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A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

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Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#191

Post by oAlbe »

j_s wrote: post #187
oAlbe wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this kind of "experiences" always make me wonder if there's something wrong with me. As it seems, I am the only person in the world that can't find a mentor willing to invest a tiny bit of his/her time for teaching. And I didn't even ever asked for "peanuts". It would be amazing to have the chance to learn from and improve my skill with an expert developer, and I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me. Doi…

One way to read your comment is as a request for help, but there's no way to contact you directly from your profile here on Hacker News (in case you weren't aware, the email field is not public). It's worth noting that some open source projects are noted for fostering a community that accomplishes what you describe... perhaps all that is lacking is the initiative to seek out such an opportunity!

> One way to read your comment is as a request for help

Well, actually, yes. I'm sorry, these are my first comments on HN.

> perhaps all that is lacking is the initiative to seek out such an opportunity!

Not really. I tried the open source way more than once both trying to collaborate on open source projects directly and through GSOC, but it failed. Turns out that GSOC seems to be exclusively for people already collaborating on the projects who partecipate in GSOC, so I got rejected (with harshness). The same happened (with even more harshness) on the copule of projects where I tried to collaborate directly (and I can guarantee I've been polite). For this reason I got discouraged, but not enough to give up. I already decided to try on a new project (NeoVim), but until now I didn't because of a lack of time.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#192

Post by gotrythis »

embwbam wrote: post #104

Last year, I tried something new. One of my friends, a Mathematician, and the smartest guy I know, was working at the library. I told him he should get into programming, and hired him as my "Apprentice". I was mentoring him directly. He was working right next to me. He was learning a lot, I was enjoying the teaching, but I could also hand him boring stuff (CSS) and he would love to do it. I paid him peanuts ($12/hr)…

I did this years ago. Hired a 16 year old kid who was about to be homeless, and trained him, and then he got a good job as a programmer a year later. Felt good and will do it again.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#193

Post by rattray »

MrJagil wrote: post #3

Excellent how this problem is continuously attempted to be solved. As a wannabe programmer, one thing I always lacked from these sites was the ability to somehow see my code live. I.e. it's fun to write html and css on codecademy or python from LPTHW or whatever but how on earth do I get it on the web or assembled into .app? In actuality, the complexity that surrounds DNS providers, server apps (or whatever you call…

I'm working on a book that targets this. Hit me up (email in profile) if you're interested in a spot of "beta testing" =)

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#194

Post by j_s »

idle_processor wrote: post #190
j_s wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One way to read your comment is as a request for help, but there's no way to contact you directly from your profile here on Hacker News (in case you weren't aware, the email field is not public). It's worth noting that some open source projects are noted for fostering a community that accomplishes what you describe... perhaps all that is lacking is the initiative to seek out such an opportunity!

Can you please point me towards said open source projects?

I think the first step is to decide what you're interested in learning and reaching out to a project closely aligned with your goals. It is possible you will be rejected, but still worth making the initial effort to find one that would hold your interest. See the following blog post (and comments) explaining the ideal mindset needed when going into this: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/OpenSourceIsAThanklessJobWeDoI...

The specific group that I had in mind was Python; they have implemented a mentorship program at http://pythonmentors.com -- I'd recommend starting there and asking for pointers to other Python projects. With resources like http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ available you should be able to hit the ground running.

Apache maintains a similar process here: https://community.apache.org/mentoringprogramme.html and Debian does too for their package maintainers: https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/developers-reference/new-...

Google and Facebook both run programs offering opportunity primarily to university students (Summer of Code and Open Academy). You can find a recent study of the Facebook approach here: http://www.sserg.org/the-role-of-mentoring-and-project-chara...

There is also some older info aggregating projects that were looking for help: http://teachingopensource.org/index.php/FOSS_Mentor_Projects

The Outreach Program for Women might not be applicable to you, but there is a lot of good info on their page too: https://wiki.gnome.org/OutreachProgramForWomen

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#195

Post by j_s »

oAlbe wrote: post #191
j_s wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One way to read your comment is as a request for help, but there's no way to contact you directly from your profile here on Hacker News (in case you weren't aware, the email field is not public). It's worth noting that some open source projects are noted for fostering a community that accomplishes what you describe... perhaps all that is lacking is the initiative to seek out such an opportunity!

