How to: Sep 8, 2023
1. The first time I used ChatGPT, I was impressed. But I didn't yet realize how useful it would become in my day-to-day work as a developer. Only after I learned some Prompt Engineering techniques did I get good at communicating with the AI. Now I'm much more effective at getting Large Language Models to do tasks for me. That's why I'm excited to share this new freeCodeCamp course on Prompt Engineering. Ania Kubów will teach you techniques like Few-Shot Prompting, Vectors, Embeddings, and how to reduce AI hallucinations. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-prompt-engineering-full-course/

2. If you're brand new to HTML and CSS, this is the book for you. You'll learn about HTML, the skeleton of a webpage. You'll learn about CSS, the skin of a webpage. You'll even learn a little about JavaScript, the muscles of a webpage. Sprinkle in some DevTools and HTTP requests. Now you've got a proper web dev primer. Enjoy the book, and bookmark it for future reference as well. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/html-css-handbook-for-beginners/

3. Code your own cloud storage app using contemporary web development tools. This course will teach you how to use TypeScript – a version of JavaScript where all your variables are statically typed. This reduces bugs. You'll also use Next.js, a powerful front end framework. Then you'll layer on Tailwind CSS, a popular library for styling your user interface components. Finally, you'll learn how to use Firebase 9 to store your data. (3 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/full-stack-web-development-by-building-a-google-drive-clone-nextjs-firebase/

4. New developers often ask me how they can get some practical experience writing software. My answer: contribute to open source projects. There are thousands of software engineers out there who will review your work and give you feedback. Some of your code may even make it into production, where many people will benefit from it. Each open source contribution you make to a project like freeCodeCamp is a feather in your cap. And this book will show you how to get started with open source. (full-length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-contribute-to-open-source-handbook/

5. How do you filter the signal from the noise? Why, through Signal Processing. This is the set of techniques that engineers have used for decades to make clearer television signals, phone calls, and even medical diagnostic images. This tutorial will bring you up to speed on Signal Processing and Fast Fourier Transforms, which underpin many file compression algorithms. You'll also learn about Causality, Linearity, and Time-invariance. (20 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/signal-processing-and-systems-in-programming/

Also be sure to tell your Spanish-speaking friends that freeCodeCamp has a ton of courses in Spanish, including this new web dev course for beginners where you code your own Pokémon pokédex: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/html-css-and-javascript-project-in-spanish-create-a-pokedex/

Quote of the Week: *"Being good at prompt engineering in 2023 is like being good at Googling in 2003."* — Matt Turck, Venture Capitalist