Codenewbie

She was trained to be a web developer. But months after graduating from bootcamp, she's at Makerbot, helping build the software that their 3D printers need to do their job. It's an interesting change -- she's using python instead of ruby, and learned C++ too. We talk about what it's like to be a software developer in a world of hardware, how the two jobs compare, and what some of the challenges are. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) MakerBot MIT Intro to Computer Science Harvard CS50 3D Printed Ears 3D Scanner Python Django NYU Continuing Studies Program C++ MVC (Model View Controller) March Is For Makers Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Matt Richardson, evangelist for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, talks to us about the little computer that's making hardware accessible to more people. We talk about what the Raspberry Pi is, discuss some beginner friendly projects, and chat about a cool bike-based hardware project he made. If you've been thinking about getting started with the Raspberry Pi, this episode is for you. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) hard drive Micro SD Python on your Raspberry Pi Wolfram + Raspberry Pi Scratch on Raspberry Pi Minecraft on Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi Foundation Blinking LED with Raspberry Pi Cycle Chaser project Hall Effect Sensor Dynamic Bike Headlight Linus Torvalds Linux Zed Shaw Episode Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Julia Grace talks to us about Tindie, the hardware marketplace where creators and hardware enthusiasts can come together to share their goods. We talk about the challenges of building a hardware platform, the different problems these makers are solving, and how software and hardware compare when it comes to accessibility. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Tindie Etsy Jason Huggins Selenium Sauce Labs Raspberry Pi Arduino Arduino Lilly Pad Julia Elman Teen Tech Camp littleBits Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

It started at a conference. When Sara Chipps sat in the audience and watched a speaker use JavaScript to interact with a smoke detector, she was entranced. She left with a bag of LEDs, and a new love for hardware that led to her ultimately starting her hardware company Jewliebots. She talks to us about her transition from software developer to hardware CEO, the differences she's seen between building software and hardware, and what it's like to build a product for teenage girls. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Highway 1 JSON Arduino Wire strippers Soldering irons Mesh network Open source Emily Rose Guiness beer LED Johnny Five Jewliebots Rick Waldron Spark Francis Gulotta Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Developer Sarah Frisk uses her incredible drawing skills to teach coding tools and concepts like git through her comic, Monster Markup Manual. We talk about her love of drawing, how art and code come together, and how monsters can do a great job of learning to code. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Monster Markup Manual Tavern Wenches jQuery Foundation Chassis Framework CSS Frameworks Google Summer of Code IRC GitHub RPG Maker Mono Carmen Sandiego D&D 24-Hour Comics Day Sarah's Ludlum Dare game Crucible Code Reviews Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

In our first live broadcast of the podcast, we brought on developers Scott Hanselman and Tiffany Peon to chat about hot topics in the CodeNewbie community. We talked about finding a dev job, code mentorship, and our thoughts on Zed Shaw’s critiques of programming bootcamps. We recorded live on http://twitch.tv/codenewbie, and we loved having you in the chatroom to ask questions, comment, and join us in the conversation. And we’ll definitely do another live edition of Ask CodeNewbie soon. Hope you can join us then! Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) CodeNewbie Episode with Zed Shaw Office Space CodeNewbie Episode with Scott Hanselman John Sonmez's Soft Skills User group Qdoba Betamax vs. VHS Constant Contact Rock Tumbler Service Objects Code Death March XML Mainframe Object Oriented Programming POODR Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Catt Small gives us a great intro to UX (user experience) design, including insight on her design process, how she works with users to create great digital experiences, and how code newbies can get started in UX design. She also tells us how she used Leap Motion to design a music instrument you can play using gestures. Lots of great stuff in this episode. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Design with Animation Photoshop Sketch usability testing Framer Axure Advice for New UX Designers discovery interviews Learn Startup book Don't Make Me think (book) Lean UX UX Team of One Heuristic Reviews Neilson Norman Group UX Magazine Smashing Magazine Leap Motion pseudocode Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Developer Rebecca Garcia had always loved computers. At a young age, she went to MIT's two-week computer science camp. She was surrounded by kids who love to build and make, just like her. But at over $1K a week, it wasn't a very accessible way for kids to learn to code. So when she learned about Coder Dojo many years later, an organization that creates free coding workshops for youth, she wanted in. So she started CoderDojo NYC two years ago, and has been helping kids from ages 7-17 learn to code. We talk about the incredible things these kids have been able to accomplish in these workshops, her thoughts on teaching code in public school, and how she found her own way as a self-taught developer to her current role as a developer evangelist at Squarespace. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) DoSomething Tim Ferris Squarespace CoderDojo CoderDojo NYC Little Bits The Imitation Game Hacker Hours America's Test Kitchen Test Kitch

