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Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

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Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#81

Post by frequentnapper »

nefitty wrote: post #47
songzme wrote: post #2

Last year, I mentored a few students who are learning coding to become a software engineer from non-traditional backgrounds. Rather than encouraging them to leetcode and practice for interviews, I taught them software engineering practices and mentored them to build c0d3.com together as a team. c0d3.com will be a free learning site where other students like them can learn coding and then help improve the site. As a s…

You said, “ Rather than encouraging them to leetcode and practice for interviews, I taught them software engineering practices...”. How do you square that with the reality that many software jobs have leetcode as a gate to an offer? I find myself stuck at this juncture. I am comfortable with software practices, but the reality of these sorts of interviews has me basically trying to figure out how to “hack” the coding…

Same here. I am right now starting to job hunt after a few years, but it's quite daunting. Just opened cracking the coding interview and the book itself recommends starting a year before to practice the problems, build a portfolio, etc.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#82

Post by 1MoreThing »

noncoml wrote: post #15
zero_shift wrote: post #6

Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. This isn't a criticism, neither of the "help others code" movement, nor more insular industries. It's just a very unusual aspect of our field and I wonder where it comes from. For instance, can you imagine reading any of these? Show LN (Litigator News): Learn employment regulations to become…

> Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. I would drop the "software" and just keep the engineering. I also think it's important that it's virtually free to practice software engineering. All you need is a computer and your spare time.

A computer, bandwidth, and spare time are all large expenses to large chunks of the population.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#84

Post by noncoml »

1MoreThing wrote: post #82
noncoml wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. I would drop the "software" and just keep the engineering. I also think it's important that it's virtually free to practice software engineering. All you need is a computer and your spare time.

A computer, bandwidth, and spare time are all large expenses to large chunks of the population.

Try learning Electronics and you will see what I mean.

First you need a shit load of equipment: Soldering station, Scope, Multimeter, Power-supply, Function generator, and so on...

Then building something and testing it costs money. PCB manufacturing is pretty expensive.

Finally debugging and crashes are not free like the software. If you made a wrong connection, then the PCB goes to trash. If you screwed up the Voltage, probably your components will blow up and go to trash too.

And all that are on top of the computer and bandwidth.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#85

Post by z3t4 »

shameless plug: If you want an editor/IDE for JS without installation and with Linux shell, try https://webide.se/ you get access to a dedicated server where you can run Docker, Android emulator, etc. Useful when you are on a Chromebook that don't have Linux support, or want to code on a mobile phone or tablet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#86

Post by zero_shift »

sushshshsh wrote: post #48
zero_shift wrote: post #6

Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. This isn't a criticism, neither of the "help others code" movement, nor more insular industries. It's just a very unusual aspect of our field and I wonder where it comes from. For instance, can you imagine reading any of these? Show LN (Litigator News): Learn employment regulations to become…

What this really highlights is that humans are currently interested in creating barriers to entry to their profession to selfishly protect their salary and employment security at the cost of slowing down societal progress.

Are you saying that engineers, doctors, lawyers etc. have an obligation to teach others for free? And to shoulder any and all costs associated? Are you also suggesting that junior programmers are entitled to the unpaid labour of mentors?

And what about teachers generally? Isn't teaching an important skill that deserves remuneration? Doesn't offering free tuition drive down the value of teachers? Should these people be improverished for (one) sense of "societal progress"? I'm not sure I can agree.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#87

Post by snowwrestler »

zero_shift wrote: post #6

Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. This isn't a criticism, neither of the "help others code" movement, nor more insular industries. It's just a very unusual aspect of our field and I wonder where it comes from. For instance, can you imagine reading any of these? Show LN (Litigator News): Learn employment regulations to become…

I think it's great that so many software engineers and developers share their energy and expertise.

I think your perception of what other professions do might be limited by your own experience, though. Just to go in order:

Legal: My aunt is a lawyer and volunteered her time in a legal "clinic" where people with landlord/tenant issues could come in and get advice for free. She also worked some of her professional time on cases where the clients did not have to pay, a practice that is common in the legal industry, called "pro bono."

Engineering: There are a wide variety of student and volunteer activities that are well-supported by professional engineers on a volunteer basis. For example one of my coworkers volunteers his time evenings and weekends to help "coach" a high school robotics team. And you may have heard of various other engineering challenges like popsicle stick bridges or egg drop competitions.

Medical: Several friends have transitioned into working in the medical field through free opportunities, primarily by volunteering with local rescue squads and first responder teams. These teams are typically supported/led by some folks with professional medical training, but anyone can show up, volunteer their time, and get medical training.

Ultimately, to work in these fields professionally, folks need to get a credential of some kind, and that might cost money. That's not true of a lot of software development right now.

But I think that is primarily because computing is such a young industry right now. All industries start out that way. There were times in history when you did not need a credential to work with the law, or to design machines, or to treat illness.

But as these professions had a larger and larger impact on society, society imposed higher and higher expectations on practitioners... expectations which required more formal structures to satisfy.

I predict the same thing will happen to computing technology, at least at the high end. It's already true in some areas like life-critical embedded systems. You're not going to get a job writing code controlling the ISS after doing some free online tutorials.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#88

Post by _alex_ »

627467 wrote: post #75

I take titles such as "engineer" are not equally regulated everywhere in the world? Can you really become a chartered engineer by going through this course?

In the US at least, there is no formal definition or certification of “Software Engineer”. If you get hired to write software (or in some cases, work near software), you get to put “Software Engineer” on your CV. That’s actually part of what makes interviewing and hiring people so hard.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#89

Post by snowwrestler »

mcguire wrote: post #24
zero_shift wrote: post #6

Software engineering must be one of the few professions where individuals freely share their energy and expertise with others. This isn't a criticism, neither of the "help others code" movement, nor more insular industries. It's just a very unusual aspect of our field and I wonder where it comes from. For instance, can you imagine reading any of these? Show LN (Litigator News): Learn employment regulations to become…

" struct3r5.com: a free online curriculum for budding structural engineers " Now I'm scared.

The thing is, if you want to build a shed, or a mountain cabin, or a boat, or even a hobby airplane, (which are all structures) there are a ton of free or low-cost resources and tutorials out there, many by working professionals.

There are also a lot of free in-person clubs and meetups for these things in many communities.

Re: Show HN: C0D3 – A free, interactive site to learn coding

#90

Post by zero_shift »

thomspoon wrote: post #36

Software engineering is more than just software development. Writing requirements, drafting documentation, testing, verification, maintenance. I hate to be hypercritical, but five weeks of javascript doesn’t make you a software engineer.

I'm struggling to add this all up.

On the one hand, I have some evidence that my job is hard: I have spent ten years learning to be proficient at it, still know only a narrow slice of it, and find it challenging every day. I have a solid degree from a world-renowned university, so I know I am not stupid. I also interview candidates, and know that many applicants simply cannot do the job.

But on the other hand, there is such a sheer volume of resources like this, which imply very clearly that becoming a programmer is a trivial thing. So many in fact that I am starting to doubt the evidence of my eyes and ears.

So which is it? Is there a weird drive to constantly undersell our skills, a knowing wink to the managers who have always secretly suspected us of being nothing more than glorified typists? Or are the bootcamps right, and I've spent a decade learning replaceable trivia? And why is making statement #2 seen as positive and inclusive?

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