Lara Schenck
Lover of programming, maker of monsters
Blog
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Day 3: Data Structures – Stacks & Queues
Stacks and queues are quite similar in that they are both linear and abstract data structures (meaning they describe the behavior of a different data structure, like a linked list or array). All the action in terms of adding and removing items happens at their ends, and their main difference is in which end that…
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Day 2: Data Structures – Trees!
Day 2 of Data Structures…let’s talk about trees! What is a binary tree versus a binary search tree? Isn’t the DOM a tree? All of this and more!
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Day 1: Data Structures – Linked Lists
Linked lists are very similar to arrays in that they are a one-dimensional list of elements. Unlike arrays, however, in a linked list, you cannot just jump to index 4, you have to walk through the list, starting with the “head”, or the first element in the list, and work your way through to the…
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Computer Science Bootcamp
I’m studying up for a real-deal interview. There will be whiteboards. There will be coding questions much more involved than FizzBuzz. There will be algorithms and math and data structures and all of the things I have successfully avoided for much of my career. This is potentially a dream job, and if I put the…
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Podcast Recommendation: A Piece of Work
Abbi Jacobson, the long-haired one from Broad City, has a podcast about modern art. It’s fantastic. As an art school graduate who doesn’t remember very much about art, I absolutely relate to the podcast’s sentiment: It’s everything you want to know about modern art but were afraid to ask. In each episode, Abbi explored a…
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JavaScript and Me
JavaScript and I have had a rocky relationship over the past few years. My consulting work doesn’t really require a deep understanding of JavaScript, but my newfound resolve to level-up my skills and to obtain a full-time job have deemed that deep understanding quite necessary.
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What is PHP Output Buffering?
As someone who works with WordPress on the regular, output buffering is one of those concepts that I’ve encountered in the past and, until now, never needed to understand. I hope this serves to be a relatively plain language description of what output buffering is at a high level, and will illuminate the concept for…
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A few things I’m excited about
Adjusting to life in LA has taken a lot longer and a lot more work than I anticipated. I find myself re-discovering my work and learning habits, but I’m finally starting to feel back in the game after my break earlier this year. Here are a few things I’m particularly excited about.
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Thai Food in Los Angeles
Once you can process the fact that great restaurants can be in strip malls, Los Angeles does a few things better than NYC and Thai food is one of them. I have yet to figure out what the others are (probably Korean food), but bear with me. Where to find said Thai food? Thai Town,…
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Reverse Job Post:
UX-Oriented, Senior-ish Front-end DeveloperLara’s Dream Employer seeks a UX-Oriented, Senior Front-end Web Developer with advanced HTML/CSS knowledge, working JavaScript knowledge, and a background in illustration or visual design. This role is part of a small front-end team that operates as the link between design and back-end development.
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Article: No, I’m from New York
Actually, I’m from a small town in Pennsylvania, but my years in NYC made enough of an impact on me that this article from the New Yorker describes the LA vs. NYC phenomenon impeccably.
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Workspace of late
I quite enjoy seeing other people’s workspaces, particularly the people I only know of through online means. I have finally figured out a work routine I’m happy with here in Los Angeles. I can’t say I’m sold on the city quite yet, but that’s another blog post. For now, here are my tools of the…
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When you draw a funny character and realize it’s more like a self-portrait…
I drew a cute character and it ended up resembling a picture of me a the beach. Funny how these things happen.
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Plans and Pens for notlaura.com v3
There are a lot of fun technologies that have matured since I took my ski-bum sabbatical over the winter, and I am doing my best to bring my skills back up to speed. They weren’t all that far behind, but given my newfound motivation and availability for side projects, I’m really excited to delve into…
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Updates Soon-ish
I’m in the process of a light rebranding effort, primarily updating this site to be less oriented around attracting business and more oriented to me as a developer/individual. This site’s design has been the same for almost five years and, although I still love it, my goals have changed significantly; I’m currently looking for a…
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Five-Figure WordPress Resources
Of all the talks I’ve given, the “The Five-Figure WordPress Website” is my favorite. It’s a thorough look at the process I use to make WordPress websites in my freelance practice, and I’m really happy to share the process it’s taken me many years to fine tune. With that in mind, here are a bunch…
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Squarespace vs. WordPress vs. Whatever: My Final Answer
If I had a nickel for every time I heard this question: “I want to make a website, but I know nothing about websites. Should I use Squarespace or WordPress? Something else?” In reality I’d have less than a dollar, but I hear it enough that it’s time to write a serious post answering the…
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Back in business!
An update from sunny LA.While my few month ski-bum sabbatical was enjoyable and revitalizing, I now realize that mountains, fresh air, and care-free living are totally overrated. Err…what I’m trying to say is I took my break and am ready to get back to business.
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Ski bum sabbatical
I currently write from my new home at Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge in Alta, UT. I’ve made quite the transition from life in New York City. After a few months back at home in Pittsburgh, I have migrated to Utah for a ski bum sabbatical at Alta, a ski resort outside of Salt Lake City. I’ll…
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How to render a code block of Haml in Haml
I’m currently working on a style guide for a Rails app (fun!). The documentation is built as a baby Rails app of it’s own, thus in Haml, an HTML pre-processor (think Sass, but for HTML). Like any style guide worth it’s salt, I wanted to have a block of the markup for each element alongside…
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Why don’t code schools teach WordPress?
In the coding classes I’ve taught (which, for the record, have been part-time, not bootcamps) students’ intentions are often to make their own websites, work on existing ones, or to incorporate web development into a freelance practice. Regarding bootcamps, I’ve met several graduates who began their careers with freelancing, where a lack of WordPress competence…
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2015 Year in Review
This is “Year in Review” has a bit of a negative tone. I considered editing this post to make it sound more I-love-my-life-and-work-always for potential employers, but that’s no fun! Go ahead and read about 2015, the year that made me want to leave NYC, move to Utah, and work at a bar (which I…
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The Twig for Timber Cheatsheet
Although Timber ultimately simplifies templating in WordPress, there’s a bit of a barrier to entry. If you haven’t worked in a templating language before, it takes some time to get a handle on what’s possible. The following are some introductory Twig concepts and snippets I’ve found particularly useful when working with Timber and Advanced Custom…
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@include upperspace;I’ve made a few websites over the past year or so, and I finally feel like I’ve nailed down the process. Of course there’s a lot more to it, but potentially the most useful, simple, and adorably named part has been a typography mixin I call upperspace: @mixin upperspace { letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; }…
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The Time A Bird Shat on My Laptop [Pastry Box Project]
This post was originally published on The Pastry Box Project on August 27, 2015. Before I get into the bird poop story, let’s talk about guilt. Guilt is my method of self-discipline. When in moderation, guilt keeps me on track; it keeps me working on what I should, and it keeps me from ordering Indian food when I really shouldn’t. But…