Hello and welcome to the Ask Me Anything video that I just am promptly decided to do after we hit 1000
students, which was just last weekend.
We already have over 2000 students.
So I want to start off by saying absolutely.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for being part of this course.
It is beyond what I expected.
I thought I'll get a couple of hundred and call it a success.
But I've really, really loved interacting with a lot of you.
We have students from over 100 countries and everybody's so excited to learn with so many different
backgrounds.
And I just love the community that has come out of it.
Like I said, it was beyond my expectation and I love that everybody is so excited about learning to
code.
So thank you so much.
You know, I've created a couple of videos for you to watch, but I think the community that's forming
around it, that's supporting each other and hopefully in a few months helping each other to become
the web developers that they want to be.
I think that's the most amazing part.
So again, thank you so much.
I'm just going to answer a few questions that some of you have asked to celebrate getting to 1000 students.
The first one that I see over here is from Ashley, and she asked, What was your biggest hurdle after
learning starting a new career field?
I think the biggest hurdle that I encountered was definitely the imposter syndrome.
You may have heard of it.
It's the idea that you feel like an imposter.
You feel like everybody else knows this stuff except you.
You sit in a room and people start talking and you realize that you have no clue what's going on.
You're afraid to ask questions.
And I think that's the biggest hurdle, realizing that when you read something or watch videos online,
people have practiced this and made sure that there's no mistakes in their writing and their videos.
And I did this as well.
And what this means is that what we project onto our videos or onto our blog posts isn't exactly us
being perfect.
It's us iterating and making sure that we check our mistakes and fix them.
So nobody out there knows every single answer about web development or coding.
We all are beginners and we are problem solvers.
We're really, really good at solving problems, not just dictionaries that know everything.
So really realize that you're not an imposter.
You're not less than everybody else.
Everybody has these difficulties.
And I think the biggest thing you can do as a developer is ask a lot of questions.
Anytime you don't know something, ask questions, don't feel like you don't.
You're the only one that doesn't know.
Most likely, other people in the room don't know, except they are afraid to ask a question and raise
their hand.
So I think that's the biggest hurdle.
You get over that and you get comfortable asking questions to your coworkers and when you don't understand
something.
I did that a lot when I first started coding and I was able to get answers and progress a lot faster
than most people that didn't ask questions.
All right.
So next question was from Mike.
Other than JavaScript, what is the most important language to learn?
I have to say probably other than JavaScript, Python is a really good language to learn, mostly because
it's used a lot in machine learning and it's a very, very fast growing field.
And I'm going to write a little bit of a blog post on it so people can get familiar with it.
But Python is definitely interesting.
The other one I would say is solidity, which is the coding language that is used in building distributed
applications for Ethereum.
If you haven't heard about blockchain and all the hype with cryptocurrency, I think solidity is a really
interesting one.
In 2018, we're going to see a lot of distributed applications being created, and there's a huge demand
for developers who know that language.
So I think those two are pretty, pretty exciting.
I'll be writing a blog post about it so you can get more information.
But yeah, you should look into those as well as JavaScript, but focus on JavaScript first.
All right.
Next question was by Wasim and he asked, if you are to hire a reactive helper from students who completed
this course, what would be what are you.
I can't read today.
What would you be looking for and what questions would you ask?
All right.
So I think I would ask, number one, what's the benefit of React?
Did they just learn a couple of syntax and no React or do they actually know what problems react solves?
And I go over that in the course, so hopefully you understand it as well.
And then I'll also ask about what are its shortcomings?
When is it a bad time to use React?
Because I've seen a lot of people who get really, really excited about the technology and think it's
the greatest gift ever without understanding that.
Not every problem can be solved by one library.
I think React is great for some things, but not for everything.
And there are a lot of shortcomings that come with React that you should know as well.
Because if you're able to understand the pros and cons, well, I think then you truly understand the
library and you're able to make a good decision as a developer.
And it's something that I try to do in this course, which is not necessarily learn a bunch of functions
and ways to do things, but deeply understand them, know what problems they solve and when they're
good to use.
And if you deeply understand that, then I would 100% hire somebody because I know that they have deep
knowledge about something and not something superficial, which in turn means that they're able to do
more than just follow instructions.
They're able to think on their own and doesn't just follow the rules and follow what I say, but can
think for themselves and make good decisions.
All right.
Next one by Josh.
Which programming blogs do you read most frequently?
I definitely like Medium.
