Tech Tutorials
Here is a collection of tutorials I’ve authored on various tech topics. I use to teach in a basic HTML + CSS + JavaScript course, so the first tutorials come from that. With the start of Corona Pandemic I stopped teaching and am looking for different ways to help beginners.
Setting a Static IP on Pi -- 19.08.2020
This week I’ve been setting up a home Raspberry PI 4b server. I struggled to get the static ip for it on my local network. Now that I’ve figured it out I’m making this tutorial to help other avoid the pain. *note: I’m using a Raspberry PI 4b running Ubuntu Server 18. Other setups might require different steps. Video screencast Steps Disable the clound init netplan configs create a new files at: /etc/cloud/cloud....Basic VPS Setup -- 20.07.2020
Overview What is a VPS - Virtual Private Server Why we need one More tutorials to come Creating SSH Keys What is Digital Ocean Cloud Service Provider 👍 How to create a droplet Basic server setup including creating a sudo user and setting up a ufw firewall vps tutorial Create a new ssh keys Create two, one for root on the server and one for the main user *make sure to create them in the ....Adding Documentation to an API -- 08.06.2020
First video in my new studio setup! Ever tried to use an API with out good documentation? It is tough! In this tutorial I go over how to setup a static site hosted in gitlab pages containing your documentation. In this simple method we manually edit a YAML file so it is not bound to a programming language. This concept can be applied for most any REST API. docs tutorial...HTML + JavaScript VS Code Setup -- 01.05.2020
My favorite code editor outside vim is vs code. I was pumped when the other teachers and I agreed on requiring it for our JS course. It has already proven itself for beginners: fast enough for almost every student’s computer 🏎 stream lined class with both teachers and students working with the same editor on both mac and windows live share has allowed us to go in and help students fix bugs directly in the code live server has simplified how students work locally on very basic html + js classwork / homework cli integration is easy to use vs code setup walkthrough...Pull Request Homework Workflow -- 01.05.2020
Full version control pull request homework work flow, what could go wrong? I made this video to show students how to submit their homework as a pull request. The main oversight? Not having students configure their github repos to have protected master with one approve required on merge. So many unapproved merges 😭. Video: https://video.travisshears.xyz/videos/watch/2600ebd5-bf60-4ad7-8ef3-8eb87bceeca3 Later in the semester I pushed for protected master. See this tutorial....Format HTML & JavaScript with VS Code -- 01.05.2020
Surprising how many HTML and JavaScript errors can be found by auto formatting. When the document does not indent properly after an auto format errors are easy to spot. An missing closing bracket there or missing closing tag. I made the following video to help my students with their document formatting. Something I never fully realized the importance of. vs code walkthrough...Protected Github Branches -- 01.05.2020
The pull request work flow is something I took for granted. Until I had to teach a group of beginner JavaScript students. unapproved merge requests new pull requests created to address comments in previous pull requests broken master force pushes 🔥 Protecting master and requiring pull requests is an attempt to fight the chaos. Video: https://video.travisshears.xyz/videos/watch/4526b94e-8680-4ab3-b3e8-916787d9be5e...
git hosted npm packages
17.04.2019
How to install npm packages directly from a gitlab, (or any other git host) The problem With so many Javascript/Purescript/Elms side projects going, all with diverse build/bundling setups, getting them somewhere presentable like my personal site is a challenge. I’ve iterated over several solutions over the past few years and today I’m excited to share a new one, node modules! This solution builds on what I learned in previous attempts and continues to streamline my personal site continuous integration and deployment....