A Question of Code

What's this? Another of our heroes joining us for a chat!? You betcha! This week we're joined by the immensely talented and infectiously friendly Vaidehi Joshi. You'll know Vaidehi from her work on the Base.cs blog series and podcast (a must-listen show; it's awesome).

How did Vaidehi get into the world of computer science in the first place? And is it something she thinks everyone else should do, too? Are technical interviews that lean heavily on core CS skills useful in a world where most developers don't use them in their day-to-day work? (Spoiler alert: the system needs some improvements) And where can you go to improve your CS knowledge? Find out all this and more in this week's CS-friendly instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Vaidehi on Twitter @vaidehijoshi
• Base.cs blog posts
• Base.cs Podcast
• Forem
• dev.to
• Edsger Djikstra and his famous algorithm
• Finding The Shortest Path, With A Little Help From Dijkstra
• MIT Courseware videos

If you're a developer you should absolutely know a little bit about design. You don't need to be an expert, but knowing some of the fundamentals of good layout and "usability" will be a massive force multiplier for your work. It's also a general "life hack" that will improve your career in many, many ways.

So what should you do if you're a developer who doesn't know anything about design? How does design fit into a normal project's workflow? Can you get 80% of the benefit by just learning a few simple rules? (Spoiler alert: we think you can!) And where are some good places for developers to learn more about "designing" for apps and the web? Find out all this and more in this week's well designed instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Refactoring UI book
• Steve Schoger's design tips on Twitter

Boilerplate code is code that you import into your project to give you a scaffold to build on. It helps get you to the fun stuff faster. Or does it? This week we discuss why you might (or might not) want to use boilerplate, and dig into what parts of our own stacks we think of as being "boilerplate".

Does Ed think that CSS "frameworks" are true boilerplate? And what old-school boilerplate tool rustles Tom's jimmies? What should you use at the start of every project? And where do you draw the line? Find out all this and more in this week's cookie-cutter instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Bootstrap (RIP)
• Tailwind
• create-react-app

It's another rapid-fire multi-question show this week. Ed has some more questions about CSS, and (hopefully) Tom has some answers. Join us as we dive into the intricacies of the box model, and learn why the dev tools are your friend. Remember: if in doubt, inspect the element!

How do you break up different css files? What do we mean when we talk about "Critical Path" CSS? What is the "cascade", and how does it impact "specificity"? What are css custom properties and `calc()`? Find out all this and more in this week's rapid-fire instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Sass (scss)
• Critical Path CSS
• ITCSS
• CSS custom properties
• The CSS Tricks Guide to Flexbox

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

We're joined this week by testing expert (and long-time friend of the show) Brian Okken. Brian literally wrote the book on testing with Python (Python Testing with pytest) and has a lot of strong opinions about the value of testing and testing methodologies in general. Thankfully he's as friendly as he is smart, and was happy to lead us through the sometimes-murky waters of software testing.

How did Brian first get into testing, and what advice does he have for those of us just getting started with learning to test our code effectively? What makes a good test (and what makes a bad test)? And what simple questions can you ask to immediately improve your testing game? Find out all this and more in this week's well-tested instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Brian on Twitter @brianokken
• The Test and Code podcast
• The Python Bytes podcast
• Brian's book, Python Testing with pytest
• Episode #22: Why should you write tests?

This week we're joined by Python expert (and super-star podcaster) Michael Kennedy to talk about why Python is such a great language to get started coding with.

So why is coding in Python such fun? And why is it so good for beginners and experts alike? Why might Python give you tangible results faster than JavaScript? And once you've learnt some Python, what are your career options? Find out all this and more in this week's pythonic instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Michael on Twitter @mkennedy
• Talk Python podcast
• Talk Python courses
• Beginners course
• software-carpentry.org

In a tweak to the usual format, this week's show is a frontend-focused rapid-fire question bonanza. Ed's been doing some CSS work this week, and has a lot of questions for Tom (a self-styled CSS expert, whatever that means).

What's wrong with `innerHTML`? And for that matter, why is `eval()` so evil? Should you use `px`, `pt`, `em`, or `rem` (or something else) when setting sixes in CSS? What's the deal with browser prefixes (`-moz-`, `-webkit-` etc.)? Are you a bad programmer if you use a z-index of `99999`? (Spoilers: probably). Is it *ever* appropriate to use `!important` in your CSS? Should you use IDs or classes? And to finish with a famously easy question; how do you name things? Find out all this and more in this week's rapid-fire instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Never use eval()
• Check if you need a prefix at caniuse.com
• MindBEMding – getting your head ’round BEM syntax

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

Down on your luck? Become a developer! Don't know what to do for a career? Become a developer! Want to earn the big bucks? "Simply" become a developer... We hear this advice all the time, but how much truth is there to it? Can anyone become a developer, and is it a good choice for everyone? And more importantly, is now a good time to transition to a career in programming?

We touch a lot of bases in this episode. We ask (again!) if there is a benefit to having a computer science degree, and touch on some hot drama™️ when Ed questions if HTML is a programming language. We also ruminate on the approachability of the frontend. Is it easier than ever to get started creating websites, and is the first-time experience better now for backenders, maybe? And how does the recent explosion in remote working affect junior developers looking for their first gig? Find out all this and more in this week's honest instalment of A Question of Code.