriented Programming - this course was interesting for me because I'd learned OOP before, but never really got the hang of it. You typically wouldn't use Python to learn OOP but in this program you do, it made it interesting for me as it wouldn't be the first language of choice for most people if you wanted to learn OOP. This course covers - Classes, Encapsulation, Abstraction, Inheritance, and Polymorphism. It did a great job but I will probably take it again after I finish everything else because I still don't feel "proficient" with OOP. Nothing to do with the program, just my brain😄
• Build Asteroids Project - this project was fun and difficult, as well as being very time consuming. We used Python and Pygame to create a clone of the old Asteroids game. The amount of knowledge covered here was pretty crazy. A lot of the physics related areas we had to just assume that they worked versus truly understanding them, but besides that everything was so well done. You can view my completed project here at: Asteroids Repo.
• Learn Functional Programming - this is another module where I completed it, but I definitely need to go back and do it again afterwards. It made my brain hurt constantly😄. We covered the following: What is FP?, First Class Functions, Pure Functions, Recursion, Function Transformations, Closures, Currying, Decorators, Sum Types - this was all done with Python and was very advanced (for me anyway). Super difficult and I will redo it again afterwards.
• Learn Data Structures and Algorithms - Another very difficult course for me. Lots of head hurting. I have learned (or tried to learn) DSA off and on over the years. I have always struggled with it. Usually when it gets too hard for me I just quit. This time I stuck with it and I definitely feel more comfortable with the concepts, but it's another one I will need to redo at the end just so I feel better about everything in the course. Here is what we covered: Algorithms Intro, Math, Polynomial Time, Sorting Algorithms, Exponential Time, Data Structures Intro, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, Binary Trees, Red Black Trees, Hashmaps, Tries, Graphs, BFS and DFS, P vs NP
• Learn Memory Management - another extremely difficult course for me. I'm about 1/3 of the way through this course. I'm honestly struggling with this course. It's in C and is likely to take me a very long time to finish. I have decided to table this course until later as it will probably take me months to finish it if I try to complete it now. Here is what is covered: C Basics, Structs, Pointers, Enums, Unions, Stack and Heap, Advanced Pointers, Stack Data Structure, Objects, Refcounting GC, Mark and Sweep GC
• Learn Go for Developers - I am also about 1/3 of the way through this course. I'm understanding it better than the C course for sure but it's still difficult. Here is what is covered: Variables, Conditionals, Functions, Structs, Interfaces, Errors, Loops, Slices, Maps, Pointers, Packages and Modules, Channels, Mutexes, Generics, Enums
• Learn HTTP Clients - I completed the original course where they did everything in JavaScript. They have since updated it to doing everything in Go so I am doing it again. I'm almost halfway done with this one but since they are using Go and I haven't finished the Go course yet, it's getting harder and harder so I have decided to table this one until I finish the Go course. Here is what is covered: Why HTTP?, JSON, DNS, URI's, Headers, Methods, Paths, HTTPS, Errors, CURL - I understand most of these concepts already but doing them in Go is very different for me. I will come back and give you guys a review of this when I finish
• Learn SQL - this was a great course that really did a good job of covering the basics of SQL, here is what was covered: SQL Intro, Tables, Constraints, CRUD, Basic Queries, Structuring, Aggregations, Subqueries, Normalization, Joins, Performance - there was a lot of good info in this course about database management in general. Great course.

I still have quite a bit left to go through to complete the program, and I set aside time daily to work on the courses. It is fun, comprehensive, and I really enjoy working through all of the different areas of the program. Here are some of the projects I'll start building shortly:

• A Static Site Generator - written in Python
• A Maze Solver - written in Python and Tkinter
• Build a Pokedex - written in Go
• Build a Blog Aggregator - written in Go
• Capstone Project

Right now I'm going to focus on finishing the C course and the Go course. It will likely take me a while and the learning curve has been steep. That being said, I absolutely love the Boot.Dev program. The community Discord is absolutely incredible and the level of talented people and communication that happens there is top notch. It's an incredible and supportive community.

Two thumbs up for sure!!!