Perils of Omitting "var"
A JavaScript app will run whether you precede variable declarations with var . However, when you're creating new variables inside functions, omitting var will assign that variable to the global scope. The above greeting is assigned to the global scope, hence is available outside the function…
Read Article →Recognizing a Pattern in My Recursive Functions
Shawn Drost from Hack Reactor taught me to write recursive functions with an if-else statement: As I was reviewing some of my curriculum material from Hack Reactor and thrashing about at codewars , I started to recognize a common pattern in my code when dealing with permutation problems that…
Read Article →Globally .gitignore Certain Files
.DS_Store is annoying. I configured Git to globally ignore it. I referred to Octocat's Gist as the template for my .gitignore_global . I created and put my file in /Users/robinkim/code . Next, I ran the following command: Magic. Further Reading Ignoring Files Useful .gitignore Templates
Read Article →Contribute to Open Source Projects
Have a solution to a problem that nobody's solved before? Write your own app! Somebody has something you want to build on? Find it on Github! When you first find an open source project that looks fairly interesting, for a newbie, the idea of actually contributing to that project can be daunting…
Read Article →Great Habits for Public Speaking
Let's look into a few simple tips you can focus on to dramatically improve your public speaking skills. ( Here is a slide deck I made to help me present to my Hack Reactor remote cohort in late August 2014.) Start If you have a visual aid (like a slide deck), put something interesting for your…
Read Article →Create Awesome Maps with D3.js
The visualization I refer to throughout this blog post is here . Click on "Open in a new window" for a better view! JavaScript I followed Mike Bostock's Let's Make a Map tutorial to learn how to create a map from scratch using D3.js . I used the Natural Earth dataset, but couldn't find the…
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Convert! Base 2, 8, 10, 16
Let's talk about a few number bases: Decimal, or base 10 Binary, or base 2 Octal, or base 8 Hexadecimal, or base 16 I'll cover the basics of these number bases and simple strategies for converting between them. Expected prior knowledge: how to convert from decimal to binary, and vice-versa. (Even…
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