coding – Page 6 – WildKnitter Codes

Work Day 12: There really is an app for that!

Today I actually fired up Guidewire Studio. It was an elusive app, buried somewhere down in the bowels of my applications—oddly, it’s an application with no desktop icon. With my mentor and The Alum’s help I finally figured out how to set up everything correctly. It involved Environment Variable manipulation and server setting adjustments (fun fact: always best to denote the port you want), but I finally typed “gwb studio” in the command prompt and THE APP LAUNCHED! At last! The server was a bit more of a problem, due to errors in compiling—I was missing some more settings. Once that was fixed, the server fired up.

The Alum kindly spend a good chunk of time with me this afternoon, showing me all the settings within the application and how to launch the local front end (and how to connect a database so I had some data). The really cool thing was when she showed me how to click CTRL-ALT-E from the front end to bring up the code and wireframes. I’m still fuzzy on what the code all does (still wading through the tutorials), but at least I can find it in relation to the front end location affected.

I asked if there was any documentation for how all the code is connected and what relates to what, but there really isn’t any. The Alum said they mainly know which jobs to change for enhancements by tracing back the code, determining which jobs and data feed the job they’re looking at. We have wads of requirements documents (as a former BA, I know this only too well), production support documentation, data mapping documents, etc. However, nothing that shows how the many, many, many (I can’t stress “many” too many times) jobs relate and work together. It seems odd. Even my rinky-dink one-department Easytrieve Plus operation back in 1992 had documentation on which jobs called which jobs and what data fed each. There has to be something SOMEWHERE explaining all this.

On a more cheery note, I finally have all my vacation time back!

Now I just need a damned docking station…

Work Day 11: Bureaucracy Redux

We have new and improved bureaucracy today…this time, HR bureaucracy! HR, as in Human Resources, or as my spouse calls it, “Inhumane Resources.”

I know one can argue that I just spent three months having an awesome coding vacation, during which time I barely knew what was going on with the rest of the world. However, believe it or not, I actually do need to take REAL vacation days before the end of the year. I’m one of those old company fossils who has over five weeks of vacation time a year—six, if you want to count the inevitable one week I carry over every damn year due to not being able to take the time because of some project or other that just HAS to get done (not that I’m resentful…). I’ve accepted the fact that I’m going to lose a few weeks this year, due to Code Academy, but I did want to use some of my time. Today, I put in for all the vacation days I’d like to take, concentrating on time periods where they aren’t going to miss me (granted, they aren’t getting much out of me right now, anyway, so I’m not sure what my point is).

Anyway, my manager approved my deluge of requests until the point where my vacation day balance suddenly went into the NEGATIVE. He showed in his system that I only have 11.60 hours of vacation time left. I showed in my year-to-date report that I have 225.20 hours left (and before you ask, I have NO idea where the .60 or .20 come from…).

So, I called HR. You’d think this would be a simple matter, easily cleared up—oh, you would be SO wrong. They have this massively confusing voice menu from hell. I chose the wrong option and ended up being transferred to THREE different departments, including our main company number, where the switchboard operator was under the impression that I was a former employee. I finally got to the actual HR department I needed…and was promptly put on hold.

After 45 minutes of my life that I’m never getting back again, the long and the short of it is that, due to my job change, the system somehow hosed all my available vacation time, save for 11.60 hours, which was “accrued.” Accrued from WHERE, I don’t know, seeing as I’ve only officially been on the new job since 10/16/2019.

It don’ git no better’n dis…

We hope this will be rectified by the holidays, so that I can get more that ONE day off for Christmas.

Work Day 10: No matter what job you have…

There’s no escaping bureaucracy.

In the continuing saga of getting up to speed, I found out that, yes, I was completely correct about the git config command I need to enter to accomodate large file names. However…I can’t do any config commands because I don’t have admin rights to my laptop. I went onto our tech support site to put in a ticket for this, and found out that my laptop is STILL under the name of the tech who built it. The guy who deployed it has no idea why it would still be in the build guy’s name. He suggested I wait until Monday and try again, when perhaps the system will have caught up and actually show that I am the user of MY OWN LAPTOP. Also, my manager is out until Monday, and I really didn’t want to explain to his Friday stand-in why I’m requesting admin rights to a laptop that, apparently, is not under my name.

Oh, and I’m also waiting for the docking station. The deployment guy ordered it and is waiting for it to come in. This means I’m still using the laptop without the dual work monitors, which can be tricky when one is doing things where two screens are much easier.

I’ve managed to make it through the w3schools site and SoloLearn for Java. I’m still wading through the Pluralsight videos. I’m liking the Udemy class, but I’m having a bit of a challenge trying to find time in my (now) busy personal life to fit this in. I’m pondering letting some things go that really don’t apply anymore. I really want to be successful as a developer, and I’m not going to be able to do that if I have to deal with other things in my life that keep me from learning what I need to or from doing my coding practice. Unfortunately, people just see that I’m out of formal training now and that I should be available for anything.

