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):
- Learning a foreign language is similar to learning a foreign language in that to be successful and fluent, you must remain consistent and disciplined to hone in your muscle memory while being patient in trusting the process of rote memorization.
- People from many different backgrounds and at different points in their life end up pursuing software development.
- Rote memorization may be difficult for me at first as I have never become fluent in a foreign language but I am confident in my ability to remain consistent, trust the process and code everyday. Being honest with myself and utilizing the resources Turing offers will help break through and obstacles I might encounter.
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):
- Being concise, specific and using keywords are the fastest way to find a solution on Google. Object + Verb + Programming language will give better results than rambling off what you're trying to accomplish.
- Due to the abundance of software developers ranging in skill, from beginners to experts, using the internet to troubleshoot and get help, it's unlikely I would need to post my own question on a site like Stack Overflow.
- Copying and pasting a solution is an obviously ineffective way to learn how to solve a problem. Taking a bit more time to understand the solution is just as important as finding the solution.
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):
- Experienced software developers know how to efficiently use Google to find a solution to a problem or to learn more about a programming language and they use it often, sometimes more than beginners.
- I've been in the habit of using Google to learn more about something or to troubleshoot a problem for most of my adult life and I certainly intend to continue using it while learning backend software development. I'll do my best to implement a system of trying to solve something myself and asking peers before immediately hopping on Google.
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: Using quotes forces a search to return results based on the whole phrase and not just individual words. ("How to learn Ruby")
- Tip 3: Hypenating a word in a search returns results that don't include that word. (Cooking with oil -olive)
- Tip 4: You can use a colon to search specific sites by including site:'url' in the search. (Cute cat site:www.reddit.com)
- Tip 9: Inlcuding 'OR' in a search returns results for one or more words or phrases. (Dogs OR cats OR reptiles)
- Tip 13: More effective searches on Google use keywords and is like a language in and of itself. ("I got a splinter" could be replaced by "How to remove a splinter")
- Tip 14: Using too many words in a search can likely return results that are not helpful; concise is key. ("What do I need to make stirfy" could be replaced with "Stirfry ingredients")
- Tip 17: Since people don't all use the same words to describe something, there may be times that using a different choice of words will return the results you're looking for. ("Best way to start a campfire fast" could be replaced with "How to quickly make a campfire")
If you have any questions, comments, or confusions from any of the readings that you would an instructor to address, list them below:
Great job, @tbierwirth! I like your takeaway that copy-pasting a solution is an ineffective way to learn how to solve a problem. In my experience, it can even be an ineffective way to solve the problem in the first place! I have wasted a lot of time copy-pasting solutions from online into my code, and it is so frustrating when the program doesn't work and you don't understand what you've pasted enough to figure out why. It's much better to understand the solution before trying to implement it!