moonBlog

more JavaScript algorithms

2018-11-29T15:14:00+00:00

I have posted this info on my freewriting blog, but I thought I might put it here as well. Please pardon the copy-and-paste laziness involved in doing this, but the original post represents quite a bit of work.

Here is another list of JavaScript algorithms I have coded out on Repl.it, all taken from the freeCodeCamp curriculum. Each of these algorithms is a discrete problem that can be solved in a number of ways using any of a number of programming languages. In my case, I have put a bunch of effort into learning JavaScript since it is the so-called “language of the internet.” At some point it may be worth my while to re-do these algorithms in either Python or C - they really aren’t specific to any one language.

In any event, here they are to look at, consider, re-factor, and re-do. Almost all of the algorithm files include a detailed description of the requirements, and this is why I haven’t written a description of each algorithm in this blog post.

Basic Algorithms

Intermediate Algorithms

Algorithm projects

organizing my notes on coding

2018-03-04T15:02:00+00:00

I’ve been working for the past few days to reorganize all my notes on various coding tutorials, creating README files and making sure all the repositories are up and running. Let me list and link all the repos here so I have a central listing of all the code and coding notes I have written.

Advanced CSS Course: A forked repo associated with a Udemy course on advanced CSS.
Airspace - a tutorial project: A project for a Udemy tutorial on Jekyll development. Deployed to GitHub Pages.
Alexa Skills Development: A tutorial from the Alexa development team on how to create Alexa skills.
- I’vs also been working on a Udemy tutorial regarding Alexa skills development
Algorithms: A bunch of JavaScript algorithms that are often used as technical questions for web development job interviews.
Bootstrap 4: I haven’t gotten far with this particular Udemy tutorial, but I will get back to it when I can.
Coding Interview Questions: A bunch of algorithms and coding interview questions for practice.
CoffeeShop - a tutorial project: NOTE - this project has not been uploaded to GitHub. Yet.
Complete JavaScript Course: Notes and files for a Udemy tutorial on JavaScript
Complete Web Developer in 2018 - From Zero to Mastery: This is a catch-all course that has me ranging into React development as well as AJAX and Node.js.
Git a Web Development Job: NOTE - These notes and files are associated with the one major project having to do with a Udemy tutorial on modern web development. It has also been deployed to GitHub Pages.
Gulp Projects: Notes and files related to a Udemy tutorial on using Gulp as a development tool.
JavaScript & jQuery Projects: NOTE - These files have not been pushed to GitHub. Yet.
jQuery practice: Notes and files associated with a Udemy tutorial on jQuery.
Modern JavaScript Development: A project-based tutorial on modern JavaScript development.
Modern JavaScript Today: A tutorial on writing JavaScript using modern tools.
Natours - a tutorial project: This project is related to the advanced CSS course listed above. It is in a separate repository so I can deploy it with GitHub Pages.
Newsworthy - a tutorial project: These files are associated with a Codecademy tutorial on JavaScript development. It has also been deployed to GitHub Pages.
Wordpress Development: NOTE - These notes and files have not yet been uploaded to GitHub Pages.

notes for coding interviews

2018-02-24T13:52:00+00:00

I thought I might as well blog this. These are notes for a Udemy course titled JavaScript Interview Prep. The answers below are coded out on the Repl.it and Codepen websites. I have added hyperlinks to each of the code examples.

Also check out the following resources for practice algorithms: JS: Interview Algorithm; Learning Algorithms in Javascript From Scratch; Coderbyte challenges; Khan Academy JS interview questions; Tech Interview Handbook; etc. Also check out freeCodeCamp.org for a whole bunch of algorithm challenges, or for a pretty good overview of algorithms in computer science.

