Weekly summary #8

Summary of the eight week of my #SeniorDevRevamp project.

Overall summary

AWS Dev Associate certification preparation was still going on – I have scheduled an exam for 3rd of September. Unfortunately, there was no way to have it sooner in the on-site form. For the time being I have settled with ANKI flashcards every day. I will be switching to other materials I have gathered in the weeks to come.

On the KCNA front – I have finished online course by James Spurin. There are three mock exams to be tried there, and I plan to revisit them in the weeks to come.

I continue to read “Systems Design Interview part 2”, and to add something else to the mix, I have started writing an article about state of GC in Java 21. This topic was on m mind for some time. I have watched lots of materials about the topic in the last years, but without the comprehensive summary. Writing an article about the current state is the best way for me to learn and remember this stuff 😉

As a pass-by product I have bought a book from Apress – “Java Memory Management”, and I’m going through it right now. It’s quite basic and introductory, but short (circa 150 pages), so reading it as a bedside lecture 😉

In the upcoming week I plan to visit Chamonix valley, and stay there for two weeks. Obviously I will be continuing my study, as there won’t be any hardcore trekking (that’s reserved for September 😉 ), but I plan to limit my activities just to reading and flashcards – no courses attendance scheduled.

Day by day list

• • 29-07-2024: ANKI as usual. Taken another mock exam, this one the up-to-date one and I have passed it. Of course lots of new things added to the flashcards, but I feel huge progress. Continued KCNA preparation course, and read a chapter from “Systems Design Interview part 2”. Explored AWS Dev certification exam possibilities – unfortunately the only available dates for on-site testing are N/A until the beginning of September.
  • 30-07-2024: Flashcards amount grew in size, so it keeps me busy. I hit Kubernetes training hard, adding new cards to the deck, doing labs and hands-on stuff. In order to separate myself a little from cloud-related stuff, I have started research related to the current state of JMM/GC in Java, and the blog post is being written.
  • 31-07-2024: ANKI as usual. Continued with Kubernetes course (small bites every day to limit the amount of new flashcards). Continued working on GC article.
  • 01-08-2024: Flashcards everywhere. Continued Kubernetes course, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also did some mixing – one chapter from “Systems Design Interview part 2” and in preparation for writing JMM/GC article I started reading “Java Memory Management” book.
  • 02-08-2024: ANKI as usual. Continued Kubernetes course. Upped my game a little and read two chapters from “Systems Design Interview part 2”, and backed by partial lecture of “Java Memory Management” book, I started writing a blog post about GC in Java 21.
  • 03-08-2024: Flashcards all over. Finished Kubernetes course by James Spurin. It was a really pleasant experience, and if the situation allows, I will use his materials for the future certifications in the cloud-native area. Continued with “Systems Design Interview part 2”, “Java Memory Management” and writing a blog post about GC in Java 21.
  • 04-08-2024: Flashcards all over – the good thing is that with Kubernetes course finished, I am not adding new content there. As every weekend I have spent some time catching-up with all the newsfeeds, newsletters and such.