Codenewbie

Ray Acevedo was a mechanic, a full-time job he held while he learned to code part-time at the Coalition for Queens. In this specially produced segment, Ray shares his coding journey, how he came close to quitting altogether, how his brother got him through, and how being a mechanic helped him learned to code. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Coalition for Queens Access Code Techstars Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Mary became a programmer in the late 1960s, back when coding was “barbaric,” as she put it. She takes us through her nearly 40 years of working with computers, starting with the era of punch cards. She shares the joy of using a terminal for the first time, her determination to stay technical even as she climbed the corporate ladder, and how the tools of coding have shifted the programmer’s job description. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Margaret Hamilton awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom C programming language HTML JavaScript WordPress COBOL FORTRAN Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Shubheksha shares her experience contributing to open source, why it took her two years to contribute in a meaningful way, and how working on open source has boosted her confidence and sharpened her skills. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) CS50 Mozilla IRC Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Before becoming a developer, Laura had a number of job titles, including music blogger, DJ, and maid. But it was a Rails Girls workshop that brought her back to the world of web that she fell in love with many years ago. Now, as a manger at the Travis Foundation, she gets to help introduce other women to tech through the Rails Girls Summer of Code, one of the many initiatives she runs. She tells us more about what it’s like to be a scholar in the program, the power of doing meaningful work on open source projects, and how she reconnected with the web and became a developer. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Girl Develop It Your First PR Katrina Owen Sinatra Google Summer of Code Women Who Code Exercism.io Discourse Fund Club Travis CI Travis Foundation Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Bill Sourour was twenty-one when he was asked to build a website for a pharmaceutical company. It was a quiz that asked users to select symptoms so that it could recommend a drug as a possible solution. But for almost every option the user selected, the quiz would recommend the same drug. It didn’t feel right, but when Bill later heard that a side effect of the drug was depression and a young woman who had taken that drug had committed suicide, it felt very, very wrong. Bill tells us the story of his first code-related ethical conflict, his thoughts on the role of ethics in coding, and how the incident affects how he approaches code today. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Not Just Code Monkeys - Martin Fowler talk IEEE Code of Ethics Michael Lewis' Flashboys ACM Code of Ethics Dev Mastery Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

If you’re hoping to get your first tech job and you haven’t heard of TechHire, this episode is for you. We talk to Tess, the managing director of TechHire, about working with employer and learning partners to place 100K people in tech jobs by 2020. She talks about the realities of finding a job in tech at the salary you want, what technology’s increasing demand for talent means for job seekers, and what every codenewbie can do to maximize their chances of launching their tech career. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Samaschool Burning Glass Glassdoor Salary.com Opportunity@Work Bloomberg article on bootcamps General Assembly TechHire Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Alex Kallaway was working as a full-time developer, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted a way to try new technologies and grow his coding skills outside of work. So he created #100DaysofCode, the hashtag-based challenge that’s helped him incorporate coding into his daily routine. He talks about how he designed the challenge, the number of people who’ve joined him, and the updates he’s making for 2017. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Quincy Aimee Knight's CodeNewbie interview Code Wars Codecademy #100DaysofCode (blog post) Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Ish Shabazz recently released Stamp Pack, the iOS app that gave him his biggest launch yet. He talks about the iterative process of building and selling an app, what’s it’s like to create a whole app category in the App Store, and why being an independent iOS developer is getting harder and harder. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Stickers for iMessage Stamp Pack Grammar Snob Heidi Helen Firebase UI Collection View Stanford's iOS Course Impostor Syndrome episode Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

George Moore drove trucks for years. But he knew he wanted to do more with his life, and his wife encouraged him to go back to school, finish his degree, and pursue the tech career he’d started long ago. So he did. He started at help desk, and slowly climbed his way up to his current role, as master software engineer. He shares his incredible journey filled with uncertainties and perseverance, and how it’s shaped him as a developer and a person. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Selenium SoapUI Lotus Notes Scratch University of Maryland Capital One Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

