Denver Developer

Kenneth To's - gSchool Fullstack Blog

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Updates from Week 4 at gSchool: Problem Solving as a Developer (Day 3 to end of week 4)

*Photo courtesy of gSchool student Kerry at @kerryhouchin on twitter

After a long hiatus, I figured I'd give a broad update of what it's like to be at gSchool.  The biggest thing about learning how to program for me has been learning how to deal with coding bugs.  Programming is tricky.  There are a lot of errors and bugs in the code you write (or the code you use from others).  My instructors ensure me that this is something all developers encounter no matter how experienced they are.

At gSchool, our program is longer.  A reasonable question to ask (as a prospective student) is what do you do with this extra time (relative to programs a third or half the length).  I can confidently say that one of the reasons the program is longer is because we spend time learning how to troubleshoot bugs and errors ourselves.

Learning how to code at gSchool isn't just about memorizing ruby methods or general syntax.  A big part of the program is about becoming a self-sufficient software developer that can figure out things about themselves (when things go wrong).  Inevitably, many thing go wrong.

So at gSchool Denver, we spend a lot of time fixing things.  Our instructors try to give us just enough help so we can move ahead while encouraging us to figure out things ourselves (through giving us hints).  This is harder than it sounds.  The ideal amount of assistance is one acclimates a new developer to solving things themselves without telling them explicitly what to do (for everything).  These level of help needed to guide but not tell is different for every person.  

Sometimes, we have to be told exactly what to do, but part of the journey is getting us familiar with figuring out what to do when things go wrong.  So that's part of the problem why gSchool is longer than some peer programs.  It's longer because the goal of the program is to prepare us for fixing bugs when we learn other programming languages (outside of the program).  

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Day 2: Writing and Programming

Today, I'll write about some observations between writing and programming.  The central thesis is that many attributes associated with good writing also applies to good coding.

Good writing conveys clear ideas succinctly.  Extraneous words and sentences are eliminated if they are unnecessary. This is typically performed through extra rounds of editing.  

Now someone who writes a lot may not need to edit as much.  However, someone who is comparable in ability and experience will put together a better piece of writing with editing.

Something similar happens in development.  You can write code in many different ways that can get the same thing done.  However, you can improve upon it by getting rid of unnecessary lines of code or combining repeated elements (re-factoring).

As someone new, you may not come up with the most elegant lines of code initially.  But if you're willing to edit (re-factor), you can outperform people with more experience and aptitude.

I'm writing this because most people reading this blog are unlikely to experienced developers.  You're probably a non-developer looking to change careers.  The good news is you can do this.  You just have to be willing to set high standards for the quality of work you put out.  Not only can you catch up, but you can outperform.

Quick Daily Overview:

We spent a lot of time on gaining familiarity with command line usage.  This happened at the atrium of Galvanize's Denver office.  Our instructors and teaching assistants roamed around as we went through exercises.  Sometimes they were working with other people, so the students worked together in small groups to figure things out ourselves.

One of the unique things about gSchool is that we're a sub-community of a larger developer ecosystem.  Most of the people working in the atrium were experienced developers working at start-ups and established technology companies.  As students, we got a chance to network for future job opportunities while learning.  This is happening on day two which is very promising.  

After class, our lead instructor (Bobby) stayed around to teach us more stuff for an extra two hours.  It was optional, but most of my cohort took advantage of the extra instruction.

Another awesome thing about gSchool is that many Denver tech events are hosted at Galvanize.  At 6 PM, there was Ruby meetup with a 100+ people.  Around 8 PM, the Ruby meetup group wrapped up.  In addition to learning some cool things, there was more free pizza at the Ruby meetup.  Hooray!

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Day 1 - Meeting Everyone and an Introduction to Go

The day begins with me walking to class.  It's January in Denver, which means the air is frigid.  I'm greeted by a warm welcome from my new instructors and teaching assistants.  The air is filled with good vibes already.  After I drop my laptop down, I head out to the coffee shop just outside our classroom.  Even the person at the coffee shop somehow knows my name! 

The remainder of the first day is filled with ice-breaking activities with the rest of my cohort (which is known as g6).  We have our own theme song courtesy of Far East Movement's "Like a G6".

My cohort consists of a wide variety of backgrounds.  Roughly half of the class is women.  For women interested in programming, gSchool is a great place for learning because you won't feel like the only the lady in the room.  Admissions did a great job pulling together a  diverse and inclusive set of future programmers.   Pizza is served at lunch.  Hooray! 

After the ice breaker activities, we rotate in groups through some administrative activities.  A tour of the Galvanize building is given.  The building itself hosts  a mixture of start-ups and satellite offices of larger technology companies (like Pandora).   The building has high ceilings which gives the impression that you are in a giant loft.

Around 5 PM, we are given beer from the keg in our classroom.  People mingle a bit and disperse.  A classmate of mine tells me about Go meetup.  For those of you not familiar, Go is a language which is gaining popularity.  I decide to stay since the meetup for Go just happens to be in my classroom at 6 PM.

In between the end of classes and the Go Meetup, members of a previous gSchool cohort working at the companies inside Galvanize drop by the classroom to play ping pong.  I greet some of them as ping pong balls occasionally fly over to my seat.

The Go meeting is hosted by friendly people from the greater Denver developer community.  At the Go meeting, more pizza is served.  We also get a free drink token.  I receive a recommendation to use my drink token on a Moscow Mule with Bourbon instead of vodka.   The token is cashed in by bar inside the building.   The Go meeting begins and I hustle to try to keep up since I have no previous background knowledge in Go.  A fellow named Kevin tells me to join the Go slack channel.  I oblige.  Kevin ends up helping me install Go onto my MacBook as I get stuck midway through the process.  I get some further help integrating MongoDB as well.   The Go meetup has lasted for three hours and it's closing on 9 PM.

The ice in my Moscow Mule has melted and I never got a chance to drink it throughout the event.  I take a sip and walk out.  On the television, the Ohio State vs Oregon game is in effect.  I glance at the score and walk out.  My first day concludes.

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Introduction to the Denver Development Blog

This blog is about my experiences at gSchool's Fullstack development program.  It's from one person's viewpoint.  If you are a prospective student, hopefully this will give you context into the program.