Reviewing HTML concepts and establishing a habit

 In my planner each week I write out three things automatically.

1. Some sort of motivational theme or (soon) a bible verse as my "theme of the week"
2. A task each day to exercise
3. 30 minutes of freeCodeCamp

Exercising is still something that I need to improve on the habit front. Last week was a bit of a downer, and I think partially it's because I didn't drink enough water, exercise, and eat healthy (hello popcorn for lunch twice).

But with freeCodeCamp, I've been able to establish a nice rhythm. Either in the mornings or during my lunch break, I'll set aside 30-45 minutes to work on the new full-stack developer content they recently released (linked in my previous blog post). I decided to just do everything in the cert, even though I've previously finished their HTML/CSS content and most of their vanilla JavaScript content. It's good review, and I'm a completionist I suppose.

And I'm glad I've taken time to review the HTML content. First off, it's been way more in depth than their previous courses. There is a much higher focus on accessibility and semantic HTML. A few things which have stood out:

• Presentational vs Semantic HTML: Presentational is older and includes elements that are no longer supported, and it's main focus is just on the look of the content on the screen. CSS has made most of these elements relatively pointless now. Semantic HTML involves using elements that are more descriptive in their purpose (as opposed to the older <div> element), and they are better for accessibility and website SEO.
  
  
• HTML Forms have four states:
• Default: which is editable
• Focused: when you're in one of the form inputs specifically (i.e. clicking into a text field and the box highlighting a blue border)
• Disabled
• Read-Only
• (The HTML Form states sort of mimic what I'm used to with Harness rules in Pega, so I found it interesting.)
  
  
• HTML Entities: these provide a way to write out certain symbols that are usually code in HTML. For example, if I want to write out <div> in HTML text, without HTML entities I cannot accomplish this because the browser will think I'm trying to start a new <div> container. With HTML Entities, I can use a combination of letters and/or numbers to have the browser render symbols like < and >. These combinations are called references:
• Named character references start with "&" and end with a ";"
• &lt; is the < symbol
• Decimal numeric references are similar but use numbers instead of letters
• Hexadecimal numeric references are similar but use hexadecimal instead

I'm currently going through the lecture video series for accessibility, which is a deeper dive into screen readers and tools that come native with operating systems to help with viewing or listening to content. Additionally freeCodeCamp is reviewing various peripherals like larger-text keyboards and different input devices like trackpads and mouse-balls and joysticks. All must be taken into consideration for modern development.

That's all I have for this week. I'm also glad I could sit down for 20 minutes or so and type this out this week. I want to blog (ideally) every week, so this week was a success!

Setting 2025 developer goals

2024 is behind us and 2025 is here. New year. Clean slate. Last year was my first full year as a developer and it was full of learning, moments of extreme doubt in my abilities, and some fantastic moments as well. To recap, I attempted the Pega SSA exam three times and fell one question short twice. At some point I plan to study and take the exam again, but I'll be taking some time off from that.

My overall personal goal in 2025 is using a planner for the full year and being more organized through consistent planner use. That sets up the foundation for smaller goals that I hope to achieve this year for myself, which are listed below.

So without much else to add, below are the developer goals I hope to achieve in 2025. Unlike last year, I'll try to keep the blog updated with my progress.

1. Blog more. This is sort of a gimme. I blogged just a handful of times in 2024, mostly because I was busy studying or working. Taking a break from studying will hopefully allow for more casual learning and time to write. My goal is one post a week, and I'll review at the end of January to see how that goes. I may adjust it in February if needed.
   
   
2. Work through freeCodeCamp's new curriculum. freeCodeCamp just released new updated content and have started focusing on free developer certifications. The content includes video lectures, workshops, labs, quizzes, reviews, and one large final exam. I'm very excited for this, and will probably write more about it in the future, but I think this is the type of setup I've been waiting for. Currently I'm in the HTML section doing review before moving on to CSS, but once we get to more advanced topics, I think this will be a massive help for my learning. Most blogs will probably be geared around new things I've learned while going through the certification program. While I won't be spending a lot of time each day on it (due to life and such), I'm going to be extending this into 2026 and hope to earn the certification during that year.
   
   
3. Pass the Pega SSA exam. This will be in the later part of 2025, but I want to attempt the SSA exam again and hopefully pass. It's not required for my job, but everyone else on the team has it at this point and I want to be able to say the same. Related, I'll need to renew my Security+ this year as well, as that's an exam I never ever want to take again!
   
   
4. Read more. I'm aiming to complete six books this year - an average of one book every two months. That's a good goal for me, but it's also something I can also surpass pretty easily. I'll be writing on some books I read this year here on the blog, so be on the lookout for some of those. I've started 'Chip Wars' by Chris Miller, which my manager read and said it was very good. President Obama as well mentioned this book as one of his favorites in 2023. But I won't be reading just tech-focused books. I hope to read a fiction book or two, or maybe some random non-fiction historical books. I'm taking it one book at a time.

So there we have it - these are the developer goals I'm shooting for in 2025. These are not resolutions, and they may not all happen. But it's something to work towards and share with others. 

What goals do you have for 2025?