Medium is great for technical blog posts.
If you haven't been there before, just medium.com and just follow anything.
Actually, I would say just follow the top ten articles daily and see browse through them and see which
ones are related to technology.
I think they're really, really good.
It's actually how I started this course.
I wrote a medium blog post that became very popular and I thought, Hey, maybe I should create a course.
The other one is Software Engineering Daily, and that's a podcast that is really, really good.
And it's not just about web development, it's just about software engineering in general, and it can
get very technical at times.
It really gives you a good grasp of what's out there and the technology as it evolves.
And then finally, for JavaScript, there is a JavaScript weekly newsletter.
You can Google that and sign up for it, and every week it'll give you updates on JavaScript.
A few more questions we have.
What did you do prior to your career change?
So I've actually had an interesting career.
I guess.
I used to train tour directors around the world, so I'd fly to Costa Rica, for example, and train
people.
I also had a small business that I actually run yoga and surf retreats, so I've always worked with
people and every once in a while I'll need a website mate.
And I would give a bunch of money to a developer and never know what was happening behind the scenes.
The finished product would never come as I wanted it, and it was kind of this black hole that I was
storing money into, so I wanted to learn it for myself, and that's kind of how I got into the field.
And next thing you know, I really, really enjoyed it and decided to make the career move based on
the fact that a, it's a great industry to be in and that I found it interesting.
The next question was how did you get your first job as a DEP?
So actually got my job as a developer five months after well after starting with HTML, I didn't know
what HTML, CSS, JavaScript any of that stuff was.
Don't really know how the internet worked.
Five months later I got a job and not even as a junior developer, but as an intermediate developer.
And that's nothing to show off.
But just to show you how fast you can progress through this career if you really work for it and understand
the fundamentals.
So the first job that I got actually applied by messaging a bunch of companies that I was interested
in and finding their email, their CEO's email and letting them know that I was interesting in a role
and that I was solving a specific problem that they had.
So I would research a company and say, Hey, I noticed that your website or your app could have this
and this fixed.
This is how I would do it.
Or I would message a CEO and be like, Hey, these are my past, past achievements.
I've recently turned into a developer, and I guarantee you I will work twice as hard as anybody else
on the team and just kind of make a grand promise, I guess, in order to really catch your attention.
So I'm not the question was and how did the interview go?
I actually had multiple offers when I first got my developer role, and I think I was able to get those
offers, not because I was the best developer in the world, and by no means am I that now.
But I think in the interview what I was able to do was to convince them that I will work harder than
everybody else.
And I made sure to do that by showcasing that.
A I come from a different background.
I'm not a computer programmer that graduated with a with a degree, and I turned that actually into
an advantage by telling them all the other things that I've done beforehand.
And then finally showing them that I was a self-taught programmer, just like yourselves, and showing
that I had the ambition and determination so that by the end of the interview, I was able to convince
them that although I may not be the most skilled developer out there, I would be the hardest working.
And I would make sure that I would learn these things so that I'd become a really, really valuable
employee in six months.
And I think if you're able to do that, you'll be surprised how many more offers you'll get because
there are a lot of developers out there.
But it's really, really hard to find developers who a can have can follow instructions be can work
hard and C aren't so confident in their abilities that they have a narrow vision and don't take others
inputs.
So if you're able to convince somebody that you're going to help them out, you're going to work really,
really hard and that you're going to be an asset to them that will make their life easier.
I think that is a great, great way to land a job.
All right.
Next question from WAN.
Is three books that have inspired you in some way and I've chosen non coding related books just because
I think the coding related books, all the popular ones, everybody knows or you can Google them around.
But the three books that have really inspired me, one is The Four Hour Workweek, that by Tim Ferriss
that some of you may have heard of.
It's a very popular book.
I don't like the actual content tips and tricks, but I really like the way that Tim thinks and he thinks
in efficiency.
And I'm obsessed with using our limited time to the most efficient degree possible.
So that means what is the best way for me to learn a topic and not waste my time?
What is the best way for me to learn something and get rewards as soon as possible?
And I'm sure you can notice in this course.
That's what I did.
I wanted to find the most efficient way possible to start earning money as fast as we can and start
working in teams as soon as we can.
Because, well, we have limited time and we're able to learn a lot more when we're surrounded by others,
when we're working and development teams.
So that book, not just in developing, has really influenced my life to make sure that I think critically
about what I do to grow in career personally, financially, emotionally, just everything, to try
and look at everything and analyze things.
