Building something new
Amal & Nick are joined by Saron Yitbarek (developer, podcaster, community leader & serial entrepreneur) to catch up and discuss her latest project: Not A Designer
We discuss all the ins & outs of tech entrepreneurship & the challenges of building something new in today’s saturated market. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at how she does it & get a sneak peek on what’s possibly next! (Spoiler Alert: we brain stormed it here)
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Featuring:
Saron Yitbarek – Website, GitHub, X
Amal Hussein – GitHub, X
Nick Nisi – Website, GitHub, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Changelog Merch (re-stocked)
Not A Designer
Code Newbie
Code Newbie Podcast
Base CS Podcast (via Code Newbie)
Command Line Heroes Podcast (via RedHat)
CodeLand Conf
Forem (now parent company of Dev.to)
Beehiiv - the newsletter platform built for growth
Substack - a new economic growth for culture
ConvertKit - the creator marketing platform
Y Combinator
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen (aka Amal’s “favorite song”)
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Code Newbie's approach to education and community
Saron explains how she went from working in the marketing department of a startup to learning code, creating a supportive community for novice developers, and founding two podcasts about the art and science of learning to program.
You can read more about the Dev acquisition and what the dynamic duo have planned here.
Sara and Paul spend some time bantering with Saron on that classic developer debate: why learn computer science? Besides the ego boost and the desire to avoid imposter syndrome, how much of a four-year-degree is actually useful when you're a new graduate trying to land your first job?
Later on, we dig into the debate over toxic positivity. During these challenging times, it can be addictive to watch others flaunt their hustle and hard work on social media. But there is a downside to tuning out the failures and negative emotions we all live with. You can read more about it here.
Ever wondered about the difference between a subview and a superview? Find out more with this week's lifeboat badge.
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Creating JavaScript
We partnered with Red Hat to promote Season 3 of Command Line Heroes — an original podcast from Red Hat, hosted by Saron Yitbarek of CodeNewbie, about the people who transform technology from the command line up. It’s an awesome show and we’re huge fans of Saron and the team behind the podcast, so we wanted to share it with you.
Learn more and subscribe at redhat.com/commandlineheroes.
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Featuring:
Clive Thompson – Website, X
Charles Severance – Website, GitHub, X
Michael Clayton – Website, X
Klint Finley – Website, X
Saron Yitbarek – Website, GitHub, X
Show Notes:
Check the show notes and transcript for more details.
A mission to set the course of the world wide web in its early days. 10 days to get it done. The result? An indispensable language that changed everything.
JavaScript was the underdog that won against all odds. Clive Thompson recounts the browser wars and how much the fallout influenced the future of the internet. Charles Severance explains how JavaScript went from a last-minute moonshot to the default web development language. Michael Clayton confesses he, like many others, underestimated JavaScript. And Klint Finley describes a gloomy internet without it.
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Python's Tale (Interview)
We partnered with Red Hat to promote Season 3 of Command Line Heroes — an original podcast from Red Hat, hosted by Saron Yitbarek, about the people who transform technology from the command line up. It’s an awesome show and we’re huge fans of Saron and the team behind the podcast, so we wanted to share it with you.
Learn more and subscribe at redhat.com/commandlineheroes.
Join the discussion
Changelog++ members support our work, get closer to the metal, and make the ads disappear. Join today!
Featuring:
Emily Morehouse – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, X
Michael Kennedy – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, X
Diane Mueller – Website, GitHub, X
Saron Yitbarek – Website, GitHub, X
Show Notes:
Check the show notes and transcript for more details.
A benevolent dictator for life steps down and changes the course of the Python language forever. Guido van Rossum’s “Transfer of Power” memo brings attention to the way programming languages evolve.
In this episode, Emily Morehouse makes the connection between Python’s technical extensibility and its inclusive community. Michael Kennedy explains how Python is both easy to learn and powerful enough to build YouTube and Instagram. And Diane Mueller highlights how the Python community took the lead on so many inclusive practices that are spreading in tech—including the rise of community-led decision-making.
Sometimes, a benevolent dictator can get a language started. But Python shows it’s communities that make languages thrive.
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
How to learn to code with Saron Yitbarek
Abadesi is back to host this episode with Saron Yitbarek, founder and CEO of CodeNewbie and the Codeland conference. Saron is a former journalist who started working in the tech industry and then pivoted to a technical role after learning to code from scratch.
Aba and Saron talk about...
What inspired her to get into tech, and the story of going from journalist to software engineer
“Cold emailing will get you far in life.”
