I Never Thought I’d Become A Programmer

And when I was so much younger, I never even knew that such an occupation exists. :p

Usually kapag bata, ang sinasabi:

Gusto ko maging teacher. (Isa ako sa mga nagsabi nito. :p)

Gusto ko maging doktor.

Gusto ko maging abogado.

Gusto ko maging artista. Nyaha. :p

I still want to become a teacher, though. But I think, unless makapasok ako sa international school, mas pipiliin ko pa rin ang maging programmer. Kasi siyempre, mas malaki sahod. And I need money. :p

Pero isa rin naman sa choices ko ang computer science nang nag-fill up ako ng UPCAT form. (You're partly the reason.)

Fascinated din naman kasi talaga ako noon sa mga nagagawa ng mga computer science graduates. It seems, they set the trend in technology.  And habang tumatagal mas nadagdagan ‘yung desire ko na maging part ng ganoong klaseng industry.

Tapos, masaya pa kasi napag-merge ko ang programming at ang interest ko sa education nang ginawa na namin ang undergrad thesis namin. :)

And so, eto na nga at programmer na ako.

One year na akong nagwowork sa Asia United Bank. In-house kasi ang lahat ng systems ng bangko kaya may sariling pool ng mga programmers. :D

Situated ang Information Technology department sa 31st floor. (Ewan ko kung saan napunta 'yung letter 'L'. :p)

My work area. :D

Noong na-assign na sa akin ang una kong project, nakaka-overwhelm. I need to migrate from one database server to another, so I need to convert ang mga sandamakmak na SQL scripts.  I was like, ‘For real na ito, hindi na quiz, hindi na exam, hindi na thesis. ‘Yung mga scripts na gagawin ko, gagamitin na sa real world’. :p

Haha.

Our building at night. Ang liwanag, ang dami ilaw. :))

Sa loob ng one year,

Maraming mga bagay rin na ngayon ko lang natutunan.

Maraming mga bagay rin na ngayon ko lang naranasan.

Maraming mga bagay rin na ngayon ko lang nabili. :p

I Never Thought I’d Become A Programmer : As For The Things I Experienced

During my one year bilang programmer (at employee, in general), eto naman ang ilan sa mga na-experience ko.

·         Sa mga unang beses na deployment ng project ko, hindi ako makatulog.

·         Matulala dahil hindi ko maipaliwanag ang error na nagaganap sa system. Tapos magically, maayos na lang siya bigla.

·         Company outings! :D

·         Mga pakaen:

o    First blood. Tradition ito sa department na magpapakain ka kapag dumating na ang kauna-unahan mong sahod. :p

o    Birthday celebrants: Kapag merong may birthdays, magpapakain din. Whether boss or rank and file ka. :p

o    Team Lunch Out/Dinner: Minsan, may sariling celebration pa ang team mo kapag birthday ng isa sa inyo. :p

o    Party: Siyempre kapag may Christmas party, may pagkaen. Merong company Christmas party at department Christmas party. :p

o    Pasalubong: Kapag may isang employee na nagbakasyon somewhere at trip niya magpasalubong. :p

·         Kaugnay ng kababanggit lang, naranasan ko rin na biglang magsikipan bigla ang mga damit ko. Sapagkat sa wakas umabot ng three digits ang timbang ko. Sakto 100. Haha.

·         Makapag-uwi ng pasalubong sabahay kapag sahod.

·         Pumanaog mula sa 31^st floor hanggang ground floor dahil may fire drill. Malaking pasasalamat naming na walang 13^th, 4^th, at isa pang floor number na hindi ko maalala.

·         Pumila sa sakayan ng shuttle. Ang amusing ng feeling kasi lahat ng mga kasabay mo sa umaga eh mga employee na todo formal attire. :D Eh noong nagaaral pa lang ako, ang mga kasabay ko sa pila ng UP Katipunan jeep ay mga estudyante at mga nakapambahay lang ‘yung iba sa kanila. Haha.

·         Magkaroon ng bank account. Hehe.

·         Maglakad nang naka-heels. Pero ngayon, sa office ko na lang ito ginagawa. Masakit eh.

