Why dotnet core?

 

I just noticed that I have started all my posts by referring to the season and then I notice how long it is since I last wrote a blog post. Well, now I at least have a new goal for the new year, and that is to write more frequently, especially since I am continually learning new things these days.

Not am I only learning about new things but also revisiting familiar tools and techniques. Since graduation, I started working as a junior software developer where I am mostly programming in C#. The first programming language that I learned was C++, but in my second semester in computer science, I got familiar with C# and the ASP.NET MVC framework. Since C# is related to C++ and has a similar syntax as Java, I did not learn C# like I was learning my first programming language. I learned the most basic syntax that was useful for the ASP.NET MVC framework since the focus was more on the framework rather than learning a new programming language.

To recall, the ASP.NET framework is a part of the .NET framework from Microsoft and is only used to develop web applications while the .NET framework supports the implementation for many types of applications such as websites, services, and desktop apps. Like I mentioned before I used ASP.NET framework in my first steps in web development where the focus was on the MVC framework.

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You are enough

July is upon us, and the summer in Iceland continues to give us endless beautiful rainy days. The school has ended and this semester was my final semester in computer science at Reykjavík University. This last semester was very challenging, and I wanted to share my experience over the final months of my studies.

Being confident and mentally strong has been a challenge throughout my studies, constantly doubting my abilities and skills in comparison to other students. The first month of the semester I completely lost track of my workload. I realized at the end of the month that I had assigned myself with more projects and courses than I could manage. Organizing my time and the things I need to get done has always been one of my strengths when it comes to studying. After a couple of weeks, I started to feel that strength slowly slipping away when I realized that I had no time to do anything else but to study and prepare my teaching.

The future of work is now

Trello is one of my favorite online project management tools. I use it for my daily tasks, organizing school projects and at work. SUP46, Start-up people of Sweden, hosted an event in Stockholm were Justin Gallagher, VP of Product, shared Trello’s success story, tricks, and tips for Trello users and various user stories.

But what is Trello exactly?

Trello describes their application as an easy, free, flexible, and visual way to manage projects and organize anything, trusted by millions of people from all over the world.

Originally, Trello was developed at Fog Creek Software. Fog Creek has developed applications like FogBugz, Stack Overflow, and Glitch. At Fog Creek, there are regular Creek Weeks, where the people at the company explore potential products for the future. A prototype of Trello was created to solve high-level planning issues inspired by Kanban, Scrum and multiple numbers of sticky notes. In January 2011 the idea was pitched. Shortly later,  a full-time development of the application began.

New country, new school

I have been studying Computer Science at Reykjavik University for two years now. This month, I started my 3rd and final year of my Bachelor degree, but in Sweden. I am starting my semester as an exchange student in The Royal Institute Of Technology in Stockholm.

 

Currently, Stockholm is the home for 100,000 students. There are 18 universities in Stockholm and KTH has the highest number of international students. The social life at the school is quite different than at home. There are many traditions here that I find interesting.

There is one big organization called, THS which is the student union for KTH. THS contains 21 chapters which separate by different study programs at KTH. The chapters have their private facilities at the KTH campus, and they offer microwaves, a place to eat, study area and a pub. In my first week here in Stockholm, before the school started, I noticed some people in colorful trousers or long black dress suit jackets wearing fancy hats with a tail. The trousers and the jacket were most of the time filled with batches that they have gained or collected somehow. A group of first-year bachelor students followed these students wearing some hats, sweatband, signs or baseball caps. I asked a Swedish student about this tradition, and she explained to me that the trousers or jackets are for the students that are members of the chapters. The trousers are in different colors which represent different chapters. For example, the computer science chapter wears pink trousers. When they go for example to some event or party, they have to do some tasks to earn those batches.