Triple Add Function: tripleAdd(10)(20)(30) // returns total of all 3 numbers added together
What is an IIFE, and why are they used?: Immediately invoked function expression. It declares a function and then calls it immediately. Used to take advantage of the local scope of variables inside the function. Example in Repl.it
Source code guessing: Given some source code, guess what will happen when the various buttons are pushed.
Closures: What is a closure? Code out an example of a closure. My Answer: a closure defines a function in a specific scope so that it explicitly has access to that scope. Instructor’s Answer: A closure is an inner function that has access to the scope of an enclosed function.
‘This’ keyword: What is the ‘this’ keyword in JavaScript, and how is it used? My Answer: The ‘this’ keyword relates to functions that are properties of objects.
Hoisting: Describe what variable and function hoisting is and how it works. Answer: Variables and functions are hoisted to the top of the scope in which they are declared. Essentially, you can’t call or log out a variable or function before it is defined. Also, bear in mind that let and const are block scoped, not function or global scoped.
Scope and ‘self’ question: Look at the given code and guess at what is logged out to the console. NOTE: The code explains it all.
== vs ===: What is the difference between == and ===? Answer: == stands for ‘equals’ and tests for abstract equality (doesn’t test for data type), whereas === stands for ‘strict equals’ and tests for strict equality (tests for data type).
Log number function: Look at the given source code and determine what will be logged to the console. Answer: It logs as undefined, probably because of the keyword var being used twice. The second var is function scoped, so var num is hoisted to the top of the function, but not defined until after the console.log.
Use strict: What does use strict do to code, and what are the benefits of using it? Answer: Enforces stricter parsing and error handling in the code. It prevents the use of global variables; enforces that all function parameters must be unique; prevents deleting Object properties that are important. Essentially, use strict throws errors when we do bad stuff with our code, informing us early of errors that could throw off our code later.
Curry function: Given some starter code, curry the function. Answer: Function with multiple parameters should be re-written as multiple, embedded functions with one parameter each.
Counter function: Write a function that keeps track of how many times it was called and returns the number. Answer in the code.
Logging X and Y: Looking at the example code, what are the values of X and Y when they are logged out? Answer is in the code example.
Call & apply methods: Describe the JavaScript call() and apply() methods. How do they function? What arguments do they take? How are they different? Answers: Both are predefined JavaScript methods. The call() method can be used to call a function with an object as an argument. The apply() method is similar, but it takes an array as an argument.
Determine ‘list2’: Look at example code, and determine what list2 will contain when it is logged to the console. Then, determine how list2 can refer to list1 without the extra elements added by the push() method.
Singly and doubly invoked functions: create a function (see source code) that can be either singly invoked or doubly invoked. Answer in the code.
JSON data: Describe what JSON format is. Given source code, delete the data types not permitted in JSON, and replace placeholder text with the corresponding data type, properly formatted as JSON. Answer in the code.
Order logged out: Given source code, determine in what order the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 will be logged. Answer in the code.
Making an object: List and describe three different ways of making an object. Answer in the code.
Constructor functions: This isn’t a separate question, but, rather, a continuation of notes from the last question. Check it out.
Type of data types: Given some source code, determine what will be logged out for each console.log statement. Answer in the code.
Bind method: Describe the bind() function method. How does it work? What parameters does it take? Code out an example of how it is used. Answers: From MDN, “The bind() method creates a new function that, when called, has its this keyword set to the provided value, with a given sequence of arguments preceding any provided when the new function is called.” See code example.
Two Objects: Given source code, determine what is logged out at the bottom. Answer in the code.
Array constructor: Given source code, determine what is logged out for each of the constructor statements. Answer in the code.
Array indexOf: Given source code which uses the indexOf() function, determine what will be logged out to the screen for each console.log(). Answers in the code.
Equivalent numbers: Given source code, determine what will be logged out to the console. Answer in the code.
Objects and strings: Given source code, determine what is logged out. Answer in the code.
Strings and arrays: Given source code, determine what will be logged out at the bottom. Answers in the code.
Object properties: Note that this is a very common interview question. Given source code, determine what will be logged out at the bottom. Answers in the code.
X and Y: Given source code, determine what will be logged out at the bottom. Answers in the code.
Withdraw from account: Given source code, determine what will be logged out at the bottom. Answers in the code.

a video on coding a Jekyll site

2018-02-08T13:30:00+00:00

This is a bit of an experiment to see if I can get a video to embed in a markdown post. It should work.

