Taylor Learns Machines

I'm nowhere near qualified yet to comment on the actual merits of Tailwind as it relates to most of the other common CSS frameworks (Bootstrap, Bulma, etc), but I do know why I chose to implement it on this blog. I don't even remember where I heard or read this, but an experienced dev said that he could immediately identify a site that used one of the more opinionated frameworks, whereas Tailwind wasn't nearly as easy to spot. I then decided that using anything other than Tailwind would be the equivalent of showing up to prom in what I thought was the coolest, most unique tux, only to discover that two of my least favorite people were wearing the same thing. Now it's been a week since I implemented it (with considerable help from Cursor), and a one hour struggle with a simple alignment issue has shown me just how much I'm in over my head in the CSS waters. However, and perhaps misguidedly, I've decided that I'm not giving up and I'm riding the horse I came in on. [Dave Gray's Tailwind CSS Full Course for Beginners](https://youtu.be/lCxcTsOHrjo?si=pO8Jm4oOKTvjYFUR) has been great so far, although even it is moving pretty quickly for me. And I've already gone through most of the CSS stuff on freecodecamp. Yet another example of how AI code assistants can quickly get you over your skis as a novice. And a reminder to start with basics (even if it makes me look... basic) and then upgrade later as I get more proficient.

Just finished three of the bash tutorials on freeCodeCamp and feels like I'm driving on a freshly plowed road. Not sure how universal this is, but I've been blindly copying so many bash commands along this journey so far, and it bothered me so much that I didn't understand why so many of them worked, or how they worked. I realize that it might be putting the cart in front of the horse a little bit, but I would definitely recommend learning bash earlier than later. Between having the context while you're developing and also being able to significantly improve your development efficiency, it's a great tool to have on your belt.

Today I successfully deployed my first Django app with a Postgres database attached. And hoo buddy, that feeling you get after hours of wrestling with a problem... *pretty, uh, pretty good*