Weeks 10 & 11 - Momentum

Greetings CodeNewbies 👋🏾

Welcome back to my #100DaysOfCode biweekly recap. Time is flying! I feel like I just published my recap for Weeks 8 and 9, and here I am to discuss Weeks 10 and 11.

I'm really excited for this one because I accomplished a major milestone. Let's go!!!

What I Said I Would Do

As a refresher, my plan was to complete the following:

• Week 3 of Processing Data from Dirty to Clean
• Week 4 of Using Databases with Python
• Create an outline for a mini Python project that I have in mind.

What I Actually Did

Not only did I complete all three goals, I exceeded them! Explictly listing out a target for each course (and my project) helped me stay on track. Whenever I started a codign session, I would go back to the list and then work accordingly. Let's go over them one-by-one.

Processing Data from Dirty to Clean

✅ Finished Week 3
✅ Worked on Week 4 content

I completed Week 3 and started working on the Week 4 videos and assignments. I am three items away from completing Week 4 of the course. The course has six weeks in total.

Using Databases with Python

✅ Finished Week 4
✅ Finished the course
✅ Completed the final exam to achieve the Python for Everybody Coursera specialization

I accomplished a major milestone with this one. Not only did I finish Week 4 (as planned), I completed the course and then passed the final exam in the Capstone course. This means that the Python for Everybody specialization is officially mine! 🎉

I feel like I should have some profound, heartfelt words, but I don't. I'm still in a state of disbelief because deep down, I didn't expect to make it. Even though part of me hoped that this time would be different, a big part of me expected to fail like all of the previous times. I've surprised myself and strengthened my self-trust.

Also, I thought that I had to finish all of the Capstone material to get the certificate. It turns out that you only need to finish the final exam (which is in Week 1 of the capstone) to get your certificate. If you want an Honors distinction, then you can complete the remaining weeks (Weeks 2 thru 7). This threw me off because I was expecting to have to power through several more weeks of content and instead I got confetti and a certificate.

(Webcam footage of me completing the exam and getting the certificate)

Since my goal was simply to obtain the cert, I am considering it mission accomplished. However, I do plan to get the Honors distinction, and that's my next short-term goal.

Python Project

✅ Created a Project outline
✅ Coded up my Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
✅ Started working on follow-on features (i.e. tracking Missed Days and Days Remaining)

With the Python for Everybody specialization in hand, I felt that it was time to spread my wings and try a project on my own. I came up with an idea for a 100DaysOfCode challenge tracker, as I was constantly forgetting which day I was on and the end date of the challenge.

My initial plan was to have a set duration of 100 days, but I've since decided to make it fancier and allow the user to define their own challenge duration.

Here's a snapshot of the project roadmap that I created:

I went beyond creating a project outline and started to code up the MVP. Once I completed that, I moved on to implementing the missed days and days remaining feature. I'm almost done with it (pray my git merge goes well 🙏🏾).

Right now it's a CLI app, but I plan to build a GUI using Tkinter (v1.0). I'm still brainstorming, so the Roadmap is a work-in-progress.

You can follow along with the project by checking out the GitHub repo.

What I Plan to Do Next

By my next post, I plan to:
🔳 Finish Processing Data from Dirty to Clean
🔳 Be in the middle of coding up the Journal Lite feature

Around the Web 🌏

Onboarding Be Like...

Since I'm in celebration mode 🎈, my Around the Web for this week is a light-hearted YouTube video that made me LOL.

Final Thoughts

A huge thank you to each of you who takes the time to read these recaps. Knowing that there are people out there who want to see me win keeps me going. 💪🏾 Hopefully, my wins inspire you to nab some of your own.

Until next time, code on!