My first program as a software engineer

My first program was the popular “Hello World!” I was super excited because it made me feel so much like a senior developer. There is this feeling of belonging when you run the Hello World code and get to see your output. However, coding is more than writing the string "Hello World". Coding requires knowledge, smartness, problem-solving skills and a lot more.

Programming Languages I write

ALX has given me the opportunity to learn some programming languages. I started by learning C language which is the father of all languages. C language gives you the opportunity to learn to program from the scratch and understand how operating systems work. One thing about learning programming languages is that they somehow look alike. When you learn one language, it is quite easy to understand another because they have similarities. They all have variables, data types, arithmetic operators, etc.

Learning to program is like learning a foreign language, the only difference is it's easier to catch another language in programming than it is to catch another foreign language. While learning C, I developed a printf project that prints to the standard output just like the built in C printf. I was paired with a team member and we carried out the project together. It also helped me develop my team management skills.

My new love language

After learning C language in ALX, we moved to the higher level language Python! My new love. I fell in love with Python and its syntax. It can be challenging at times, but I enjoy writing in python. Some colleagues would say it could be because I haven't tried other languages. Maybe that could be the reason, or maybe not. I am currently learning JavaScript and it's beautiful too, but it's yet to take the place of Python in my life. When another language does take that position, I would be sure to notify you all.

Projects I have done with Python

Currently, I learnt object oriented programming using Python, and I have used that to build a project that looked like the popular Airbnb where I made a parent class that takes care of the initialization, serialization and deserialization of all instances I created. I made classes of states, cities, users, places etc that would like to lodge and relax just like the normal Airbnb. I also wrote over 150 unittests to validate the project and make sure it meets users' requirements. I am still learning to store my data in a database using SQL, so for now the data was stored using JSON String. I also created the design and layout of the site using HTML and CSS. The next project I would be carrying out would be storing the data in a database. I am excited about it and can't wait to learn a lot from these projects.

Conclusion

Looking back from where I started 7 months ago, I can say I am glad I started because I have learnt a lot as an ALX student. I am taking it one step at a time and would continue learning till I am able to solve real-world problems and impact ladies like me who do not know how to go about having a career as a software engineer.

Thank you for reading.

This article was published as #week3 article for #4articles4weeks Hashnode Writeathon