Getting Laid Off Sucks - And Then it Doesn't

Of course getting laid off sucks! Duh, right? It bruises the ego and makes you question your own abilities. I was laid off recently about a month ago. Ouch. I went through the usual range of emotions. I read multiple articles on how to dust yourself off and get back up on that horse. I've had setbacks before - this is nothing, right?

Well, this isn't a post about how things are different. The cliches and stories out there are true. Dust yourself off and get going again. No one is going to feel sorry for you. This lay off was a kick in the pants that I needed. At some point, a well-paying job where you aren't challenged isn't good. Things that are worth it are always hard.

So, with that in mind - I thought I would try to run through Project Euler problems using only Bash. Yikes! The goals being:

1. Refresh my shell scripting skills.
2. Improve my thinking skills.
3. Do something hard.

I actually skimmed through the problems quickly and thought to myself, "these should be easy!". Well, I'm writing this post after doing the first 2. While the idea of how to run through these things seemed easy in my head ("pseudocode"), getting the syntax right in Bash and remembering what is possible seems to be a challenge. Fortunately, I found a neat tool called ShellCheck:

https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck

They also have a neat web-based version:

https://www.shellcheck.net/

This tool helps you format your shell scripts properly. It can even tell you if certain things will only work for certain shells (bash, zsh, etc.) and how to make them more generic so they work in all shells. Very neat stuff.

I'm going to keep a copy of the scripts in this repo:

https://github.com/leonowski/euler-practice

Feel free to mock my approach/style. Any criticism will help me in the long run. This is why getting laid off no longer sucks for me. Challenges are fun. Discovering new tools (to me anyway) is fun. Discussing opportunities with old co-workers, friends, and potential new employers is fun. It took getting laid off to remind me.