Many years ago, my journey into “Systems” began. At the time, I had no idea where my curiosity would take me and during my time as a student, my interests were so broad I found myself never focusing on any specific subdomain. I ended up taking courses in digital systems and commuication, signal processing, control systems and even remote sensing. I always felt that I wanted to explore and grow in various technologies and domains rather than focus on one specific area. Ironically, I was doing just that, but didn’t realize it. Only in recent years has the idea of a “Systems Engineer” become a specific field of study in which a degree can be obtained. Up until that point, a good portion of professionals who had focused on Control Systems were seen as those which would end up working in a ‘system’ oriented framework. The issue here being that the idea of a ‘Control System’ is limiting in itself when referenced against the backdrop of the other disciplines which are tied in with a true and complete ‘system’. Control Systems, as it turns out, are really just another part of a system.
With my Rails portfolio project in the rear view mirror, I quickly threw myself into the depths of the Learn JavaScript curriculum. It’s totally fun, and again, a lot of ground gets covered in the curriculum so if you were like I was, don’t panic! It will all come together when you get to your project, but you may end up spending more time than planned, or at least that was my case.
The process of learning can be both direct and indirect. What I mean by this is, when a course has a curriculum and tests, you are learning directly or perhaps more specifically, you are being taught a direct concept. An example of learning indirectly would be being given a task that requires you to solve a problem. Along the way you run into the unexpected which requires you to call upon both your familiar skills but also to probe deeper on your own to understand.
There are some concepts that are just downright tough to wrap your head around the first go-round. This is not always because the specific item being learned is very hard in itself but because of everything related to the specific item is complex as well. Rails Nested Forms with the “Has Many Through” relationship has both. In spades. To top it off, it’s a shining light of a concept, I mean, when you think of what is going on behind the scenes, it’s pretty amazing. Similar to generators, you have access to so much power, but you are making a deal with the devil, and that always comes with a price. (Fwiw, I am no mean villainizing Rails, I think it’s fantastic).