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Coding Resources to Stay Up to Date with the Software Engineering Industry- Codesmith Instructor Picks
The tech industry is an exciting and ever-evolving space. As technology changes, the tech industry changes and reacts with it.
As an aspiring or current software engineer, staying up to date with the industry and engineering best practices is critical. So, we asked our Software Engineering Immersive instructors what resources they use to stay current with the tech world.
Check out their suggestions below!
Documentation
Software engineers are constantly being asked to learn new softwares and problem solve in unfamiliar environments. That’s where documentation comes in. In the software engineering world, documentation refers to written user manuals, code comments, notes, and more associated with a piece of software, a developer tool, or a technology. Documentation helps developers new to a product learn how to implement and use it.
New York Onsite Immersive (NYOI) Engineering Instructor Larissa Ciancarelli says documentation is her go-to tool to stay up to date on software and technology.
“I know that it can be kind of dry and dense at times, but honestly, I don't think that there's a better source than the docs,” Larissa says. “I think that it's basically the most pure form of education.”
Podcasts
For those who want to keep up with software engineering trends on the go, our instructors recommended two podcasts – Syntax and JavaUnscripted.
- Syntax is a tech podcast focused on web development topics, emerging trends, and more. Some of the latest episodes discussed TypeScript Fundamentals, “Serverless” Databases, and web development predictions for 2023.
- JavaUnscripted is a podcast about learning to code, becoming a software engineer, and the challenges faced along the way. Founded by Codesmith alums, JavaUnscripted covers topics like imposter syndrome, mentorship, and self-image as they relate to the coding journey.
Web-Based
The web is a haven of information on coding best practices, JavaScript experimentation, software engineering trends, and more. To stay up to date on new and emerging trends/softwares, our instructors recommend Medium, Reddit, and Daily.dev.
Daily.dev provides a personalized feed of developer news as a web-based app or as a chrome extension. New York Onsite Lead Engineering Instructor Mike Masatsugu notes that Daily.dev, “passively adds to the news that I see. Every time I open a new tab, which is pretty often, it'll show that day's articles. It really helps me keep up to date with things.”
In addition to staying up to date with emerging trends, our instructors recommended several sites to practice building with code.
Books
As rapidly as technology changes, books are here to stay, and remain excellent resources.
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Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming by Marijn Haverbeke
Central Time Remote Immersive Lead Engineering Instructor Katrina Villanueva says that, “Eloquent JavaScript is a pretty classic resource that can walk you through the fundamentals.”
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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
NYOI Engineering Instructor Larissa Ciancarelli notes that Algorithms to Live By, “talks about all of these classic algorithms that we see in programming and computer science, and it breaks them down into where we might see them in everyday life or where they originated from. It's just fascinating to be in a break from that hard technical communication that you see.”
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Grokking Algorithms: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People by Aditya Bhargava
Part-Time Remote Immersive Engineering Instructor Sam Arnold mentions that, “Grokking Algorithms is so helpful when thinking about algorithms independent of code. There are fantastic animations for all the algorithms. It is my favorite resource that I keep going to and [I keep it] right on my desk.”
Newsletters
To get a daily dose of programming and tech industry news in your inbox, our instructors recommend the TLDR newsletter.
Part-Time Remote Immersive Lead Engineering Instructor Matt Severyn subscribes to TLDR because, “it aggregates a lot of sources, up and coming technologies, and news from the tech world. It'll even give you links to new GitHub repos, articles about what's happening at big companies, and all kinds of trends in the industry. It's pretty phenomenal.”
Resources For Your Coding Journey
Which instructor-recommended resources have you tried? Which ones will you check out in your coding journey?
For more free Codesmith-related resources, visit www.codesmith.io/javascript-learning-resources.