Mod 0 Session 2 Readings - Samantha Freeman

mod_0_session_2_readings.md

Session 2 Readings and Responses

The readings and responses listed here should take you approximately 60 minutes.

To start this assignment, click the button in the upper right-hand corner that says Fork. This is now your copy of this document. Click the Edit button when you're ready to start adding your answers. To save your work, click the green button in the bottom right-hand corner. You can always come back and re-edit your gist.

1. Learning Fluency by Turing alum Sara Simon (30 min)

• Your key take-aways OR how you're going to implement specific points (minimum 3):
• A lot of her prior experiences applied in some way to her learning how to code. She relied on the skills that she learned from things like learning a new language and theater. Then applied them to her coding experience. Something that I will also find crucial is taking my previous experiences and applying them to coding. For example, I previously had experience working in teams in my last job, which I think will become beneficial in both Turing and after.
• Also along those lines I found her story about the "Letters to a young chef" to be extremely interesting and poignant. The idea that she could continue her learning, but instead using a book about cooking. Focusing on more the principles then the actual coding. The story actually made me think of the Gear ups at Turing. Focusing on creating overall better people instead of just better coders.
• I took from Barbara Oakley's quotes that really practice makes perfect. With practice, memorization and repetition will come a true understanding of the information. With coding I will need to be constantly re-reviewing code, so that I can reach fluency. Just like Sara Simon, I will have to practice repeatedly every day if I want to get to the level I want to be.

2. How to Google Programming Problems Effectively by Lulu Li (15 min)

• Your key take-aways OR how you're going to implement specific points (minimum 3):
• Always use the formula "Object-Verb-Programming Language". In doing so it ensures that the search isn't too wordy and I won't use unnecessary words. In addition, it is important to remember to notate the programming language to also simplify the search.
• In addition, the idea of opening multiple tabs and then going through to delete the tabs that you don't need. I already open tabs, because I like the chance to refer back to the orginal search. However, this seems like it could be a quicker way of fine tuning your searches to just the relevant content.
• "The point of googling is not to find a solution, the point of googling is for you to understand your problems." This quote is so very true, it's going to be easy to not fully grasp the solution from Google. Thus I want to make sure I'm not just googling and then moving on to the next problem. Instead I need to sit down and take the time to understand how the solution I found works.

3. Do Experienced Programmers Use Google Frequently? by Umer Mansoor (10 min)

• Your key take-aways OR how you're going to implement specific points (minimum 2):
• Googling seems to be a skill that will implement after my time in Turing. Thus it will be extremely crucial to pick up the strong googling principles during my time in school, because I will keep using them in the future.
• I was a bit nervous about trying to remember a lot of the code pieces, so it makes me feel better reading that many experienced programmers don't have everything memorized. They are constantly learning new skills during their day to day. Plus they learn to understand when googling is necessary, which I will need to practice as well.

4. 20 Google Search Tips to Use Google More Efficiently by Joseph Hindy (15 min)

• Briefly describe (in your own words) each of the tips below AND provide an example of a search that captures the sentiment of the tip
• Tip 2: By using quotes around a phrase it ensures google looks at the phrase as a whole instead of breaking it up. It is especially valuable with error messages. Example: "RangeError: invalid time value (Chrome)"
• Tip 3: A hyphen is used to exclude words. This is helpful when a word has multiple meanings. Google reads it as when searching for the word remove the other word behind the hyphen. Example: Orange -color
• Tip 4: A colon can be used to search a specific site. This could be useful if you just want to see what the site has to say about the specific search result. Example: String site:developer.mozilla.org
• Tip 9: By using "OR" you can search using multiple words or phrases. Gives google the opportunity to bring up more search result options. Example: Zelda or Legends on Zelda
• Tip 13: Make sure your words are similar to a computer's language. Use more professional sounding phrases that don't include the added fluff that we use in our day to day language. Example: Bathroom cleaning tools
• Tip 14: Along the lines of the tip above, remove any unnecessary words from phrases. Try to limit the search to only the words necessary. Example: Bookstores Centennial
• Tip 17: Try to be descriptive as possible when creating phrases, because there may be other ways of defining what you are trying to search for. Example: "Best backpacks for traveling"

5. Questions/Comments/Confusions

If you have any questions, comments, or confusions from any of the readings that you would an instructor to address, list them below:

1. I greatly enjoyed Sara Simon's article and appreciate hearing from a Turing alumni. I often feel like a hamantaschen in a sea of Queen Esthers.

Also, I'm glad that you enjoyed Sara's article! :)