I Interrupt this Series of Blog Posts... - The Learning Curve of Programming

…To wish you all Happy Holidays! With Christmas just around the corner, it can get overwhelming trying to balance everything holiday-related with programming on a regular basis. It can get easy to slack off, especially since a lot of companies are winding down this time of year. However - and as difficult as this is - it’s important to keep on coding and learning when you can, so that everything stays fresh in your head. With that in mind, here are 10 ways that you can keep on programming while still enjoying the holidays!

(For those of you who were expecting Part 3 of my React/Redux project blog post series, my apologies. After this, I will return to my regularly scheduled blogging. Anyway, let’s begin!)

1. Make an app that creates holiday greeting cards.

You could create a fullstack app called Greeting Card Generator, for example. Have it auto-generate messages on your cards for your friends and relatives. Then, convert it into a .pdf or .docx format and make it printable.

Got friends who celebrate Christmas? Put an image of a Christmas Tree or the Nativity on the front, and wish them a Merry Christmas. Hanukkah? Make a card with the StaR of David or a menorah, and wish them a Hanukkah Sameach.

Whatever you choose to do, have fun with it!

If you made a recipe app, for example, add a special Holiday category. Users could then post their favorite holiday dinners and/or desserts. Or if you made a pet-related app, let users post pictures of their pets in Christmas outfits.

Did you create a game? Give users the option of choosing a holidaY theme (colors, backgrounds, playing pieces, etc).

There’s no limit to what you can do here. Go wild!

3. Reach out to those who need help.

There might be someone who could use your help with code, finding Resources, the job search, or even personal problems. See if you can find someone and help them! It’ll make both of you happy, and you’ll make a new connection. Plus, if you wind up helping them with code, you’ll find yourself solidifying your code knowledge and/or learning something new. It’s a win-win situation!

You could even create a study group to help other people. Maybe there’s a code concept that everyone’s struggling with, or there are people who just want to hang out and practice algorithms. Set up a group on Zoom or another screensharing app, and have at it! For added fun, wear a Santa hat and/or ugly Christmas sweatshirt.

4. Connect with new people online.

If you’re not comfortable asking about available jobs at their company - especially at this time of year, with everything winding down and people focusing on the holidays - ask them about their favorite project. Or ask them what they like to do for fun this time of year.

You could even respond to one of their LinkedIn posts or blog posts. Compliment them, and ask them more about it. Bring your own perspective into it; maybe there’s a related post that might interest them or something they could add to their post. However you decide to respond, add value to your conversations.

Another option is to go to a Meetup and chat with people afterwards. You never know who you’ll meet.

Whatever you do, get to know your connections and wish them a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Season’s Greetings, etc!

5. Compose a Christmas carol that helps you remember code concepts.

Here’s an example for you (with apologies to Noël RegnEy and Gloria Shayne):

Said the console to the programmer:

Do you see what I see? (Do you see what I see?)

Hidden in your code, programmer.

Do you see what I see? (Do you see what I see?)

A bug, a bug, in your binary tree.

You will need to search carefully.

You will need to search carefully!

I had some fun with this one, can you tell? Try it out yourself. You’ll be amazed at what you can come up with!

Do you want to learn more about how hoisting works in JavaScript? There are plenty of blog posts out there for that! Here’s mine, for example. Want to learn some new CSS tricks? There’s an entire website for that!

MAybe you just want an introduction to a language like Python or C#, so that you can get your feet wet? All I had to do just now was Google “introduction to python blog post”, and I found this blog post: Top 10 Blogs to Get You Started on Python. As for C#, check out this handy Medium post.

Honestly, there are so many blog posts out there that it can get overwhelming! It’s probably best to limit your search to just one language or concept. Having trouble with a bug in your code, for example? There’s most likely a blog post for that.

Another benefit: You’ll get to see how other programmers in the field talk about code. And the more of it you read, the more you’ll be able to “talk the talk” at Interviews and on the job.

7. Listen to a few programming podcasts and/or watch some coding videos.

This is related to Idea #6 above. One major benefit with videos, is that besides just seeing how progRammers write and talk about their code, you’ll be able to hear how they do that. If you find study group videos, that’s even better! You’ll be able to hear people get answers to some coding questions that you might have yourself. Or, you’ll hear some good questions that you never thought of before.

Project build videos are especially fun to watch. Not only are you seeing programming in action, but you may even get ideas for one of your own projects!

Podcasts are great to listen to as well. Often, you’ll be able to hear how professional programmers talk about coding and/or computer science concepts. You’ll learn a lot from listening to those.

Whatever you choose - tutorials, podcasts, study groups, etc. - I can almost guarantee that it’ll be a great learning experience. The nice thing is that it also gives your brain a break from reading code-related articles and documentation; since you’re learning in a different way, my guess is that your brain will be able to focus more.

Here are a couple of links to get you started:

8. Find out what technologies your favorite companies use, and learn how to use them.

Make a list and Google some companies that interest you. You’d be surprised at how many are hiring software engineers, web developers, etc. (in a good way). Does your favorite company use Python and Java? Learn those languages. Do you want to work at Amazon? Get AWS certified. Do a lot of companies require people who know how to create appS with Node.js and the Express framework? Maybe it’s time to learn how to build a project with them!

You could also go at this from another angle: Instead of looking at what languages and frameworks companies use, learn what technologies are used in the career field you’re interested in. Do you want to go into game development? Try learning C++ and the frameworks that use it. Web development? Learn JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and maybe a frontend library like React or a fullstack framework like Ruby on Rails. Or, just learn a language and/or framework that looks fun to you!

9. Show off your coding skills to friends and family members.

I’ve done this a couple of times. I always enjoy the looks of wonder on their faces when I show them how easily I can change something on a website, just by manipulating the DOM a little.

You could also do this in the form of a demo video and/or a walkthrough of your code. Then, send it wherever and to whomever you want.

WHat’s great about this is that it gives you a sense of confidence about your coding skills. And if you’re presenting something to a friend or family member who’s never coded before, then you’ll be able to practice talking about technical concepts to a non-technical audience. Plus, you’ll solidify your understanding of important programming concepts, and you may even get someone interested in programming!

10. Write a blog post about a coding concept that interests you.

This not only keeps code fresh in your head, but it also helps you practice talking about your code to other people. You will need to be able to document your code at some point, so this is very good practice. Plus, you might be able to help someone!

If you added a new feature to your app, write about it! If you solved a difficult bug, write about it! If you learned something new, write about it! And if you’re writing a blog post during the holidays, make it holiday-themed for the fun of it. The possibilities are endless.

You could even do what I’ve done: Write your own list of ideaS for keeping code fresh in your mind during The holidays. Then see how many of them you can do this week!

Conclusion

As busy as this holiday season is, I strongly recoMmend putting some time into practicing your code whenever you can. You can try any or all of my suggestions, or come up with ideas of your own. And why not make it holiday-related, while you’re at it?

Just remember: Whatever you do, have fun and try not to stress yourself out. The holiday season is a time of love and peace, after all. Enjoy it!

Just for fun: Throughout this blog post, I Bolded, Italicized, And Capitalized fourteen random letters (not including the ones in this sentence, obviously). Can you find them all and unscramble them to reveal my secret message? Good luck!

As always, stay safe out there, friends. Peace be with you all this holiday season.