For any project:

• Consistency and conventions between team members is paramount.
• Solutions should be as simple and clear as possible.
• Solutions should serve a specific purpose.
• Clever code does not mean good code; readability is critical

A key hallmark of professional code includes a notion that while we are writing code that must reach a desired goal, we are also creating code that must be read and understood by others.

Whenever possible, the front-end technology solutions produced shall adhere to industry best practices honoring as strict a separation of concerns as possible between:

• Semantic HyperText Markup Language (HTML) for structure
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for presentation
• JavaScript (JS) for behavior and interaction

When at all possible, we strive for a progressive enhancement strategy.

When it comes to coding I have 4 main objectives:

1. Foster code consistency across all projects.
2. Facilitate ease of maintenance.
3. Ensure the creation of professional quality Web sites and apps.
4. Guide and educate new developers.

Every technology and code choice needs to be measured against the benefits to the project versus the cool factor or how trendy a particular solution may be.

At the outset of the project it is essential to properly understand the goals of the project and identify the specific deliverables expected of the front-end team. Where your responsibilities begin and end should not be taken for granted or assumed.

It’s important to understand how the development environment will work, what tools will be available, and what the differences between development, test, and production environments may ultimately be.

Finally, all project teams should get a reasonable understanding of the what client’s browser and device requirements are. Make no assumptions as to the technology available either from the client or their audience.

I have always been infatuated with coding throughout my teenage years. But like most “savvy girls”, I was more concerned with becoming a stereotypical marketer, playing out my successful version of the “feminine part”. Why business and not engineering? Well, I never saw myself as one that was “naturally” smart. Sure, I was a very diligent and sensible student; taking 7-8 classes every high school year for the sake of learning as much as I possibly could for what my tax dollars were worth, and with a handful of honors and AP classes to show for. Nevertheless, trigonometry and calculus were not a breeze for me. Let me repeat, not at all! Talk about imposter syndrome, I was one of those kids that barely made it into these classes, to begin with, let alone do well in.

But had that not been a factor, I would have graduated college with a CS degree in Software Engineering. This decision was a no-brainer for the simple fact that I won the genetic lottery to have been born and raised in the very place the world coined “Where the future is made”. Not to mention, the Apple headquarters is my neighbor for God’s sake! To squander this opportunity would feel like I have forsaken the Gods and Holy Spirits that gave me this opportunity, shunning my mom who scrapped by to raise me, while condemning myself and the ones I love to a life of mediocrity. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but consciously speaking, we all know that’s true.

During my last semester of college, a classmate introduced coding boot camps as a continued education to “level-up” my business marketing discipline. At the time, coding boot camps were just up and coming and people took a blind faith gamble of what its education was really worth while the tuition cost was far from a chunk of change. I was drawn to the idea but ultimately decided that it was not right for me at the time. First of all, I would have to get into $12,000 worth of debt for tuition. Second, there were no factual statistics of how successful these boot camp alums are. Therefore, I am not only paying to subject myself as an “early-border guinea pig” without proof of fair investment. Lastly, taking my upfront, hidden, and opportunity costs into consideration for the potential reward, made it clear that I could not afford supporting myself through school any longer. I figured that I can work for a few years while keeping an eye on the industry to later decide whether to “level up” or switch careers altogether then. Now, and six years later, I finally decided it was time.