qfarenwald/mod_0_session_2_readings.md

## mod_0_session_2_readings.md

      
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    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):
Study every day. "Study hard, study diligently, and every day you will see progress". Going over material every day and with focused intention is the best way to build fluency and chunk information. I will accomplish this by using the Anki note card system and creating daily habits, like our checklists in Conveyor Belt for now. I am sure I will discover and take on new techniques as well.
"...building well-ingrained chunks of expertise through practice and repetition was absolutely vital to their success." I had never thought about learning information could/would/is stored in the brain. Chunking is recently new concept for me. To prep for Turing, I read 'A Mind For Numbers'. This book too talks about the importance of chunking. Chunks are "pieces of information bound together through meaning". The more we can condense similar information into chunks, the more space we will have for creating new chunks. To form a chunk in the best way, you need to focus, understand the basic concept, and gain context as to how and when you will use this information. This is very similar advice as to how Turing as recommended we learn already.
Learning to code is not a foreign as I thought. Learning to do any kind of skill has similarities, like learning to cook or learning a language or even a sport like tennis. In fields where there is always more to learn, it's important to build key basic skills, chunk them, then move onto another more advanced skills. I've learned to cook, speak french, and play tennis throughout my life and have seen how I have progressed in those skills. This gives me confidence that I understand the basics of learning and can apply them to coding in a familiar way.
"Innovation isn’t just trying something new. It’s when you know something, when you understand something so purely, so innately, so in depth. When you’ve reached its fluency, and you’ve become ready to manipulate it." This quote reminds me to not put pressure to try to jump in and innovate right away. The tech industry is filled with 'innovation' and upon entering this industry, I do feel pressure to do something new and great that will change people's lives right away. When I was in school for art, we learned that the revolutionary Picasso paintings that break all natural form standards only came about after he mastered basic art fundamentals. Now at Turing is my time to master the fundamentals. Innovation will come when I am ready.

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):
Unfortunately this article can not be found online.

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):
"Google is an essential part of their software development toolkit and they know when and how to use it." As this article tells us, as did Turing, this is a tool and you must know how to use and interpret it properly. Make sure to look at sample code and written explanations to be sure you understand what you have found in Google. Copy and pasting is most likely not the correct way to implement. But understanding your core problem and the what solution you have found online, you will be able to take elements of that solution and implement them properly into your custom code.
“Never memorize something that you can look up.” - Albert Einstein. This quote ties in to chunking. It's quite obvious, but the more information in your brain, the less room you have for new information. When learning, information starts in short term memory. Short term memory can only hold so much information at a time, its been debated, but an average of only 4 to 6 chunks can be held in short term at one time. Creating really solid chunks to be stored in your long term memory takes time, so you have to be strategic and intentional in your learning and what information you need to chunk. You can waste time and space chunking basic information you could simply look up.

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: When entering a phrase, Google will search for content featuring each of those words in any order. If you put the phrase in quotations, Google will search for that phrase in its entirety and in the same order, returning content that more directly related to the search phrase. For example if you are searching for the band 'red hot chilli peppers' it would be better to search '"red hot chilli peppers"' to receive searches on the bands exact name instead of perhaps some results just dealing with the food chilli peppers that could be hot and red.
Tip 3: Some words have multiple meanings. If you know you want to search the specific meaning of a work, you can search that word followed by a space then type '-meaning of the word you do not wish to appear in the search'. For example 'Yeti' can be a mythical monster, a cooler, or a bike. To get the best search results for the Yeti monster, try searching 'Yeti -bike -cooler'.
Tip 4: To limit your search to a specific site, type in your search item followed by a space then 'site:fill in the website'. For example if you want to search for women's pant sizing, but only from the Patagonia brand, you would search 'Women's Pant Sizing site:patagonia.com'
Tip 9: To search for two words or phrases at the same time, use the word OR between them. Again, Tip 2 is in effect here, so use quotations for an exact phrase search. For example, to get a full picture of how best learn to ride your bike, you could search 'How to learn to ride a bike OR Best tips for learning to ride a bike'. Here I did not use quotations around each phrase because I am ok if my search is a little more broad.
Tip 13: Use language that is 'best practice' of the topic you are searching and will be most common to appear on the websites you wish to receive search results from. For example instead of typing 'What color orange does the University of Texas use?' try 'What are the University of Texas Pantone colors?'. Pantone is a standard color term used in most brand guides.
Tip 14: Try to limit your phrase to only key words to help Google focus on only what is important and avoid clutter. For example, let's use my search from above. Instead of searching 'What are the University of Texas Pantone colors?' try 'University of Texas Pantones'.
Tip 17: Since there are so many different words you would use to describe what you are searching for, don't be afraid to try those different descriptors if your search is not providing you the answers you are hoping for. For example, one search could be 'My laptop is too hot' or you could try 'My Mac laptop is overheating'. By changing how you describe your computer or the issue can cause different search results.

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:

I am having a hard time coming up with a good example for Tip 2... all my searches seem to provide my phrase in the order in which the words are typed.
I am also not exactly sure how in Tip 3 how to handle more than one other meaning you want to exclude. I took my best guess in my example and did some Google searching, but was unable to find an exact answer. How I used the hyphens in my example seemed to work.