I am, of course, ALWAYS available for knitting and crocheting!

Work Day 9: We have laptop!!!

I’m happy to report that today I dropped off my large doorstop of a laptop and picked up…another heavy laptop. I didn’t put it together at the time, but as I’m now a developer, I’m not getting the cute little tiny laptop everyone else has. This is a large, industrial-strength machine. I take back everything I’ve ever said about waiting entirely too long to get a new laptop…this thing is SMOKIN’—definitely worth the wait. I got an HP Zbook 15 G3 and it’s awesome! I can’t tell you how fantastic it is to turn on a machine, and IT COMES ON. No waiting 10 minutes for the damn thing just to get to the CTRL-ALT-DELETE screen. It’s fast, has Windows 10 (my old machine was still on Windows 7) and twice as much RAM as my last machine.

Speaking of my last machine, you know your computer is over the hill when the tech guy takes one look at it , gapes slack-jawed, and says, “Oh my God!” Then, when he finds his composure again, says, “I thought we got rid of those things YEARS ago.”

Now I just need to figure out what the hell I’m doing. I managed to get all my settings done (Jack is looking attractive as my wallpaper, and I picked out a nice afghan picture for my locked-screen image).

Then, I needed to set up Guidewire. Following the procedures, I managed to set up the directory, and zip up and wipe out the configuration file. Then I attempted to clone our repository to repopulate the configuration file with our code.

Hilarity ensued.

The good news is that I do have access to clone a repo. The bad news is that I got some GHASTLY error saying there were file names that were too long—six files. I did check and indeed the repo does have some big-ass long names. However, these files are 2 years old. Surely this has been an issue before now??? I googled and found that these is a git config command you can enter to address this:

git config –system core.longpaths true

but I’m going to check with people tomorrow to see if there isn’t already some sort of fix they already do that I may have missed.

All things considered…this is still more fun than being a BA.

Work Day 8: Almost…

Okay, I may have spoken too soon…There’s been a slight snag in the procurement of my new laptop. The tech support guy planned to copy over the data from my old hunk of junk to my new laptop. I have most things on my personal drive on the network, but I do have some things on my laptop for immediate use (in the event that something goes awry with network access). This was supposed to take no time at all, but the transfer failed. Come to find out, I was supposed to be signed out of Outlook. Sure…a corporate worker not on email for ANY length of time… HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

After I finished laughing hysterically, we arranged for him to give this another shot tomorrow morning. I’m going down to the tech area, so that if he needs to physically access my laptop to do this, he can.

In the meantime, staring at videos isn’t cutting it for me, nor is typing along to said videos. I’ve already gone through the w3schools exercises, and I’m almost through SoloLearn–the object/class thing isn’t really sinking in yet. SO…I found a course out on Udemy.com for programming with Java and Eclipse. As a first time Udemy subscriber, I got this at a steal. I’m going to go through this on my home laptop–It took a good hour, but I finally got Java installed. I had a slight issue in that I needed to add the path to the Environment Variables, but once I did that, the application worked fine. This course has a series of exercises, which I think will be more beneficial for me. I figure between this and https://codingbat.com/java I should have this down eventually.

I truly hope to do SOMETHING to justify my paycheck soon. Otherwise, my coworkers are going to start mistaking me for a houseplant and try to water me…

Work Day 7: 100%, Baby!!!

I just got word today that the new laptop is DONE! They just have to make an appointment with me to deploy it. I know what you’re thinking…it’s a laptop. What is there to “deploy”? I think they have to put in my new docking station and whatnot. I don’t care…I don’t care if a ceremony involving Voodoo chants is involved—I’m getting RID of the old hunk of junk that sounds like a jumbo jet when it fires up.

I could be pushy and call, but while I’m waiting for them to call to deploy, I’m making sure stuff is backed up to my network drive. I’ve also been chugging away with Pluralsight and SoloLearn. I’ve been doing more reverse engineering on completed user stories and checking ones still in the backlog.

Of course, I’m somewhat nervous because you know what this means:

I’m going to have to start doing REAL work. 😱😅

Work Day 6: Back to reality…

One of the lovely things about being in training—holed up alternatively in a basement classroom or in front of my laptop at home until all hours—was that I got to put off a whole host of day-to-day responsibilities, a lot of which I really hoped would just fade away into oblivion. Sadly, three-months’ worth of backed-up, put-off, ignored, and/or pushed-aside everyday obligations have started to creep back into the picture.

For one thing, I haven’t balanced my checkbook in over three months. I’m not overdrawn, probably because we as a society rarely write checks anymore, so I don’t have a float on anything.

Also, it occurred to me the other day that I need to get my 16-year-old Beetle into the shop for maintenance service. Otherwise, I’m going to be driving in the dead of winter in a snowstorm in back of some enormous 18-wheeler, where I’ll find out the hard way that I have no windshield wiper fluid. I know what you’re thinking…grow up and check your fluids! Honestly, I check the oil, but I never bother to check anything else, as the mechanics usually do that during said maintenance service.

