JS Fun at the Library

Welcome to your first project!

Since this is your first Turing project, let’s go over some general information regarding projects at Turing:

• You will not learn everything in class that you need for projects - this is intentional. Content will be “just in time” - you should need every lesson.This can be painful in the moment, but it is essential for long-term success. If you’re focused on learning over getting a good “grade”, this is where the growth will really happen.
• Projects vary in length. Some projects will be solo, some will be paired, and some will be completed as a group (of 3-6 people). This will give you essential experience with various workflows.
• Projects are evaluated by an instructor. Feedback will look different for each project, but we expect that you reflect on your feedback and implement it in the next project. Feedback is a critical learning tool at Turing. Don’t beat yourself up over any feedback. Use it. Learn from it.
• Most project specs will contain a rubric at the bottom so that you know exactly what is expected from you. The rubrics also ensure that your instructors are grading using a consistent and unbiased framework.

Overview

In front end web development, the programming language you will encounter most often is JavaScript. Soon, we’ll also use HTML and CSS to help a user interact with our applications, however before we do that, we need to understand how to use JavaScript to handle the logic of our applications.

In this project, you’ll be gaining experience working with variables, primitive data types, looping, arrays, objects and functions. As you work through the iterations, be sure to take time to stop and refactor you solutions. There is rarely one right way to solve a problem in programming, and part of your job will be evaluating the trade offs between different approaches to solving a problem.

Learning goals

• Understand JavaScript data types and how/when to use them
• Understand how to declare variables and assign data to them
• Practice using objects and arrays, including for loops
• Write functions that require conditional logic, parameters/arguments, and return
• Read and understand unit tests, and pass them

Setup

• Fork this project to your own Github account
• clone the repository to your local machine
• cd into the project
• run npm install to install the necessary dependencies

Day One Deliverables

• By EOD on Kick Off Day: Complete this project submission form to ensure your project manager has the link to your repo.

Iterations

0: Practice Variables, Primitives, Functions, Arrays, and Objects

• In the src/ directory, you’ll find a file called ‘warm-up.js’. Read through the instructions in the file carefully. The exercises in this file will help you to complete the rest of the iterations

1: Complete the book tests

• For the rest of the iterations, you will be working to build out some js functionality, using a test suite as your guide.
• Start with the book.js file.
  • Unskip the first test in test/book-test.js
  • Run npm test test/book-test.js
  • Read the error messages CAREFULLY!
  • Make the test pass.
• Ensure that all of the skips are removed from the test file when you push up to GitHub.
• Before moving on to the next iteration, take time to refactor your solutions. Is this the best approach to solving the problem? Is there a different way you could make the tests pass?

2: Complete the shelf tests

• Unskip the first test in test/shelf-test.js, and get to work passing the tests
• Run npm test test/shelf-test.js
• Ensure that all of the skips are removed from the test file when you push up to GitHub.
• Before moving on to the next iteration, take time to refactor your solutions. Is this the best approach to solving the problem? Is there a different way you could make the tests pass?

3: Complete the library tests

• Unskip the first test in test/library-test.js, and get to work passing the tests
• Run npm test test/library-test.js
• Ensure that all of the skips are removed from the test file when you push up to GitHub.
• Before moving on to the next iteration, take time to refactor your solutions. Is this the best approach to solving the problem? Is there a different way you could make the tests pass?

Extension: Refactoring

• Preteach yourself the Dot & Bracket Notation lesson.
• Revisit your addBook and checkoutBook functions. Consider any similar lines of code and how you might refactor both functions to make use of bracket notation.
• Refactor takeStock so that it dynamically checks to see if the book exists in the correct shelf. Note you will need to make use of bracket notation in this solution as well.
• Ensure that all tests still pass after refactors have been made.

Self-Assessment

The goal of this project is not completion. The goal is to put into practice some of the tools we’ve been discussing (pseudocoding, rubber ducking, problem solving), and to practice writing fundamental JavaScript.

The value of this project, and every project, lies in the learning that you do and the growth that you demonstrate over the course of it. We expect you to work hard for the benefit of your own learning.

The skills you will develop over the course of this project are:

• Understanding fundamental JS:
  • functions
  • manipulating arrays
  • manipulating objects
  • testing
• Problem solving:
  • Pseudocoding
  • Pairing (with mentors, rocks, peers, etc)
  • Articulating code (while pairing, or rubber-ducking)
• Time management
• Git workflow

At the end of the project, we will have you fill out a reflection survey where you can assess your growth over the course of the project. While individual feedback will be minimal from instructors, we will share feedback on common themes we saw in your projects later next week.