E1: UI Basics Technical Essay

30 Jan 2023

Before I went began the WODs, I made sure to go through each of the provided readings, despite my lack of comprehension, but I did gain a sense of familiarity, essentially learning what is possible and how commands/tags generally take place in HTML.

I didn’t have any prior knowledge in any coding language, and even after going through the readings I had still no idea yet on how to apply the information from the readings yet. Because of this, before I began BrowserHistory1, I went through the readings and the instructions to figure out which commands I needed to use and how to use each tag. I then completed it once but forgot to record, in Av time, and completed in Rx on my second try. It was fairly easy but took a while as it incorporated adding many different elements to the webpage.

After completing BrowserHistory1 and going through the lab in class, my familiarity with HTML was much higher than before, so I used similar strategies to get ready for BrowserHistory2 and 3. Despite this however, I ran into big issues on both, and took multiple tries to complete the in Rx time. Although it wasn’t time-consuming or particularly difficult, there were things I had no clue on how to make. Even when I was going through the HTML reading, I couldn’t quite figure out which tag would place the image in line with the text. After trying on my own and researching, I couldn’t find the right tag. I then watched the screencast and learned the float tag. I had ended up overcomplicating a bit and didn’t even consider it. Now that I knew what it does, I was able to complete the screencast very quickly.

On that same note, for BrowserHistory3, I got stuck on the three column part, and thereafter making sure they were all in inline, as well as making the navbar in line. Because I went so far and was so lost after my first try, I decided to watch the screencast example. After learning which tag to use, I was able to complete it in time. What helped me the most was the prep stage before attempting each WOD, as kind of a test run for the tags I’d be using. I would definitely say that waiting to watch the screencast was a better decision over watching it before attempting.