I went to my first coding Meetup last night. It was about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In the program, we were told that we will be building a website at the end of the meetup. I don't know how that will fit into the two-hour schedule.
I haven't been to any meetups, so I don't know what to expect. I was thinking that we were just going to chat with fellow aspiring coders and see how everyone is doing in their respective journeys.
When I got there, I was already 30 minutes late because I didn't make sure where the exact location was, I just glanced at the map and decided that I'll just wing it when I get there. The meetup was supposed to be in a conference room near a mall but was later moved to a microbrewery bar. So, I thought, 'nice, there'll be some drunken discussions on coding, I'll probably meet some cool people here.'
I got around the place at around 6 p.m., I thought I was just in time. But I had a hard time finding the place because when I parked my bike at the 7-11, I thought the brewery was still quite a long walk and I hopped back on the bike. Unfortunately, I totally misunderstood the map and went past the place went around on looking for it for a good 30 minutes. When I finally found the place, I thought 'alright, everyone is already drinking already and I don't know anyone here....' So, I just sat at the very first table I saw.
I sat there for a couple of minutes and started observing the people. I don't do well with this kind of environment, I get anxious around a group of people I do not know. So, I went up and walked to the restroom thinking I'll look around the place and see what's up in here. Then I saw a group of people with laptops listening to a lecture. Aaaah... that's where the meetup is supposed to be. So, again, I went in and sat at the nearest table I can find.
When the lecturer saw me, he asked my name and told me to find a seat in front. I declined. Then the guy in front of me told me to download Visual Studio Code because that is what they are doing at that moment. I didn't know what happened the first thirty minutes but they were still talking about HTML and just setting up the program to use for coding.
So, I went along and got me a copy of Visual Studio Code, which I have to admit is kinda cool, especially when you got it linked up with Line Server, you'll have something like the codepen setup where you type in your code and see the results immediately on the webpage. I don't know if I can do that with Sublime.
It turns out, the set up for this meetup was more of a lecture. The organizer of the event was talking about history and shit on who made HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. After everyone was done setting up, he started showing us how to use the program and loading Line Server to it. He said it can work with any web hosting service. I have no idea about that, I haven't built any websites yet. But I'll get there someday.
As it went by, the crowd at the bar behind us was starting to get rowdy, it was quite difficult to hear what the dude was saying. Good thing the lady at the table in front of me move closer, so I took her place. Did I say we also get to have a few sample of beers for free? The sponsor of the event was already red when he told me about it. First one is free but I don't plan on having one, especially when I'm on my bike.
So, we were shown how amazing it was to have the program make the boilerplate for the HTML file, I think most of the other editors have that trick too. Then we moved on to CSS, which he coded inline. He was telling us that we can do that without having a separate file for it. But isn't the standard practice is to have those three things on separate files? At least that was what I learned. I guess he was asked about it by one of the... students? Attendee? I don't know. Anyways, I didn't hear how the conversation went between them but I heard him acknowledge that it was indeed the best practice. I guess he doesn't adhere to the best practices?
After showing us some CSS tricks on how to make the tables pretty, we went on to some JS. But somehow, he got stuck on inserting some button. It was around 7:30 already, by the time he figured it out, it was already 8 p.m. and we had to go.
Everyone went up and left, except for a couple of people what had a chat with the organizer. I was going to say goodbye to the organizer and shake his hand, maybe talk a bit, but the couple that was there was taking quite a while. So I just stood there for a couple of minutes looking at them. It was getting kind of weird for me just standing there, so I just blurted out "Bye!" once I made eye contact with him. Then I left.
There were also some pro-mats from them. I took some for myself, always good to have some free notepad and pen. My mom would have taken most of it, if she was there. I love my mom.
This whole thing turned out to be quite underwhelming for me. I guess the second time will be better.
When I started this, I was thinking about writing about how to growth hack Steemit followers, I guess I'll just do that next time.
So, that's it for now...
Peace!