This video is fairly basic, but it highlights exactly how to generate a static site using Jekyll. Jekyll takes only a bit of getting used to before it becomes apparent how dead simple it can be to generate a blog site. Jekyll also works for static page sites, but it really shines for blogs.

we live in a wobbly democracy

2018-01-28T18:21:00+00:00

How Wobbly Is Our Democracy?

by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

I don’t have anything all that profound to say about this essay. Essentially, the authors argue that our politics have become so polarized over the past 20 years that we are in danger of damaging our democracy. No argument from me.

While our country has been in worse shape - I’m thinking of c.1850 through the Civil War - the past 20 years of politics have been increasingly partisan, to the point where we no longer trust members of the other party. I can’t say I trust Republicans at all, especially since Trump was elected to office. According the the authors, while 50 years ago roughly 5% of Democrats and Republicans claimed they didn’t trust members of the other party, today 49% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats say the same. This is ludicrous.

another post

2018-01-28T15:26:00+00:00

Thinking through the blog

This is a second post I have written for a blog that, as yet, has no particular direction. What I think I will do is to spend this post meditating a bit on some objectives and goals for the blog, though I am loathe to spell it our too clearly. I don’t want to get uptight about blogging in general, so I would rather craft a few ideas that might help me to keep this blog on track without spelling it out in too much detail.

This is not a freewriting blog. One of my other blogs is entirely made up of freewritten posts, so this blog really should be written in a more substantive style. That being said, I really don’t want to spend a ton of energy writing this blog. I’ll need to give this point some more thought.
I need to leave the example pages in place. One thing that attracted me to this Jekyll theme was that the example pages are very useful for sparking layout ideas. I’ll leave them in place for now, or I can possibly move them to a different folder. Ultimately, this blog should be populated with my posts, but let me leave the designer’s examples where they are until I can think of some other appropriate solution.
Perhaps this can be a writing outlet for my news reading. Or it can be an outlet for reading in general. Academic reading always causes me to write, so it may be good to have this blog as an outlet for that kind of writing. The freewriting blog has helped me with my writing fluency, but a blog that comments on my reading would be very useful. It would also encourage me to read more.
I may need to promote this blog. I have been resistant to promoting my work on social media in the past, but if this blog is going to be written more substantially I should get in the habit of posting them to Facebook and Twitter. I should also make sure people can subscribe to the blog, either by email, or Atom, or both.

Thinking beyond the blog

What I really need to be writing is my book manuscript, so if I could use this blog to help me with the book project that would be most helpful. Ultimately, any sort of blog I write should be a part of my professional portfolio, so I do need to keep at least one blog focused on my academic pursuits. My number one professional goal is to land a substantial teaching gig, and a decent blog - as well as a published book - would help me to achieve that goal. Let me ponder the deeper purposes of writing in my life and see if I can get this blog to align with it even just a little bit. Writing is the cornerstone of good teaching, after all.

Coding

2018-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

I have been learning to code for only a short while, but I have been developing a portfolio of projects as I go along. Here is a list of some of the better projects I have done so far. I will add to the list from time to time as I finish various projects.

A URL shortener/lengthener app
A Wikipedia Search Page (on CodePen)
A weather & travel app
A news streaming app
A dice rolling game
A YouTube search app
A demo web page with some cool but subtle JavaScript features
A simple budget app created from a Udemy.com JavaScript tutorial

first post

2018-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

This is my first post with the new blog format. I don’t have much to say so let me just add some dummy text.