·         Magsuot ng dress/swimsuit. >.<

·         Sumayaw. Sort of required din kasi ang mga newly hired employees na mag-perform sa Christmas party. Nanalo kami - second place. :D

·         Sobrang late na paguwi dahil kailangan ireconcile ang mga values sa report na isa-submit sa BSP kinabukasan.

·         Magaral at makatapos ng isang project na written entirely sa language na hindi ko ever nakilala. Web application pa. Sobrang wala rin akong experience doon. So sobrang happy ko rin na natapos ko siya. :D

·         Magkaroon ng presentation ng mga pinaggagawa namin sa buhay sa harap ng president ng kumpanya.  Grabe, nakakaubos ng English.  At kita mo na sobrang nakikinig talaga sa’yo ang presidente dahil mahabang diskusyunan ang nagaganap sa bawat isang nagpepresent.

·         Ang masarap na pakiramdam kapag walang pasok dahil holiday. O dahil nakapag-file ka ng leave. Hehe.

·         Ang pumasok kahit wala dapat pasok. Sapagkat kailangang ayusin ang isang bug sa system. XD Hindi bale, may OT pay naman. At meal allowance. :D

 

Ano pa kayang mga maeexperience ko?Sana marami pang magaganda. :D

I Never Thought I’d Become A Programmer : As For The Things (italicized) I Just Learned (/italicized) :p

During my one year bilang programmer, siyempre ang una kong natutunan ay kung gaano kalaki ang epekto ng source code sa industry. Kaya dapat pag-ingatan at pakitaan mo naman ng pagmamahal. Hindi ‘yung basta gawa lang nang gawa. Kawawa ang pagpapasahan mong programmer kung sabog ang code. :D

Pangalawa, na medyo mahirap makasundo si Crystal Reports. May mga sarili siyang paniniwala sa buhay. :p

Pangatlo, natutunan ko na ang gamit ng Administrative Tools sa Control Panel ng PC. Panggawa pala siya ng mga data source names (DSN). Very useful sa pag-connect sa database. :D Ewan ko lang kung may iba pa siyang use.

Pang-apat, minsan ang GROUP BY clause sa SQL statement ay pasaway. Kapag kasi ‘di ba, gumamit ka ng aggregate functions, lahat ng columns na kasama niya sa SELECT, kailangan nasa GROUP BY. Eh minsan hindi dapat lalo na kung SUM ang ginamit mo at pangarap mong mag-add ang dalawang kaso ayaw dahil may values sa isang column na magkaiba sila. =p

Work around ko minsan ang paggamit ng inline views.

Pang-lima, nakakaamaze ang TRUNCATE TABLE [tablename]. Kinabog niya si DELETE FROM [tablename].  May isang beses kasi na like 15++ minutes na akong nagra-run ng DELETE FROM [tablename] samantalang si TRUNCATE TABLE [tablename], isang segundo lang. Haha.

Pang-anim, keri i-load ang data nang maramihan (in bulk) gamit ang BCP shell command. Mas mabilis kesa isa-isang INSERT statements. Ang laki ng naitutulong nito sa pagkabawas ng mga linya code. Be careful lang sa paggamit ng Shell command sa VB kasi kahit hindi pa tapos ang process, tutuloy na siya. So, in line with this, natutunan ko ring halungkatin si google para lang malaman ano ba dapat gawin para mahintay ang isang process na pinatakbo gamit ang Shell command bago tumuloy sa next. :D

Pang-pito, parang nagiging open source din ang Visual Basic dahil sa freevbcode.com. :D

Pang-walo, mag-insert ng records from a table/view to another table residing in a different server with just one SQL statement. Ang saya ko nang malaman kong may ganito pala. At ang bilis lang din ah. Pero depende pa rin siguro sa dami ng data.  Kaya namaalam na ako sa nakakainis na loop. :D

Pang-siyam, ang paggamit ng designer component sa VB. :p

Pang-sampu, kapag pala sa code ay nagsimula na ang transaction mo sa DB via .BeginTrans, hindi ka na makaka-query unless lagyan mo ng (NOLOCK) beside the table name. Haha.

