How to: Dec 7, 2024
1. freeCodeCamp just published a course that will teach you the fundamentals of React, the most popular front end development JavaScript library. This course will teach you key concepts as you code along at home, building several projects including a meme generator and an AI-powered chef's recipe app. This course teaches emerging best practices, and the newest version of React, React 19. (16 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-react-2024

2. freeCodeCamp also just published a full-length book on how to design your own Microservices and deploy them to the cloud. Microservice Architecture is a software development approach where you build stand-alone apps that only do one specific thing. Then these Microservices call upon one another to get more complicated things done. This differs from the traditional Monolith approach, where everything's part of the same codebase. This intermediate book will teach you about Synchronous versus Async Communication, RESTful APIs, Protocol Buffers, Container Orchestration, CI/CD Pipelines, and more. It also features case studies from companies that have adopted Microservices, such as Amazon and Netflix. (full-length book): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-microservices-book-build-and-manage-services-in-the-cloud/

3. One of my favorite podcast interviews I've done was with John Washam, a software engineer at Amazon. John's also the creator of one of the most popular open source projects of all time: Coding Interview University. This is John's first-ever appearance on a podcast, so we go really in-depth. We talk about his years working as an interpreter in the US military. Then we dive into how he taught himself software engineering, and what he's learned from climbing the ranks at a big tech company. If you're learning to code later in life, this should be particularly helpful for you. (3 hour watch or listen in your favorite podcast app): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-john-washam-crammed-for-8-months-got-a-job-at-amazon-then-taught-1000s-of-other-devs-134/

4. Don't be content merely using spreadsheets – excel with them. Pun intended. Last week I shared my podcast interview with Eamonn Cottrell, who runs a coffee shop chain and learned to code so he could automate back office tasks. Well, Eamonn's back with a new course that will teach you how to fully leverage the power of Google Sheets. You'll learn about data validation, slicers, visualizations, and even building custom functions using App Scripts. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-google-sheets-course-for-beginners/

5. Tell your Spanish-speaking friends: freeCodeCamp just published a comprehensive course on how to build robots using Arduino microcontrollers. It covers electrical engineering concepts like resistance, pin declarations, and analog input/output. You'll learn how to add your own sensors, control motors, LED displays, and more. Note that we have English-language Arduino courses, too. (4 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-arduino-in-spanish-course-for-beginners/

Quote of the Week: *"The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware industry."* — Henry Petroski, Engineer, Author, and Duke University professor, lamenting the sloppy coding practices he'd seen in industry