The second book was the So Good They Can't Ignore You, and this book is by Cal Newport, and it's a
book that I read and it changed my thinking completely once again.
And it taught the idea that passion isn't really a thing.
When we're young, we we think that we're passionate about traveling, we're passionate about surfing,
and we try and follow this passion.
But this book argues that passion actually develops from mastery, from becoming really, really good
at a skill where people start paying you money for it, where you become respected in your field and
people have admiration for you.
And when you become really, really good and master at your craft, well, that's when you become content
with your life.
That's when you feel like you're providing value to people.
And that book has really, really shaped the last couple of years for me.
It's why I've I've really got into coding and I've really started to enjoy it more and more.
It's because I've become better and better at it, so I highly recommend that book.
Finally, the third book is Smart Cuts by Shane Snow, and this is a book that I recommend to everybody
taking the course, especially those that don't come from a computer science background.
It talks about how you can actually climb the ladder of success, not by just following the traditional
path by, but by jumping from side to side from.
If, for example, you're you were an actor and now you want to become a developer.
Well, this book argues that that's actually better because you're able to use whatever you learn into
that field and jump on this other ladder of developing and use those skills that no other person has,
such as communicating well with people and being empathetic and mimicking body language from each other.
That's something that, you know, not a lot of developers know.
So using those side skills to your advantage, you can definitely check out the book.
It's really, really good.
Highly recommended.
All right.
Next question.
Your opinion on the blockchain technology.
Very, very cool stuff.
I'm actually really interested in it and I'm writing a blog post on it.
I think everybody should learn the blockchain data structure.
You can actually do it in JavaScript and build a simple one quite easily in a day.
And I think it's very, very exciting.
I think there's a lot of hype around it.
I wouldn't recommend investing in it, but teach your own.
I think the technology is actually very interesting and there will be big changes in 2018 and the field
will grow really, really fast.
All right.
This is getting long.
So last two questions we have.
What is the meaning of life?
I'm probably the worst person to ask that, too.
I have no idea.
But I can't tell you one thing that I live my life by.
And I heard it somewhere I wish I could credit.
The person that I heard it from provides more value than you capture.
And I think that's really interesting.
And this is what I did try to do with the course.
I tried to provide a lot of value as much as I could, and there are times that are really, really
sucked making this course because it took a lot of hours, a lot of editing and a lot of times where
I didn't like the video, so I had to redo it over, but I wanted to provide something really valuable
and just capture a little bit of the benefit.
And I like this way of thinking.
I like this idea of providing as much value and not necessarily capturing it and getting upset if you
know your course gets copied and torrent it and people download it for free.
If you're able to help a bunch of people, that's great.
If you're able to capture a bit of the benefit, that's great as well.
But I think that's a really nice way of looking at things.
And if we all strive to do that as web developers to to capture a little bit of the value that we provide
to the world, I think the world would be a better, better place.
All right, cool.
Last question.
How many messages do you get every day from your students?
I mean, this number has definitely increased.
I'm very, very excited about it.
I can't believe that we have over 2000 students now and I definitely spend a lot of time.
I wish I kept track of things.
But, you know, I wake up in the morning, I spend about an hour answering messages.
Then in the afternoon I spend another hour or two answering messages and questions.
And again at night I do that as well.
And if I don't do that three times a day, I won't be able to keep up with it.
I'll have to figure out a better system to it, because I do want to answer each student and I want
to I want people to feel comfortable asking me as many questions as they can.
But I do also want to continue providing new videos and evolving the course to be better and better
based on feedback.
So we'll see.
It's been it's been so much fun right now and so exciting that as some of you know, I've quit my job
to focus on this course full time.
So all the feedback, all the community and everybody that's that's helping me out on Slack, answering
questions and trying to form open source projects.
It's been really, really fun and this is probably the most fun, I thought, working in my life.
And for that I really, really thank you.
I think you're all amazing.
And I think what I provide to you is perhaps 20% of the value.
I think the community and the support that we're creating with this course is the big benefit.
And I hope it keeps growing and I hope it becomes something bigger than I ever envisioned.
And I hope all of you, by the end of this, get what you want out of it, whether to improve your skills
to get a job or just to get a little bit smarter.
So I'll see you in the next video.
Thanks for watching my face talk for I don't know how long this video is, but it felt really, really
long.
I really, really appreciate all of you.
Thanks so much.
Bye bye.