Marami pa ‘yan, pero as of this writing, yan pa lang naalala ko. Haha. :D

Club Manila East: AUB IT Department Outing 2011

Asia United Bank's Information Technology Department went to Club Manila East (Taytay, Rizal) for this year's summer outing. :D


Compared to last year's attendance, there were more employees who joined this year.  Main reasons were, the summer outing this year was not an overnight activity and for a minimum of thirty (30) employees, each person gets a subsidy of 700Php courtesy of our HR. :D


The entrance fee to Club Manila East is only 350Php, so we still got 350Php left to spend for our food, fare, etc.


I went there alone, as I already live in Marikina.  Most of my officemates, however, met at Ministop, Robinsons Galleria at 6:45AM.  They then took a G-Liner bus to CME.  I believe it was less than an hour ride for only 20+ pesos.  It was so unfair because I spent 90Php for my fare. Oh well. :D Ang arte ko kasi, FX - LRT - FX - Shuttle.  Pwede namang palitan ng jeepney ang lahat ng FX. =p

Upon arrival, we went to our cabana named Pakil and numbered 121.  It was complete with a shower room in which a small family of cockroach lives (buti na lang bongga ang public restrooms/showers nila), chairs, a working telephone, and at the center is a circular table for placing our belongings.


After changing to proper swimming attires as imposed by the resort, we immediately headed to the pool. :D Yipee! Water! :D


I do not know how to swim, though.  So as usual, I just stayed near the 'shore'. Haha. But still, by the patience Au has exhibited in teaching me, I learned how to do the Dead Man's float and the normal float. Hahahaha.


We spent most of our time at the somewhat private pool behind our cabana and Doña Nellia restaurant.  One our bosses, Sir James, started out a game of diving for the 25centavo coin thrown in the pool.  It was not being participated by most at the start, however, when Sir James shouted that for every time you get the coin, an equivalent of 50Php would be given, everyone suddenly became competitive. Hahaha! Nagkaka-pisikalan na nga eh.  Nakisali na rin ako, kahit paa at mata ang gamit ko para mahanap 'yung coin. =p


Before eating lunch, we braved the OceanWaves. :D Grabe, stressful! We needed to jump in sync with the waves continuously. One can't even shout properly because the waves suddenly lands at you hard in the face! Hahaha! :D


During lunch, we opted to try for Doña Nellia restaurant rather than at the available fast food restaurants in the resort - Jollibee, Chowking.  Food prices are really affordable, less than 200Php or so per meal. And each serving is actually good for 1-2 persons already! There were lechong kawali, sinigang na baboy, breaded porkchop, adobong baboy, lumpiang shanghai, chopseuy, fish fillet, etc. But before we got to enjoy the meal, we needed to wait for.. was it 1 hour? Apparently, the staff were not ready for the number of guests that they needed to serve.  Pero friendly and accomodating naman sila. :D


Then, the 25centavo game commenced once again. :D


Au and I wanted to try riding the kayak after knowing that no additional charges were needed.  But the line was relatively long.  Tamad namin.  =p More so with the zip line, mas mahaba ang pila. Ang haba at ang bagaal din kasi ng ride. XD May na-stock pa nga sa ere, kung kailan malapit na sila sa finish line. Haha. :D


Therefore, nagbabad na lang kami sa pool. :D


Lastly, when I dug into last year's outing photos, I found a great change in me. Hahahaha!

Before-after. Spot the... changes? :D

Within a one year time frame lang 'yan. :D

2010 Recollections: A Lot of Firsts

January

            The keychain and the teddy bear that you gave me went 6 years old.

            But we never did get past our first year.

            Out of whim, our thesis group decided to join Global Game Jam Manila 2010.

It is an annual event held all over the world whose objective is to develop a game within 48 hours.  The theme for Manila is bug, slugs, and plugs.  We met and interacted with high-caliber people, got more than enough freebies, and ate regardless of the time. J We somehow messed up with the final presentation, you know, technical stuff. But we bagged the runner-up title. J

Here’s the video of one of our games, Trash Talk. (Yes, we made not one, but two games. ^_^)

Trash Talk

            For the first time, my picture got printed on an official paper. :)

            And although our names weren't mentioned, this article in Manila Bulletin talks about us. :)

            We are currently thinking about joining Global Game Jam Manila 2011. ;)