Day 13: PHP and MySQL

These last three nights I've been sleeping for about six hours a night. Yet this morning I woke up without any drowsiness and eager to get up and get moving. I skipped the procrastinations, went through my morning ritual with code running through my head and a need to get back to the dojo and get a head start on the work. I got to the dojo on time and when I started setting up my work station I realized that I forgot to trim one of my nails and I had to spend that one hour before lecture driving to a place that sells nail clippers. I'm usually attentive to hygienic details but I'm in this unusual state of mind where I'm drowsy but numbed out to it and things aren't looking like the way they should. I've had sleepless nights in college and I spend the days fighting the temptation to sleep or sneaking off a nap in class. But with this bootcamp I don't have that same temptation as frequently, despite similar lack of sleep pattern, cause I've become numbed to it.

The morning lecture covered advanced javascript algorithm problems and we got in groups to solve a problem. The problem was trickier than usual but somehow I managed to pull up a javascript method that none of the other groups had figured out existed. It saved us time and I was complimented on my cleverness, even though I wasn't entirely sure what I did. See what I mean by feeling numb?

After lecture we were instructed on the day's assignment: PHP. The first two weeks were spent learning front-end structure but when we arrived here on Monday we went on a tangent to MySQL and database management. The purpose was to learn how to manipulate data structures for back-end implementation and today we learned that PHP is the medium between the back and front-ends of a website.

I still had the optional MySQL assignments to complete but we were told to work on that on the weekend. I hate leaving these things unattended for too long but I moved on. PHP started off tricky cause I wasn't sure if it was an HTML file or an extension to it. After some talk with my classmates I realized that it was a special HTML document that operated only on the server. You can add it anywhere on the HTML doc and as a result you get this:

I got to work but it was a slow process, mostly because I wasn't sure what I was reading. Lunch came and a classmate and I got lunch from a lunch truck. It's fun eating out but this weekend I need to look into making my own lunches because this will be very expensive in the long run. 

After lunch we had the second set of lectures which covered PHP. That didn't help much since I had barely cracked the chapter. The chapter consists of a few sections of lectures and a ton of assignments. After reading through the lectures I understood how the rules of PHP  I started the long and tedious process of solving all those problems. Back in school I often fell behind my other classmates and in the dojo I often felt like I was behind. Turns out that we are all in the same area. Some are ahead and leave early while others stay much later in the days but most of us, including me, are in the middle. 

I do enjoy the camaraderie that comes from working together. If we're not programming we're usually talking and joking around. It is very supporting, much better than those three months I worked on my own in the library. I did say that we have a diverse bunch. It also turns out that one of our classmates is a self-hating asian. 

Finally around 2pm I was listening to a video lecture when the numbness wore out and I suddenly passed out. One of my classmates woke me up. My first instinct was to ask if I snored. I've been told before that I snore very loudly. I decided to give in and take a nap in my car. It was hot outside but I didn't care and I slept in the hot car for twenty-five minutes. Am I a heavy sleeper or is it the unusual state of mind I'm currently in?

It's after 10pm again and I'm going to head out soon for another six hours of sleep tonight. It feels like a Friday considering how long I've been here. 

It's rough but I do like where I am.