Saron describes how reading the Walter Isaacson book about Steve Jobs showed her that tech can be about design and storytelling and that tech had a human side that fit with her liberal arts background. She explains how she got her first job at a tech company without any tech experience by cold emailing several founders in NYC.
“Transitioning into a new career is hard. It’s a lot harder than we’ve been telling people that it is.”
Her journey learning to code, including what she learned from the failed attempts
“I said to myself I’m going to do this full-time, I’m going to give myself a month to see if I like it and I’m not allowed to quit until the month is over. This time I said to myself, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to suck but let’s give it a month and we’ll see if it sucks less at the end of the month. And it did — it sucked less, so I continued and went about my coding journey.”
Saron talks about some of the resources she used and why having the right resources made a big difference in her eventual success. She also talks about starting the CodeNewbie community and why having a supportive community around you when learning to code is important.
How to get the most out of coding bootcamps and how to find a great job
“Your network is absolutely everything. When you’re hearing the success stories, what I’d like to know is how did that person actually get that job? Did they know a friend at the company? Do they live in San Francisco? Are they already working at a tech company in a non-technical role?”
Saron points out that it's important to manage your expectations coming out of a coding bootcamp.
“I think there is this expectation oftentimes that if I go through the bootcamp and graduate, I’m going to automatically get a job without having to go through the job search. If you go into it with that mindset, you’re going to be frustrated if it’s been a couple months and you still don’t have a job.”
How the landscape for learning to code has changed
She explains how bootcamps have evolved over time:
“I think that there is a deeper understanding of what it really takes to learn how to code and what it takes to be job-ready. Some of the programs are a little bit longer and more in-depth. They’re not trying to cover all things but instead the fundamental things. There’s a maturity in the space where we have a better understanding of what companies are actually looking for.”
She also talks about some of the communities and resources that have popped up since she was learning how to code.
Her unique formula for staying organized and productive
“Any time someone gives me a task I pull up my calendar and I will give myself a block of time to do a task. I end up with a timesheet for myself with everything I’ve been doing in a day. At the end of the month, I can tally it up in a spreadsheet and see exactly how I’m using my time.”
She also talks about some of the apps her and her team uses to stay on top of their time and their work.
We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Big thanks to Monday.com and Embroker for their support. 😸
Companies and Products Mentioned In This Episode
Codecademy — Learn to code for free.
Dev.to — Where programmers share ideas and help each other grow.
Equitable — Split the bill fairly.
Flatiron School — Learn coding, data science and UX/UI design.
Google Calendar — Spend less time managing your day.
Google Drive — Free cloud storage for personal use.
Grasshopper — The coding app for beginners by Google.
Lambda School — A full computer science education — free until you get a job.
New York Times Crossword — A smart way to fill the breaks in your day.
Slack — Be less busy. Real-time messaging, archiving and search.
Treehouse — Learn to code, gain a new skill, get a new job.
Trello — Organize anything, together.
#057 – Wearing All the Hats as a Founder with Saron Yitbarek of CodeNewbie
Saron Yitbarek (@saronyitbarek) runs three podcasts, gives dozens of talks every year, runs a blog, a weekly Twitter chat, a conference, an online resource for teaching people to code, among other things. In this episode, Saron explains how she parlays her advantages in one arena to move into another, discusses her tips for being inhumanly productive, and discusses the psychological breakthrough that taught her when to say no to adding more work to her plate.
Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/057-saron-yitbarek-of-codenewbie
Podcast #114 - Every Conference Needs a Break-Dancing Greeter
Join us for a chat with CodeNewbie Founder (and all-around amazing person) Saron Yitbarek, stay for Kevin's failures and many many banana references.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
CROSSOVER — CodeNewbie and Community (Interview)
Saron Yitbarek, creator of CodeNewbie and the CodeNewbie podcast, joined the show to talk about helping more people discover software development, embarrassing moments, lessons learned along the way, and more.
Join the discussion
Changelog++ members support our work, get closer to the metal, and make the ads disappear. Join today!
Sponsors:
Codeship – If it works with Docker, it works with Codeship Jet.
Toptal – Join Toptal and work with awesome people from anywhere in the world. Freelance with companies like Airbnb, Artsy & IDEO.
Harvest – Simple online time tracking software.
imgix – Real-time Image Processing. Resize, crop, and process images on the fly, simply by changing their URLs.
Featuring:
Saron Yitbarek – Website, GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
CodeNewbie
CodeNewbie Patreon
About Saron
Flatiron School
Ruby Rogues
Contently
Hero - Katrina Owen (@kytrinyx) on Twitter
The Changelog #108: Exercism.io with Katrina Owen
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!