Preparation

8th Light Apprenticeship - Day 13

The slides are almost prepped. I have one final section to do then I’ll be all set for next week’s training course. Even though a lot of the concepts in the course are second nature (classes, fields, methods, inheritance, interfaces etc), trying to explain them to someone who doesn’t know would be a challenge without some thought.

I’ve reached to a couple of books that have always helped me in the past. Today I have used HeadFirst Java, whose style is accessible and ‘dumbed down’ to allow newbies to easily make progress. They illustrate technical concepts through analogies, to help the reader remember and relate programming concepts to real life. An approach that could be useful next week. Additionally I have used the SCJP book, which goes into a lot of technicalities and depth. Over the years I’ve found it a really useful resource. A bit like the dictionary for Java.

I practised both the PrimeFactor and the BowlingGam kata today. I took into account some of the feedback I got at my IPM on Tuesday, and added a test to check that rolling a strike has precedence over a spare. I’ll practise it again each day up until the course.

It was also my turn to book lunch for everyone tomorrow. Like mentioned yesterday, it took longer than expected, as there were a couple of late changed orders, and a change of delivery time but all is now set. Let’s hope it turns up on time as it will kick off the Friday 8LU, which by the way everyone is required to give a lightening talk. The preparation for which will round up my evening.