A Question of Code

• Halt and Catch Fire TV show: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/16/farewell-to-halt-and-catch-fire-the-best-show-that-nobody-watched
• Startup Podcast: https://www.gimletmedia.com/startup
• D3.js: https://d3js.org/

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amazing, and a lot of the same concepts have come up time and time again. In this miniseries we're looking back at those top tips, and linking the themes together.

This week our theme is "documenting what you've learnt". Who benefits when you write about your career progress? Strangers, peers, yourself? (Spoiler: all of the above). What are the less-than-obvious benefits of leaving a paper-trail of your explorations in the world of code? Find out all this and more in this week's rehashed instalment of A Question of Code.

It's fan-boy o'clock again this week, as one of Tom's web-heroes joins us for a chat. CSS Trickster and ShopTalkin' podcaster Chris Coyier stopped by for a chat about working as a developer. Chris is full of all sorts of useful advice for aspiring developers. For example, you need some experience before you can know what you want from a job. Learn how to be picky after your first job, but get into the industry as quickly as you can. That way you'll learn so much more that you would if you were working by yourself. Get whatever experience you can, as early as you can.

We cover a lot of ground in this show. Why does having a personal site gives you a massive advantage? (Having your own website puts you ahead of a surprising number of people; it should be table-stakes, but it's not!) And what does job hunting (and running a job board) look like in the time of CoViD? What will working remotely mean for junior devs in the near future? Find out all this and more in this week's CodePen-tastic instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Chris on Twitter @chriscoyier
• ShopTalk podcast
• CSS Tricks
• CodePen
• Chris' excellent personal site

This week we're joined by Shawn Wang, Senior Developer Advocate at AWS and author of the excellent Coding Career Handbook. Shawn is a career-switcher; he transitioned into tech in his early thirties after a career in finance. He has written a lot about how aspiring devs can better accelerate their careers, and his views are nuanced and full of wisdom that's very relevant to all aQoC listeners (no matter what stage you're at in your career).

What does a "developer advocate" actually do, and how do they split their time between internal coding work and external communication work? What does it mean to learn in public, and how should you apply this concept to your personal brand? And talking of personal brands, how can you best market yourself and choose you domain? And what does that even mean for non-celebrity developers? Find out all this and more in this week's rousing instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Coding Career Handbook
• svelte.dev
• How to Market Yourself (without Being a Celebrity)
• Discrimination charges at Pinterest reveal a hidden Silicon Valley hiring problem

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amazing, and a lot of the same concepts have come up time and time again. In this miniseries we're looking back at those top tips, and linking the themes together.

This week our theme is "enjoyment". How do you work out what parts of the job you enjoy most? And how should that knowledge steer your next steps? Find out all this and more in this week's rehashed instalment of A Question of Code.