I went back to the gym, which in itself has been hilarious; especially that part where I really thought that walking and doing push-ups for three months was going to be a viable substitute for ALL 10 Bodypump tracks. Oh, sure…that was last Friday and my muscles are STILL in screaming agony. I can’t even get dressed without needing Advil. Even YOGA was a stretch for me after a three-month absence (no pun intended).

I’m still sneaking about, avoiding other things, evaluating whether or not I need to continue them. If nothing else, I do need to carve out free time to do my continuous coding/learning. That’s not going to happen if I still have knucklehead stuff I’m making time for.

Speaking of which, the new work laptop is at 32.49%.

Work Day 5: Pomp and Circumstance…

Friday was our Code Academy graduation day!

I’ve run into several of my classmates over the past week at my office in the sticks. Everyone seems to be in the same boat as I am—either waiting for a new computer and/or waiting for system access before they can start doing real work. About half of us need to know Java, so we’re all frantically viewing Pluralsight and other resources to try to learn it. It’s the same thing with the classmates who are located in home office. I’m happy to report that the poor guy who had no idea where he was going to sit is getting a desk. The other guy who wasn’t quite clear on whom he’d be working for STILL isn’t sure. I think they’re still fighting over who gets to keep him…sadly, two people were missing. One is on a birthday vacation and one was ill.

The graduation was great! They served light finger foods and fizzy beverages. We had high muckety-mucks come to say a few words. We each received a trophy, a certificate, and a very funny certificate for “Most likely to…” Mine, natch, was “Most likely to be the best blogger.”

I can’t believe I’ve come to this point. I’m so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to reinvent myself. That’s what someone in senior leadership called it at our ceremony, and it’s so true. We all get to go on from here to do work that will be interesting, challenging, even fun…

Now I just need a machine. Last I checked, my new laptop is 23.57% done.

Work Day 4: What I did on my summer vacation…

Let’s be honest. I had the BEST summer EVER. I spent three months tackling challenging problems, creating websites, coding in different languages—all while indulging my love of knitting and crocheting by using that as the topic for for three major class projects. Oh, and I got to defer dreary, boring crap in my everyday life I didn’t want to do anyway.

Now it was time to show someone the results…today was my big presentation for my boss, my mentor, and The Alum. Before anyone arrived for the meeting, I fired up my home laptop, got the two servers up and running on their ports, brought up my final project, got PostgreSQL going, etc. All was right with the world…until I tried to project my laptop onto the conference room big screen. I watched that lousy little dongle flash white over and over and over again. When everyone arrived, they informed me that a non-company device won’t work with the conference room multimedia equipment. That makes no sense to me—what if you have a guest presenter?

Despite the fact that I find this insane, the fact remained that my laptop was NOT playing nice with the big flatscreen. As luck would have it, my mentor had already downloaded my capstone project to his laptop. He also had my GitHub code. I was able to do the whole presentation from his machine. Everyone loved the site! I was able to intelligently answer questions about the application and the process. I also walked them through my code for the final project, too. Overall, it went very well!

Now, I just need a functioning work machine. Last I checked on the tech site, my laptop is 20.59% done. I’m really dying to know what comprises the .59%…

Work Day 3: Waiting…

I looked up the status on my laptop through our tech site, and it’s apparently 17.62% complete. That’s a slight improvement over the 14.48% it was at yesterday.

More Pluralsight today. Fun times. The good news is that The Alum pointed me in the direction of Simon Allardice’s video “What is Programming?” We did view this one for our Code Academy pre-work, but she reminded me that there is a section on object-oriented programming. It did help me to better understand the quagmire that is Classes, Objects, etc. for Java. I peaked ahead on W3 Schools, and apparently there are also “packages” but I’m trying not to think about that right now…

I’ve also been looking at our enterprise GitHub to better understand the code. May we pause here to say that our application code is NOTHING like the tiny bit of code for the classroom assignments. By that, I mean if you decided to print out our GitHub, you’d probably take out the forest for an entire state, and that’s for ONE repository. There are several repos for our application. I couldn’t tell you how all this code interacts and relates to the site. In an effort to make some sense of it, I’ve been taking past user stories for our Agile team and trying to reverse engineer them, to see what was changed. The simplest one I’ve found so far was changed in two jobs—most changes involve at least four jobs. I think, once I get my laptop and can set up my environment, I’m going to need to have someone walk me through the code, to explain how it’s working.

From what I can figure out so far, the code appears to be aligned with the major sections of the application—natch. The repos appear to be aligned to the database groups/schemas. I’m familiar with those, as I’ve done lots of database-querying as a BA. What I may do next is to get out the data mapping documents to see if I can align the field names with the fields in the application.

Tomorrow is my big presentation. I’m going to be showing my mentor, The Alum, and my manager my final project from class. Needless to say, I’m going to need to bring in my own home computer…I suspect that running a client and server on my present work machine would be…less than successful…