Algorithms – Build A Security Ninja

and why I’m even going back….

I’m. A very big advocate of first using the free stuff. If there are free offerings when learning by all means access them. When I first started to explore my interests in information technology I started with web page design. One of the biggest contributors to my learning was definitely FreeCodeCamp.

FreeCideCamp assisted in me teaching myself HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I also began to code Python with the community’s assistance. I did 100 days of code twice with some influence from their curriculum.

This is also where I first found out about BlackGirlsCode, but I digress…

Once my career in infosec and graduate school really started rolling I really strayed away from FreeCodeCamp–though I still kept and eye on the community/site. I still advise people to check them out when they’re starting to learn coding, especially since their offering have really grown.

So, now years and two degrees later I find myself back on FreeCodeCamp working through their Data curriculum because data is fun. To be in infotech and infosec is to commit yourself to lifelong learning and discovering things that interest you and maybe how those interests might inform your work. That’s really what made me stroll on back to freecodecamp, because like I said use the free resources before you open your wallet so you can discern between what might be a mild interesting topic or an avenue for career pivot.

200 Hundred Days of Code

So, we talked about how structure and time are all warped in my head. Flashback to the #100DaysOfCode Challenge.

#100DaysOfCode is a challenge that designing to help people create a habit of coding on a daily basis. The thought is that by committing and posting daily on the things one did to further their coding goals the community works to hold each other accountable for fulfilling this commitment and meeting our personal goals.

I completed the challenge twice. Once, I was just moving towards doing a daily accountability and the second I focused on Javascript. The end result is that I completed the challenges , but it didn’t improve my habits. If nothing else having to complete it because I’d made a commitment kind of burned me out and at some points frustrated me to no end. I think for some it would create a habit and maybe if I had chosen a project to work on that I was passionate about it would have made it fun for me, but I didn’t and didn’t reflect enough about what I wanted and who I am to make a more informed choice before committing. If I was to do the challenge today I would probably concentrated on python for hackers/pentesters and writing scripts, because I think that would keep me interested, but I have a little too much on my plate currently to make that kind of commitment.

Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.
Norman Vincent Peale

def greet(name):
    print ('Hello', name)

greet('Jack')
greet('Jill')
greet('Bob')

I would recommend anyone to take up this challenge if they wanted to find a way to build habits. If you look on the site linked below it will show you that #100DaysOf_ can build habits in any number of subjects. I would just interject that if this is the choice to find something that is challenging and interesting enough to make you want to complete the challenge, not because it is a challenge, but because the project makes you passionate.