Beginner's Guide to Agile Development

Beginner's Guide to Agile Development

When you start your first dev job, you'll almost certainly enter into an environment that uses at least *some* agile development practices. You'll be asked to join meetings where you estimate tickets and plan sprints. You'll hear words like "stakeholder" and "retro" thrown around. Unless you came to software engineering from a programming-adjacent background like product management, this will probably all be pretty new to you. That's why we've developed this beginner's guide to Agile Development practices. Armed with this guide, you'll build the context you need to hit the ground running at your first dev job.

How To Ask for Debugging Help as a Junior Dev

How To Ask for Debugging Help as a Junior Dev

Talking words into someone else's face is hard. Especially when those words are meant to describe a frustrating bug. Developers at any level, but especially juniors, often struggle to communicate clearly about their code to team members, making it hard to solve problems together. Strengthen your debugging communication skills with this handy guide!

Your First Dev Job: What to Expect

Your First Dev Job: What to Expect

Leigh Scherrer is a software engineer at Condé Nast: “Starting your first developer job is extremely exciting! But as with anything new, there will be things that will surprise you, and an adjustment period as you get familiar with your team, your company, and the products(s) you'll be working on.

Here are some things I wish I'd known to expect at my first (and second) engineering job, and some tips to get the most out of it.”

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Refactoring for Beginners

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Refactoring for Beginners

As a beginner programmer, you've probably heard the term "refactoring". Maybe it came up at a meetup or during an interview and you didn't take the opportunity to ask what it *really* means. Keep reading to learn what refactoring is and how to practice it as a beginner.

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Rubber Duck Debugging

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Rubber Duck Debugging

Have you ever asked a question of a friend, co-worker or teacher only to stop yourself halfway through an realize--"I got it!"

Well, there's actually a name for that in programming: Rubber Ducking. Rubber Duck debugging is a useful tactic to adopt when you’re stuck on a tricky code problem. Read more to find out how to use it!

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How To Ask A Question on StackOverflow

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How To Ask A Question on StackOverflow

So many beginners hesitate to ask questions. It can be hard to know where to start and how to formulate a good question. Its easy to think that your questions isn’t "smart" enough to solicit a response. Let's knock down those doubts and learn how to write an excellent Stack Overflow question!

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You Asked: How Can Students Help Each Other Learn?

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You Asked: How Can Students Help Each Other Learn?

Helping your fellow students learn is absolutely worth your time. It will help you gain a deeper understanding of the topic, build a strong relationship with other learners and gain the vital "peer pairing" skills that will help you excel as an engineer. So, when one of our subscribers asked for some techniques for helping other students learn, we asked Antoin Campbell a former bootcamp student, teacher and an engineer at Street Easy, to share his ideas.

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Learning to Code? Find Your People

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Learning to Code? Find Your People

Learning to code is hard. There's no way around it. But you're not alone. Successful learners and successful programmers have one thing in common: community. Find and learn from other beginners and developers of all levels to kickstart your career as a programmer.

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How (and Why) To Build a Side Project

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How (and Why) To Build a Side Project

If you're looking for your first dev job, you don't have a lot (or any!) work experience. You need some side projects to show off what you can do and help you level-up your skills. Building an app from the ground up is a lot of work. It can be hard to figure out where to start. Read on to learn how to build out your very own impressive side project.

Pair Programming For Beginners

Pair Programming For Beginners

Pair programming is a popular technique in which two developers work together to ensure clean, high-quality code. Maybe you've heard of it but never put it into practice, maybe you've tried it out but you're not sure if you're doing it right, or what you're supposed to get out of it. Read on to learn what exactly pairing is, what you win when you pair and how to practice it the right way.