New Job, New Me
Since the failed startup I had to get a new job. There was (probably) an opportunity to ask my previous manager if they would take me back, but I wanted to see the world, so I looked for something new, something fresh. Oh, so very fresh.
Something Fresh
After 7 years withing Android’s ecosystem, I figured there might be other ecosystem just as or, dare I say, even more amusing.
I started to look around and somehow stumbled upon Frontend, bought a new empty notebook and started learning. Notebook, you may wonder. It’s just my kind of learning style.
You can check more about the learning process on my previous blog post.
The Email
I started learning React through tutorials. During the learning period I got an email from an HR manager asking if I’d be willing to give Turtl a try.
I already heard about Turtl about 2 years ago and I’ve roughly seen what they’re about. Their idea was quite on point and I was interested on their product.
The email pitch was very unique and it was fun to read. It was on par with my writing style and it struck as sincere.
BUT…
But there was one small detail…
… their stack includes neither Android nor React, but Angular.
I didn’t know anything about Angular, as I just started dipping my toes in React. The email, however, stated that no prior experience in Angular is needed and every good engineer can deep dive into any technology.
Coffee
I followed the CTO in Turtl on Twitter and he seemed like a very approachable guy, so before replying to the email I met him in person so he can tell me more and ensure me that my lack of Angular knowledge is not a deal breaker.
Everything went smoothly and he hooked me to the Turtl product even more.
Almost There
After 2 weeks of interviews, bureaucracy and a medical exam, I got an official date for my first day in Turtl. I had 2 weeks left, before I started, so I wanted to make them count.
I turned my (mostly empty) React notebook upside down and wrote the title “Angular”. I started with Schwarzmuller’s Angular course on Udemy (which I highly recommend), did the assignments and took notes.
After the course I was slightly more confident I can do all this fresh, new stuff that will “haunt” me for the next few years. In a positive manner, of course ;)
Turtl
I have been welcomed to Turtl very nicely and the first few chats I had with my manager (now the new CTO) and the team, I knew I’m in the right company.
But the company is 7 years old, it has a laaaarge Frontend codebase written in both AngularJS and Angular. It was a challenge of it’s own.
I was confused by everything the first 2 weeks, asked dumb questions and talked to my manager a lot. After a month now, I can say I’m still a bit confused, but I’m starting to get a hang of it.
The Learning Continues
Now that I could see what technologies they are using, I started to learn the basics of everything.
Videos
I subscribed to Traversy Media channel and checked all relevant videos:
- CSS (Grid vs Flex)
- Express
- NodeJS
- MongoDB
- npm
Reading
I read:
- Javascript through history
- Angular through history
- Angular state management (ngxs vs ngrx)
I also deep dived into Javascript by checking all ES6 stuff and reading the book Eloquent Javascript, which I highly recommend for beginner to upper mid Frontend developers.
Project
As with any other new skill you want to master, getting your hands dirty is a must.
I’m planning to create a SaaS app with the MEAN stack to understand how it works.
The app should include:
- User login
- Session persisting
- Live chat (probably with long polling)
- File saving
I just need to check some other stuff a bit before I dive deep into this one.
Plan
There’s a few more things I want to do:
- Read the whole Angular documentation
- Join the Frontend Masters
- Read The Modern Javascript Tutorial
While Working
There are a lot of challenges in Turtl and I’m very excited to tackle each and every one. I’m learning new stuff day by day and everyone is being really helpful.
I already learned (beginner-ish) stuff like:
- CSS’s Specificity
- Angular Component’s event performance
- Finding the DOM element’s :hover section in Developer Tools
- The difference between
||and??for specific cases - Using LoDash library
Conclusion
I’m really glad I joined such an awesome company and I really try getting better and better every day. I see progress daily, both in terms of my Frontend technical skills and Turtl’s codebase understanding.
I can hardly wait to face all the challenges thrown at my way.
