Quinterest Is Growing!

I would just like to update the followers of my blog. I've have been working tirelessly on Quinterest recently, updating it with new features and implementing suggestions. The database is becoming cleaner each and every day with the introduction of the "Report an Error" button, which really helps me to pinpoint certain errors in the database. In addition, as requested, I have implemented the ability to search the database by tournament now as well. I have a lot planned for Quinterest in the future. Bonus search is well on its way and should launch soon as well. In addition, Quinterest has now achieved over  36,000 hits since its launch on June 16, 2013 (just under two weeks!). I am extremely proud of this achievement, and it motivates me even for to continue improving Quinterest as time passes. Stay tuned, as there is much more planned for Quinterest in the future.

Just Some Updates

So, I don't have much to add here, just a small update. The site, Quinterest.org, is running smoothly. Everybody using it is doing so without any difficulties or problems. Database errors have been fixed. I've added extra functionality with new search parameters. Overall, everything is going fine. I have lots planned for the future. Stay tuned.

Up and Running Smoothly

After a few long nights filled with learning and hard work, I finally completed the website. I posted it to the quiz bowl forums and so far, I've received quite a lot of praise and recognition. Users of loving it. People have had discussion and have even sent me suggestions--most of which I have implemented. To be honest, I feel pretty proud of myself knowing it didn't even know where to start to write code just a couple weeks ago. 

And We Are A Go!

After many hours of researching php scripts and parsing in general, I learned how to code a script that will pull questions and other information from the quiz bowl packets themselves. A few hours later, after the MySQL database was populated, I finally got to coding a search engine capable of sending search queries to the database and retrieving information back. In addition, it sorts that information neatly and relays it to the HTML which displays it to the user. It's all fairly complex, but surprisingly simple once it is put together. I still haven't add the CSS to the search, so it's pretty crude as of yet, but the rest is smooth sailing from here!

Laying Foundations

After a few hours of using Codecademy and working on the HTML/CSS track, I went ahead and got the bootstrap framework and layed the foundation for the front-end of Quinterest. In addition, the database is coming along well. Probably looking at an early June launch. I also purchased  hosting and the domain and the website (in it's early development stage) can be found at www.quinterest.org

Figuring Out Databases!

After tons of Google searching and youtube video tutorials (literally, almost 40 videos later...) , I am now starting to get a firm understanding of how to use databases and how they work, specifically the use of MySQL. I realize that I'm going to need to use a database in order for the question search feature on Quinterest to be functional. After much tinkering and perseverance, I have a MySQL database set up and am actively adding data to it. The Quinterest project will be a long journey, but I have high hopes for where it will lead.

My Best Friend: Codecademy.

Continuing on my journey of teaching myself how to program (at least trying to teach myself), I found a website called Codecademy. It teaches its users basic programming in various languages such as JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, CSS, Ruby, Python, etc. In addition, it also contains some advanced programming lessons. As of right now, I've been working on marking-up HTML and CSS for a website's front-end. I spent most of the day on Codecademy, and I completed the 'Web Fundamentals' track and am now moving on to the jQuery track. Already I feel like I've learned a few weeks worth of information and knowledge in just a day's worth. Anyhow, I'm going to stop blogging now and head on back to Codecademy to continue my jQuery track; I'm eager.

Quinterest!

My quiz bowl teammates, Joshua Duncan and Shivam Patel, and I recently thought of an idea. As there are thousands upon thousands of quiz bowl players across the country and even the world, we came up with an idea of providing a sophisticated studying tool that would help quiz bowlers branch out their knowledge and skills and overall, bring the game to a new level. That being said, our idea is to create a database full of quiz bowl questions from past years and continue to update it with newly released packets. In addition, we also want to provide an online reader that reads the questions to the players in order to help them practice as if it was a real-life situation. After much thought, we conjured up the name--Quinterest. It is a combination of 'quiz bowl' and 'interest'. Many things are still very undetermined, so I'll provide more info later. 

Quiz Bowl

Rohit Lalchandani

Beginning My Journey!

The book I am reading

Just recently (yesterday), I've acted upon my interest to become a software engineer. I have decided to start teaching myself how to program and write code. Of course, I know becoming an efficient programmer is a long journey, which I am willing to tackle. Anyways, I purchased a 'for Dummies' book on programming which I plan on finishing soon. (I actually really like this book; it's very helpful for newcomers) In addition to this, I have decided to create a project with my buddies from the quiz bowl team, Joshua Duncan and Shivam Patel. More on that later. 

*If anybody is interested in purchasing the 'for Dummies' book, it can be found here :)

Rohit Lalchandani