Mod 0 Session 2 Readings

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):

• I actually identify a lot with this piece. First, I never thought I'd end up in anything STEM related. I was mostly fine with science and math (except chemistry) but I have always been a language/writing/social science person. Like the author, though, I have learned different languages and the one I succeeded at and have attained some semblance of fluency in is French. And that fluency and understanding came from doing things in a disciplined and somewhat piecemeal way. It started with French 1 and basic vocab and grammar rules, and then the commitment to only speak in and receive instruction in French, and then learning more to read and write in French, to the point where even without years of practice I can still speak and read in French (mostly) and if you dropped me in a French-speaking country with no resources, I would be okay. Long story short, it was important for me to recognize that understanding of programming and the language isn't going to come overnight or even necessarily easily. It comes from putting in the time, taking it one step at a time, and recognizing the parts to a whole. No one just wakes up and knows code, it comes from practice and commitment.

• A line that struck me was that "building software is half strategy and half improvisation." For me, it's a good reminder that there is leeway to be creative here, but that the creativity can't come without understanding first. It all seems daunting at the beginning, but understanding breeds the ability to improvise and be creative and maybe add something to the industry.

• Finally, chunking stood out to me. As I've started this process of Mod 0 and just learning code in general, I find myself sometimes getting bogged down and overwhelmed. This is all new to me and sometimes feels like it's just so.much.information. However, "chunking" to me comes down to breaking down a lot of information into smaller, memorable pieces that interconnect in order to foster understanding, perhaps without even meaning to. I need to remember that every large chunk of information is comprised of smaller parts, and that truly knowing and understanding those parts not only helps what I might be working on right now, but will also be invaluable to future knowledge and projects. However, investing the time, energy, and skill in developing knowledge and understanding of these chunks will be a process.

2. How to Use Google to Solve Your Programming Questions by Coding in Flow (15 min)

• Your key take-aways OR how you're going to implement specific points (minimum 3):
• One of the things that didn't occur to me until reading this was to use the image search to help with results for a visual component to an answer. It's one thing to read about how a code should work, it's another to see a visual representation, so I plan to utilize that when I can.
• I aldo didn't know that it was possible to limit the time span for search results. I definitely plan to use that feature extensively, especially since it was discussed in our most recent session that with how quickly code changes, it's important to look at recent answers versus something from years ago (unless it's a basic, generally constant facet of the language)
• I also plan to implement the author's tactics for getting a general overview of a new concept before doing a deep dive via the sort of baseline technical pages, as well as quality blog posts, potentially YouTube videos, and tutorials. I like the idea of getting information in multiple formats to really try and make sense of it.

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):
• 1. To be a good programmer, you need to Google. A lot. The impression I get is that to think you don't need to is hubris, for starters. If you're not Googling, you're likely doing something wrong and not challenging yourself.
• 2. Google is a valuable tool to increase your own understanding. Reading and reviewing other people's code when you run into issues forces you to think about your own code and someone else's, thus evaluating both your logic and choices and someone else's. In a way, it's quite introspective.
• 3. Don't waste brain space thinking you need to memorize every single tiny detail of every language you learn. The overarching logic is more important.

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 quotation marks to make your search specific to what you are actually looking for. Putting the phrase in quotation marks leads to only showing results that contain the phrase in exactly the manner in which it was entered. Searching teacup pigs might result in teacup pigs and pig designs on teacups, versus searching "teacup pigs."
• Tip 3: using a hypen to act as a sort of minus sign when the word you're searching may have multiple meanings. Searching snake-drain would result in results only involving actual snakes, versus drain snakes.
• Tip 4: using a colon to produce results only on a specific site. For example caremelized onion dip site: pinchofyum.com versus just searching caramelized onion dip
• Tip 9: you can search multiple words or phrases at the same time to ensure a higher chance of finding what you need. An example might be "for loop javascript" and "iteration javascript"
• Tip 13: use search terms that would reasonably be found on a website versus how you actually talk. For example "smelly fridge" versus "neutralize odor in refrigerator"
• Tip 14: only use words vital to your search. "Where can I buy masacara in my neighborhood" versus "beauty supply store nearby"
• Tip 17: there are multiple ways to describe the same thing, so if you're not finding the results you want, try to rephrase the issue/question/search. One example might be "basic dog training" (broad) versus "train dog to sit and stay"

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:

Good job, @slkarsh!