CodeNewbie

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 89 - Mobile Developer (Kaya Thomas) May 23, 2016

Show notes

Kaya Thomas has done a lot in a short period of time. She’s met first lady Michelle Obama, she’s a mobile app developer, and she was selected as Glamour’s Top Ten College Women of the Year. She talks about how she’s managed to be so successful while still a college student, the role of luck and hard work, and her process for learning new coding skills so quickly.

Kaya Thomas

Kaya Thomas is a junior at Dartmouth College where she is majoring in Computer Science. In August 2014, she launched her own iOS application called We Read Too. We Read Too is a book resource application that showcases a directory of hundreds children's and young adult books written by authors of color. We Read Too has now grown to over 600 books and over 5,000 user downloads.

Ep. 88 - CodeNewbie Apprentice (Sharon Siegel) May 16, 2016

Show notes

In December, CodeNewbie put out applications for the CodeNewbie Apprenticeship, and in 10 days received 322 applications from all over the world. Many interviews later, Sharon Siegel was chosen to be the first apprentice. She talks about her coding journey, her passion and active involvement in building coding communities, and her goal of moving into a full-time developer role.

Sharon Siegel

Sharon is CodeNewbie's first apprentice developer. She is very passionate about tech and education and is involved with Girl Develop It, RailsBridge, and The Firehose Project. She also works for Skillcrush where she teaches newbies how to code. When she's not in front of a computer, you can find her reading a good book, playing board games with friends, or at the gym.

Ep. 87 - Vets Who Code (Jerome Hardaway) May 09, 2016

Show notes

Plenty of organizations work to help vets. But what vet Jerome Hardaway noticed about these organizations is that they were mostly reactive. While they responded to problems, few worked to prevent them. So Jerome decided to create a non-profit to teach vets how to code, making it easier for them to start a tech career and better adjust to life back at home. We talk about the program, the stigma of being a vet, and Jerome’s own journey to being a developer.

Jerome Hardaway

Jerome is a developer and founder of Vets Who Code, a non-profit training vets to learn to code.

Ep. 86 - Intro to Databases (Mark Nadal) May 02, 2016

Show notes

Mark Nadal was a front end developer looking for a better database. So he built his own. He walks us through the different types of databases, the limitations you might run into as you use them, and why he decided to build his own graph database.

Mark Nadal

Mark is a mathematician turned programmer. He runs a VC backed Open Source company and has traveled to over 25 countries. The diverse cultures he has experienced fuels his passion for learning, sharing, and creating open technology freely for all.

Ep. 85 - Technical Writing (Chris Mills) Apr 25, 2016

Show notes

Chris loves writing tutorials for beginners, and he gets to do it for Mozilla. We talk about the different parts of good technical writing, how he manages to maintain that beginner mindset, and how he combines technical knowledge and solid, good writing to make code more accessible.

Chris Mills

Chris Mills is a tech writer on the MDN project, where he writes docs and demos about Web APIs, web apps, web games, browser extensions, and basic web design skills. He plays drums in a prog metal band and loves going on walks in the countryside with his wonderful wife and fabulous kids. He is based just outside Manchester, UK.

Ep. 84 - From Research To Code (Anna Lee) Apr 18, 2016

Show notes

Anna Lee spent years as a researcher. Going from a world of pharmaceutical science to being a front end web developer was definitely a leap, one she successfully made after quitting her job and doing an online course. Now she works at Society of Grownups. Anna talks to us about her coding journey, what that first day was like, and how her experience as a researcher has impacted her as a developer.

Show Links

Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor)
Society of Grownups
Kristy Tillman episode
Thinkful
Railsbridge
Codeland Conf
Codeland 2019

Anna Lee

Anna Lee is a researcher turned developer. After taking a front-end web development course and teaching herself the basics, Anna is now a member of the Society of Grownups dev team and spends her days building financial tools in Ember.js. When she's not coding, Anna enjoys nature photography and spending time at the beach.

Ep. 83 - How To Get A Coding Job (Charles Max Wood) Apr 11, 2016

Show notes

As a podcaster of several very popular tech shows, Chuck gets questions from listeners all the time. One of the most popular questions he gets is one that you might also be asking, “How do you get a coding job?” In this episode, we dive into the journey of not just coding but landing a coding job, the pitfalls along the way, and how a code newbie can increase their chances of getting an offer.

Charles Max Wood

Chuck is a developer and podcaster. He's host of popular tech podcasts including Javascript Jabber, Ruby Rogues, Adventures in Angular, and iPhreaks Show.

Ep. 82 - What Is Code? (Paul Ford) Apr 04, 2016

Show notes

Paul Ford didn’t expect his article on coding to go big. But almost a year later, the Bloomberg issue dedicated to “What is code?” is still completely sold out. We dig into the major topics covered in that long and highly entertaining piece, like conferences, open source, and languages, and how Paul and the editors created a technical article that still managed to be accessible to coder and non-coders alike.

Show Links

Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor)
What is code? article
Code (book)
Codeland Conf
Codeland 2019

Paul Ford

Paul Ford is the co-founder of Postlight, an agency that builds big beautiful technology things in NYC. He is also a writer and programmer. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, kids, cats, books, and Raspberry Pis.

Ep. 81 - Social Justice Warrior (Coraline Ada Ehmke) Mar 28, 2016

Show notes

Coraline wears the Social Justice Warrior title proudly. She fights the battles, working tirelessly to create safer spaces for more people in tech. But noble as her cause may be, it is not without controversy. We talk to Coraline about what it means to be a social justice warrior, how she’s dealt with the trolling and harassment that comes with it, and how she stays above it and continues to fight.

Show Links

Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor)
Codeland Conf
Codeland 2019

Coraline Ada Ehmke

Coraline Ada Ehmke is a speaker, writer, teacher, open source advocate and technologist with 20 years of experience in developing apps for the web. As a founding member of OS4W.org and contributor-covenant.org, she works diligently to promote diversity and inclusivity in the tech industry. Her current interests include refactoring, code analytics and artificial intelligence.

Ep. 80 - Designing Makerspaces (Kristen Smith) Mar 21, 2016

Show notes

Kristen Smith has spent a lot of time creating just the right spaces for making. In her years working on spaces with Kohl’s, FabCafe, and now littleBits, she’s crafted experiences to get people excited about hardware, and using their creativity in new and innovative ways. We talk about what makes a good makerspace, what the behind-the-scenes of one looks like, and how she leveraged her liberal arts degrees to make the tech world more accessible.

Kristen Smith

Kristen Smith is with 4+ years of experience in the international maker community through her work for the Kohl's Design It! Lab, FabCafe Global Network, and littleBits. She is passionate about building networks and experiences help individuals make connections to foster collaboration.