JS101 Sessions 4 + 18 October

[katjad]

About previous session 4 October:
We took a look at functions as first-class objects, I talked people through contents of chapter 4 Secrets of the JS Ninja. There is an interesting example of storing functions to an object. The chapter also looks at different ways to define a function, ES6 syntax, default parameters etc.

I found interesting that apparently one should always use function declarations to define a function (i.e. _function fn(){ }_ ) rather than assigning functions to a variable.

Interesting things to check out: Online pair programming through FreeCodeCamp, Hyperdev environment for collaborative coding https://hyperdev.com/about/ via @TimHandy

18 October:
@marckimbrey gave a presentation about his implementation of the Tic Tac Toe game using the Minimax algorithm. With this algorithm, the opposing 'AI' will play in a way, that it never loses. A good resource to learn about the algorithm is here: neverstopbuilding.com/minimax You can see Marc's codepen (and play Tic Tac Toe!) here http://codepen.io/MarcKimbrey/pen/EKwXXP Thanks for the talk, Marc!

We talked quite a lot this session, about React among other things - there is a project that lets you set up React projects easily https://github.com/facebookincubator/create-react-app
Also this survey has come out recently: https://medium.com/@sachagreif/the-state-of-javascript-javascript-flavors-1e02b0bfefb6#.dsfyu0e18
And if you are looking to present your portfolio to potential employers, this will be helpful: https://medium.freecodecamp.com/i-reviewed-fifty-portfolios-on-reddit-and-this-is-what-i-learned-e5d2b43150bc#.6ivaj6hfx

@rinse0ut suggested we could put together a JS quiz which people could use to test what level they are at. It would also be a good exercise to build such a quiz.

We'd also like to pick up our app again. We can use the 'projects' functionality now that GitHub introduced recently. We had already started to put some information about the app on the Wiki. Check out the project here https://github.com/CodeHubOrg/organisations-database

Plan for next time:

• @wingedeel is going to present a project created with React (image swapping if remember right?)
• Code review of a football app @TimHandy is working on

I'm planning to work on the app, see how I can make it more accessible for people who want to collaborate, but don't know how far I'll get! Also, everybody should think of questions for the quiz!

@CodeHubOrg/js2016

[katjad]

Please add any things I forgot to mention!