Joseph McLarty, developer and accessibility advocate, talks to us about issues of accessibility and how we can create, and remove, invisible barriers that keep people from accessing the web. We talk about tools like screen readers, and how as developers, we can do simple things like use semantic tags that would help many people. We also touch on the legal issues on accessibility, and how we can learn more about the topic and ways we can create a more accessible web for all. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) screen readers Jaws (a screen reader) NVDA (free, open source screen reader) Web AIM VoiceOver W3C Triforce Section 508 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Americans With Disabilities Act WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Zed A. Shaw, developer and author of the Learn the Hard Way series, talks to us about how to learn to code, his own approach to learning a new programming language, and why he’s not a fan of programming bootcamps. He also answers a few questions from the CodeNewbie community, including what the A in his name stands for. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Zardoz Learn Python the Hard Way Learn SQL the Hard Way Scala Go Erlang Zed’s bootcamp blog post Lisp Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Vanessa Hurst, founder of CodeMontage, has spent a lot of her career making tech an inclusive space for all people, particularly women. We talk about how she created that space through Girl Develop It, the non-profit she founded, her perspective on managing your career as a code newbie, and particularly about getting that first tech job. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Breast Pump Hackathon Sara Chipps Moto360 Girl Develop It xkcd: How it works Megan Smith So Good They Can't Ignore You Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

You may have heard of Scott Hanselman from his own podcasts and his very popular tech blog. We talk to him about how he creates all this helpful tech content, why it's important to be a social developer, and how we can evaluate our own coding abilities. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Keys Left Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Tech Guy Scott's Blog 7-Minute Workout JQuery Pair Programming Root Cause Analysis Nerdist Coding Horror Blog Joel on Software Jekyll Markdown Episode with Katrina Owens Kids in the Hall Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Engineer and artist Jenn Schiffer talks to us about the Vart Institute, the side project that blends her love of art with her love of javascript. We dive into how she brings those two worlds together, what the difference is between teaching an eight-year old and an eighty-year old how to code (she’s taught both), and about her experience working on the academic side of computer science. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Make 8 Bit Art IRC Montclair State University Casper the Friendly Ghost Ev Williams Sudoku Java Pig Latin iGoogle Impostor Syndrome Uber Mary Cassatt Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

There's more to coding than just your code. In this episode, we talk to developer Chris Webber about devops, and all of the infrastructure-related things that are also important in getting your app to work. We untangle some devops concepts, like feature flats and the different programming environments, and talk through what a code newbie should know about devops when working on their code projects. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Devops the Title Match What DevOps Means To Me Adam Jacob on DevOps SysAdvent Docker Chef Puppet Nginx DevOps at Etsy Hadoop Vagrant Linode LDAP MongoDB PuppetConf Load Balancer Deployment at Netflix Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

You've probably heard of this idea of testing. Or maybe you've just heard of test driven development and you're not really sure what it is or whether or not you should learn about it. In this episode, Noel Rappin, developer and author of the new book "Rails 4 Test Prescriptions" gives us a newbie-friendly explanation of the world of testing. We talk about different types of tests, we walk through an example of how you can approach something with tests first, and why test driven development can be a great tool for planning and organizing your code, especially as a code newbie. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Test Driven Development By Example Extreme Programming Explained RSpec Selenium Behavior Driven Development Spike Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

If you're looking for solid, newbie-friendly guides to tech, Lauren Orsini's got you covered. As a tech journalist for ReadWrite, she's written some CodeNewbie favorites, including a great explanation of git and GIthub. We talk about her writing process, how she tackles a new piece of technology and learns it well enough to write about it, and why she calls herself an "amateur" programmer and really needs to stop. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) How to draw an owl Learn Python the Hard Way Git Real (Code School) Cloud to Butt PyLadies Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

When it was time for lunch, the other students ate and got to know each other while Tina Lee searched for a place to nurse her baby. The only one she found in that coding workshop was the cold, dark, filthy room where the company's developers slept - at least that's what it looked like. And she sat, frustrated that in a workshop that was meant to be inclusive, she still felt very much alone. So she started Mother Coders, the tech education program designed for mothers who want to gain technical skills. We talk about the challenges of being a mom learning to code, how organizers can make their tech events more mom-friendly, and how to make coding more accessible to all mothers. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Skillcrush RailsBridge Next Space The Exploratorium Stephanie Oh Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

It was just a static webpage, telling you to get in the holiday spirit by making open source contributions. But 24 Pull Requests soon became its own open source project, with people adding features to make it fun and easy to make those contributions. We talk to creator Andrew Nestbitt about how code newbies can get started in making open source contributions, why getting involved in open source is a great idea, and how to get over the intimidation you might feel at the prospect of making your first pull request. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) TravisCI JS Bin The Pull Request Hack Bunny Binky HackerNews 24 Pull Requests Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

She calls them nitpicks, her term for the code reviews people get on exercism.io. It's a platform that developer Katrina Owen created to help people get mentorship and feedback on their code. It started as a project for her own students, but grew into something much more. Katrina talks to us about building her platform to help people become better programmers, how she went from being a secretary to studying biology to being a programmer, and how code newbies can make the most of exercism.io. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Head First Series Bike Shed Wordoid "Upside of Quitting" - Freakonomics Episode Sandi Metz Turing.io Javaranch Codeland Conf Codeland 2019

Building a web product was a lot harder in 2006 than it is now. Poornima Vijayashanker tells us what it was like to code back in those days as founding engineer at Mint, an app that later sold to Intuit for $170 million. Since then, she's been helping people better understand the product development process through her blog and company Femgineer. We talk about what code newbies should think about when building a new app, whether for fun or for profit, and how it takes more than code to make a great product. Show Links DevDiscuss (sponsor) DevNews (sponsor) Cockroach Labs (sponsor) Retool (sponsor) CodeLand 2021 (sponsor) Femgineer Mint Codeland Conf Codeland 2019