> One way to read your comment is as a request for help Well, actually, yes. I'm sorry, these are my first comments on HN. > perhaps all that is lacking is the initiative to seek out such an opportunity! Not really. I tried the open source way more than once both trying to collaborate on open source projects directly and through GSOC, but it failed. Turns out that GSOC seems to be exclusively for people already colla…

Definitely don't give up!

I'd guess GSoC brings a lot of 'random internet strangers' to projects whose maintainers are highly motivated to reward known-quantity existing contributors (previously working for free) with the stipends.

Dealing with the personalities involved in open source can be the toughest part of the process; I recommend reviewing how previous contributions from others have been rejected before deciding to contribute yourself. Also, be sure to interact with the developers and community a bit (IRC, forums/issues, etc.) to get a feel for how well you fit in.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#196

Post by anonbanker »

yappy wrote: post #174
techpeace wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was actually referring to the multiple listed references at the bottom of the article you "read." There are several other ways to see someone's code than expecting them to do work that they aren't getting paid for. Being "nervous" about people that don't do work for free perpetuates inequality. Try to see past your privilege and perhaps you won't hire "THAT guy."

Sure, well I wouldn't hire you. You're one of those horrible sexist man pigs that assumes everyone they talk to on the internet is a white male like them. CHECKMATE. And goodnight.

Posting here as breadcrumbs when I need to find an example of the type of behavior that isn't acceptable on HN.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#197

Post by godDLL »

embwbam wrote: post #104

Last year, I tried something new. One of my friends, a Mathematician, and the smartest guy I know, was working at the library. I told him he should get into programming, and hired him as my "Apprentice". I was mentoring him directly. He was working right next to me. He was learning a lot, I was enjoying the teaching, but I could also hand him boring stuff (CSS) and he would love to do it. I paid him peanuts ($12/hr)…

I have many pupils like this, all over Israel -- two small business owners, and the rest hold high-paying design, tech and programming jobs.

I got to experience the joy of accepting my own student's invitation to join a startup where he has been employed as programming lead.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#198

Post by Spearchucker »

zo1 wrote: post #150
Spearchucker wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And here is my problem with both learning sites like this and search engines like Google. If I search for hosting JavaScript, appgyver.com doesn't feature in the results. In that scenario search is broken.

That's because there is a complete disconnect between "javascript hosting" and "AppGyver". Try being more specific: Search for: "hosting html5 javascript steroids.js" Because AppGyver seems to be related to some sort of JS framework called steroids.js. I'm not going to do it for you, but presumably there is a logical search chain that gets you from "javascript" or "javascript framework" to "Steroids.js". Yes, I searc…

I do the same. Axiomatically, Exercism.io's target audience will not have the experience or knowledge to do that.

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#199

Post by freebsdgirl »

aianus wrote: post #95
techpeace wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basing hiring decisions on open source contribution rates contributes to the homogeneity (read: white maleness) of the industry at large. Women especially may not have as much time to contribute, since they are likely getting paid 30% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be single parents than men. Ashe Dryden has a great breakdown of the issue, as well as some suggested alternative hiring techniq…

> Women especially may not have as much time to contribute, since they are likely getting paid 30% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be single parents than men. I don't know if that's it. The undergrad population in the CS department when I was in college was 11% women (already pretty dismal) but when it came to code-heavy advanced courses like writing an operating system it dropped to 0%. I wo…

Holy shit.

Unwilling to put in the extra work. REALLY??

Hi have we met

Re: A Site That Teaches You to Code Well Enough to Get a Job

#200

Post by awendt »

aianus wrote: post #95
techpeace wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basing hiring decisions on open source contribution rates contributes to the homogeneity (read: white maleness) of the industry at large. Women especially may not have as much time to contribute, since they are likely getting paid 30% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be single parents than men. Ashe Dryden has a great breakdown of the issue, as well as some suggested alternative hiring techniq…

> Women especially may not have as much time to contribute, since they are likely getting paid 30% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be single parents than men. I don't know if that's it. The undergrad population in the CS department when I was in college was 11% women (already pretty dismal) but when it came to code-heavy advanced courses like writing an operating system it dropped to 0%. I wo…

> None of these women had children or had to worry about pay discrepancies.

Every woman has to worry about pay discrepancies. In every industry, at every job level. That's what this whole "gender pay gap" is all about, you know?

And it's everybody's job to fix this!

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