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Hi there! 👋🏾🔗

Here, you'll find posts about all the cool things I've been learning on my never-ending journey to becoming a great Technical Writer.

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  • 2 min read

I did it! I completed CS50!

CS50 is Harvard's Introduction to Computer Science course. I first heard about it in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns when there wasn't much to do at home. I tried taking the course then but didn't fully commit. I lost interest after the first week, mainly because I didn't have a good reason to learn computer science other than boredom.

Fast forward to 2024, I've tackled some large and complex software documentation projects. My favorite part of each project has been collaborating with Software Engineers. There's nothing quite like learning from those who build the products! As a Technical Writer, before I write, I must research, either using online resources or interviewing engineers. This finally gave me the motivation to complete the CS50 course. I wanted to understand the world around me better. How do words on our screens build applications? I thought this could help me become a better Technical Writer and ask better questions when working with developers.

The struggle was real

Week 0 was pretty easy with Scratch, which provides a friendly interface to start learning programming concepts. Week 1 introduced C, and boy, was it tough. I had worked with Python a little bit (very little) in the past, so working with a low-level language was overwhelming at times. By week 6, when we covered Python, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Solving Python problem sets took me about half the time compared to C. It was mind-blowing to see how much Python abstracts away. Thank you, Python!

Another challenge was week 9 with Flask. The first problem set was manageable. The second one seemed fine until some checks failed upon submitting my solution. It took me embarrassingly long to realize my math was off in two routes—major facepalm.

Final project time!

When it was time for the final project, I wondered what to build. There's nothing scarier than a blank page (except maybe for C 😅). I decided to create a Flask app called Crowrite, featuring various technical writing tools. Like documentation projects, much of the time was spent researching and figuring out which libraries would help achieve the needed functionality.

If you want to read more about Crowrite, check out this page!

  • 1 min read

Migrating from Wordpress

It's been almost one week since I decided to move away from WordPress and onto a static site generator. I started my journey with Docusaurus and then stumbled upon MkDocs. I'm still unsure which generator I'll actually stick with, as I still have much to learn before making that decision. I do like that MkDocs supports Jinja.

All I know is that both Docusaurus and MkDocs are much better than WordPress 🤭 (for my portfolio, I mean—no disrespect to WordPress 😬).

  • 1 min read

Important Lessons

Today, I learned how finnicky YAML is when it comes to indentations. One wrong move and nothing works. It turns out I needed to change my indentation levels to get various plugins to work on my site.

I also learned that I need to update my requirements.txt file whenever I add new dependencies. This was the reason my Netlify builds failed earlier today. I'll remember this for next time! If you're wondering what a requirements.txt file is, check out this article by Tantoluwa Heritage Alabi at freeCodeCamp!

Oh yeah, here's the command that I didn't run before my build to update my file:

pip3 freeze > requirements.txt
  • 1 min read

Initial Thoughts on MkDocs

Today, as I drank my morning coffee and contemplated how to spend my lazy Sunday, I had an interesting thought. I already built a static site with Docusaurus (check it out here, by the way), so why not do the same with MkDocs? I frequently see technical writers praise MkDocs, just like Docusaurus, for its powerful documentation tools. I wanted to check it out myself, and when I coupled it with the Material framework...whoa!

So yeah, that's what I ended up doing today. There are certainly things I like and dislike about both. I guess the same could be said about food (personally, I'm not a fan of my greens). I'll sum up those thoughts in another blog, another day.

  • 1 min read

Mermaid?

Today, I learned about a new technology called Mermaid. It turns words into diagrams? How? My mind is blown! As a Technical Writer, creating diagrams can be pretty time-consuming. At first, I thought it could only handle flowcharts, but it can also create Gantt charts and user journey maps!

I can't wait to see how I can use Mermaid to speed up that process 🤯.

  • 1 min read

Second Post

Another day of learning! My original idea was to use this Docusaurus experience to only host my knowledge base portfolio pieces. However, I am taking the plunge and moving over my entire portfolio. Yup, everything! I even got to perform my very first Netlify deployment to production.

  • 1 min read

First Post

Whoa! Docusaurus is a pretty neat tool. I can't wait to learn how to master it and do cool things! I am happy. Here's to another tool under my Tech Writing toolbelt.