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Sed imperdiet orci est, at sagittis diam finibus at. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Praesent faucibus orci enim, ac convallis urna aliquam eu. Aenean vehicula mi eleifend, fermentum magna sed, viverra mauris. Ut commodo, dui a ullamcorper sodales, ante leo blandit ipsum, vitae pharetra nisl ipsum ac enim. Phasellus ut scelerisque lorem, fringilla dictum nisi. Donec vehicula rutrum convallis. Maecenas ut libero posuere, pellentesque leo sed, aliquam sem. Nullam posuere interdum nisi in rhoncus. Proin quis leo id ex pretium tempus eget ullamcorper nisl. Proin pulvinar condimentum sem, et laoreet tellus rhoncus non. Praesent metus nulla, rutrum id tellus eget, commodo tempus neque. Fusce libero ante, sagittis ac sollicitudin et, mattis quis dolor.

Moon Jekyll Theme

2016-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

Moon is a minimal, one column jekyll theme.

I’m not a developer or designer. And I don’t add footer to show who did this theme. If you like this theme or using it, please give a star for motivation, It makes me happy.

Installation

Fork the Moon repo
Edit _config.yml file.
Remove sample posts from _posts folder and add yours.
Edit index.md file in about folder.
Change repo name to YourUserName.github.io

That’s all.

Preview

Screenshots of Moon Theme

Moon Theme on Small Screen Size

See a live version of Moon hosted on GitHub.

Site Setup

A quick checklist of the files you’ll want to edit to get up and running.

Site Wide Configuration

_config.yml is your friend. Open it up and personalize it. Most variables are self explanatory but here’s an explanation of each if needed:

title

The title of your site… shocker!

Example title: My Awesome Site

bio

The description to show on your homepage.

description

The description to use for meta tags and navigation menu.

url

Used to generate absolute urls in sitemap.xml, feed.xml, and for generating canonical URLs in <head>. When developing locally either comment this out or use something like http://localhost:4000 so all assets load properly. Don’t include a trailing /.

Examples:

url: http://taylantatli.me/Moon
url: http://localhost:4000
url: //cooldude.github.io
url:

reading_time

Set true to show reading time for posts. And set words_per_minute, default is 200.

logo

Your site’s logo. It will show on homepage and navigation menu. Also used for twitter meta tags.

background

Image for background. If you don’t set it, color will be used as a background.

Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools

Google Analytics UA and Webmaster Tool verification tags can be entered in _config.yml. For more information on obtaining these meta tags check Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools support.

MathJax

It’s enabled. But if you don’t want to use it. Set it false in _config.yml.

Disqus Comments

Set your disqus shortname in _config.yml to use comments.

To set what links appear in the top navigation edit _data/navigation.yml. Use the following format to set the URL and title for as many links as you’d like. External links will open in a new window.

- title: Home
  url: /

- title: Blog
  url: /blog/

- title: Projects
  url: /projects/

- title: About
  url: /about/

- title: Moon
  url: http://taylantatli.me/Moon

Layouts and Content

Moon Theme use Jekyll Compress to compress html output. But it can cause errors if you use “linenos” (line numbers). I suggest don’t use line numbers for codes, because it won’t look good with this theme, also i didn’t give a proper style for them. If you insist to use line numbers, just remove layout: compress string from layouts. It will disable compressing.

Feature Image

You can set feature image per post. Just add feature: some link to your post’s front matter.

feature: /assets/img/some-image.png
or
feaure: http://example.com/some-image.png

This also will be used for twitter card:

Comments

To show disqus comments for your post add comments: true to your post’s front matter.

Questions?

Found a bug or aren’t quite sure how something works? By all means file a GitHub Issue. And if you make something cool with this theme feel free to let me know.

License

This theme is free and open source software, distributed under the MIT License. So feel free to use this Jekyll theme on your site without linking back to me or including a disclaimer.

A Post with a Video

2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Video embeds are responsive and scale with the width of the main content block with the help of FitVids.

Not sure if this only effects Kramdown or if it’s an issue with Markdown in general. But adding YouTube video embeds causes errors when building your Jekyll site. To fix add a space between the <iframe> tags and remove allowfullscreen. Example below:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SU3kYxJmWuQ" frameborder="0"> </iframe>