Principles and Practices, and Project Management

Starting my Fab Academy journey, one of the first tasks was to set up a personal website to document my work, experiments, and final project. This website serves as my digital portfolio, where I will record my progress throughout the program.

I had to work with Git, GitLab, and MkDocs to build and maintain my website. The process involved understanding version control, setting up repositories, and customizing the website. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how I did it and the challenges I faced along the way.

Why Documentation?

Neil pointed out some key reasons why documentation is so important. Here’s what stuck with me:

• Tracking Progress: Helps measure what’s working and what’s not.

• Learning Reinforcement: Writing things down helps solidify concepts.

• Portfolio Building: A showcase of your work, thoughts, and process.

• Self-Reference: Super useful when revisiting old projects.

• Teaching Others: Good documentation can help others avoid the same mistakes.

Understanding Git and GitLab

Before this, I had limited experience with Git and GitLab, so I had to familiarize myself with these tools:

• Git: A version control system that tracks changes in files, allowing easy collaboration and rollback to previous versions if needed.

• GitLab: A web-based Git repository manager that helps store, share, and manage code efficiently.

Exploring the Web IDE

• I initially tried the GitLab Web IDE to get a feel for the platform.

Switching to VS Code

• I started exploring VS Code

Installing Git on Windows

1. Downloading Git

Git Official Website

• Clicked on Download for Windows. The website automatically detects my operating system and suggests the correct version.

• Once downloaded, I ran the Git installer (.exe file).

Setting Up My Development Environment

To begin, I needed to establish a proper workflow. Here’s how I did it:

Cloning the Repository Locally

I needed a local copy of my GitLab repository to work on my site efficiently. Here’s how I did it:

1) Navigated to the correct directory in my terminal.

2) Cloned the repository using the command:

• git clone [repository URL]

This created a local copy of my GitLab repository, allowing me to work offline and push changes when ready.

Generating and Adding SSH Key

To avoid entering credentials repeatedly, I set up SSH authentication:

1) Generated an SSH key using the terminal.

2) Added the SSH key to GitLab by copying it into the SSH settings on my GitLab profile.

This allowed me to push and pull changes securely without needing to enter my username and password each time.

Installing Python and Pip on Windows

Step 1: Download & Install Python

Go to Python’s official site and click "Download Python [latest version]" (it auto-detects Windows).

Run the Installer (.exe file) and check the box for "Add Python to PATH" (very important!).

Click Install Now and wait for the setup to finish.

Step 2: Verify Python Installation

Open Command Prompt (CMD) and type: python --version

It should display the installed Python version.

Step 3: Install pip (If Not Installed)

Python comes with pip by default, but to confirm, run: pip --version

If it shows an error, install pip manually:

python -m ensurepip --default-pip python -m pip install --upgrade pip

Step 4: Test pip by Installing a Package To confirm pip is working, install a test package

'pip install requests'

If no errors appear, Python and pip are set up correctly!

MkDocs

• First, I opened Command Prompt (CMD) by searching for cmd in the Windows Start menu.

this site helped a lot MkDocs

• To install MkDocs, I ran:'pip install mkdocs'

The installation took a few moments, and I waited until I saw "Successfully installed mkdocs" before proceeding.

1. To check if MkDocs was installed correctly, it displayed something like mkdocs.

2. Next, I needed to create a new documentation project. I navigated to the folder where I wanted to store my work. In my case, I used the Documents folder and added 'main address'.

• I created a new MkDocs project by running:'mkdocs new my-website', This automatically generated a folder named my-website, containing all the essential files for MkDocs.

• I then moved into my project folder: 'cd/ e my-website'

• To check if everything was working properly, I started the MkDocs server by running: 'mkdocs serve' This launched a local development server, and it showed a link like http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

• I copied that link and pasted it into my browser, and the default MkDocs site loaded successfully!

• To edit my site, I opened the mkdocs.yml file in a text editor (VS Code in my case) and modified the settings like the site name, theme, and navigation structure.

• I also customized the content inside the docs folder by adding Markdown (.md) files for different sections of my documentation.

Pushing My First Commit to GitLab

1. Created a new file: touch README.md echo "My first Git commit" > README.md

2. Staged the changes: git add .

3. Committed the changes: git commit -m "Initial commit"

4. Pushed the changes to GitLab: git push origin main

Building My Personal Website

The FabLab repository already had a basic template using MkDocs, a static site generator for documentation. Here’s what I did to customize it:

Explored the MkDocs structure –

It consists of Markdown files and a configuration file (mkdocs.yml).

edited yml code added title, navigation structure, and theme.

• Created and updated Markdown files –

• Wrote an “About Me” section.

• Added a page for my Final Project.

• Created separate pages for each week’s assignments.

this was how a build my website

Fab Academy Student Agreement

student agreement