In part II of our interview, Ashe Dryden talks about how the harassment she’s experienced has made her worry about the safety of people around her and influenced her decision to move to the woods. She tells us about the incident that made her angry enough to start working on diversity advocacy, how her work has changed her perception of the internet, and what we can all do to be advocates in the workplace. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Christina Morillo Model View Culture AlterConf Programming Diversity My Experiences in Tech - Death By 1000 Paper Cuts Ashe Dryden's Twitter list Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Diversity in tech is a big topic. In our conversation with Ashe Dryden, programmer, organizer and diversity consultant, we unpack the many questions, misconceptions, and realities of diversity in our industry. In part I of our interview, Ashe gives us a diversity primer, explains why this topic is so important, and tells us how she’s crafted a conference based on inclusion called AlterConf. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Kronda Christina Morillo Model View Culture AlterConf What I've been trying to say is I'm sick (blog post) Programming Diversity Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Terri Burns didn’t start off as a computer science major, but she ended up not only graduating with a CS degree but running one of the largest student tech organizations in the country. She tells us what it’s like to be a computer science major, the projects and topics she’s covered in school, and the value of that degree in the real world. If you’ve been curious about the elusive CS degree, take a listen to this awesome, behind-the-scene conversation and see what it’s all about. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) NYU Computer Science Stack Overflow Tech@NYU Processing Processing CodeNewbie Interview with Dan Shiffman Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Nick is an Innovation Accountant, a mash-up of data, analytics, coding, running experiments, and explaining to leadership how it’s all going. He talks about what it’s like to build NPR One, the listening app created by NPR, a decades-old, non-profit media company, what he’s learned from the data about the way people listen to podcasts, and what technical skills he uses on the job. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Radiolab MySQL Firebase Remote Config Desk.com NPR Google Analytics NPR One Developer Center Codeland, our CodeNewbie conference Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Leslie Hitchcock started her career writing white papers on information security. Now, she organizes some of the largest hackathons and tech events in the world for TechCrunch. She shares her tips on how new developers can make the most out of a hackathon, what types of coding projects people work on, and how she helps make hackathons more inclusive. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) GroupMe Alexandra Jordan Titstare TechCrunch Disrupt TechCrunch Ford Sync Black Girls Code TechCrunch Include Stuxnet virus Codeland, our CodeNewbie conference Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

In part two of our interview with comedian Baratunde Thurston, we talk about how he brought together product development and comedy to create entertaining apps in his recent role at the Daily Show, how he uses coding and technology as tools in the many unique positions he’s held, and how we should balance our coding responsibility with the simple goal of having fun. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Twilio Collabora hierarchical decomposition David Malan USDS Source Forge Acumen The Daily Show March Madness parody app AlexaSite wins TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon SquareSpace CS50 Tickets for Codeland, our CodeNewbie conference CodeNewbie's Patreon Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Baratunde Thurston’s made a career of combining tech, comedy, and politics. From launching Comedy Hack Day to his recent role as the Daily Show’s first Supervising Producer for Digital Expansion, he’s found innovative ways to use code as a tool for satire, entertainment, and activism. In part I of our interview, he tells us why he started as a computer science major but ended with a philosophy degree instead, how he sees satirical apps as technology’s art-form, and how projects like Comedy Hack Day bring people together for a unique, and highly entertaining, coding experience. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) NPR Fact Check Denial of Service attack NY Tech Meetup Cultivated Wit Black Girls Code Comedy Hack Day Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Emily Karungi went to university for software engineering, but when she walked into class and had no idea what the students were talking about, she started to doubt about whether or not she belonged. She tells us how she tackled that intimidation, what it’s like to build software in her country of Uganda, and how she uses her skills and love of mentorship to help others learn to code. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Django Con US Django Girls Django Girls Kampala Code School Euro Python Mbale in Uganda Open Street Map Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Dara Oke graduated with four tech internships under her belt. She’s worked at Intel, Microsoft, and Twitter building features in languages she hadn’t studied and on topics she hadn’t yet covered in school. But now as a program manager at Microsoft, she looks back at those internships as an essential part of her success and education. We talk about the day-to-day of a tech internship, how she found her place at these powerful tech companies, and how codenewbies everywhere can find their own opportunities to learn through real-world experience. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Microsoft Explore Program Neopets UT Austin GitHub Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Lorraine Hutter watched her son Bobby go to a bootcamp and learn to code. She saw him come home happy and excited, and she wanted to feel that same fire. So months later, she signed up for a coding program, and her son ended up as her teacher’s assistant. Lorraine and Bobby talk about what it’s like to watch each other grow as coders, how learning to code has affected their relationship, and what they’ve learned so far as junior developers. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Ruby Warrior Rails Silicon Valley Novell Tech Talent South Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

We continue our conversation with developer Julia Nguyen on her mental health journey, how it's affected her life as a programmer, and what unique product decisions she has to make for "if me," her mental health open source project. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) if me HIPAA Vim Neopets Evanescence University of Waterloo ThoughtWorks Emacs Codeland Conf Codeland 2019