Forem: Career Karma

The Ultimate Guide to JavaScript Errors

Artur Meyster — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 17:56:15 +0000

The Ultimate Guide to JavaScript Errors

Do you fully understand what an error prompt is communicating when it appears on the screen? Most entry level developers are accustomed to the copy and paste method in attempts to find a quick solution to the error, but understanding the different types of errors thrown, and why they are thrown, makes us better developers and software engineers. We can then begin to understand on a fundamental level what needs to get fixed and what needs debugging.

According to the JavaScript MDN web docs, there are six types of JavaScript errors, seven if we count a warning. In this article, we’ll dive into all of them, include some examples, and explain the difference between a warning and an error.

Error: Permission denied to access property ‘x’

This error occurs when the code is attempting to access an object which it does not have permission to access.

InternalError: too much recursion

This error is triggered when there are too many function calls or when a recursive function is missing a base case. Some programming languages have a limit to how many function calls it can do, so if a function does have a base case, the limit has most likely been exceeded.

RangeErrors

A RangeError occurs when a value is not in the set or range of allowed values. It is usually thrown when you attempt to pass a value as an argument to a function that does not allow a range that includes the value.

Below is an example of a range error when dealing with arrays.

let a = [];
a.length = a.length - 1;
// Uncaught RangeError: Invalid array length

ReferenceErrors

In JavaScript, a reference error is thrown when the code attempts to reference a non-existent variable. According to JavaScript web docs, there are six types of reference errors, with variations of each, that may be triggered in our code. This article focuses on five most common reference error examples for developers.

Undefined variables

Forgetting to define a variable before referencing is a common mistake that triggers the reference error for new developers. This can also happen if the referenced variable is commented out.

let firstName = "John"
let age = 23

console.log(lastName)
// Uncaught ReferenceError: lastName is not defined

let firstName = "John"
let lastName = "Smith"
let age = 23

console.log(lastName)
// returns Smith

Scope

Variables defined inside a function’s scope cannot be accessed outside of it. We can think of scope as laws that govern a country, let’s say the United States. Local laws for the city of San Francisco do not apply in the city of Miami. Miami residents living in Miami must follow Miami laws.

In the function below, we are attempting to access the value outside of its lexical scope.

function nums() { 
    numA = 1
    numB = 2


    return numA + numB
  }


  console.log(numA); 

//   Uncaught ReferenceError: numA is not defined

We can fix this by defining our variables in a global scope.

numA = 1
numB = 2

function nums() { 
  return numA + numB
}

console.log(nums()); 

// returns 3

Strict Mode

Strict Mode intentionally has a different set of semantics than the regular defaulted, “sloppy mode” JavaScript code. A key thing to remember while coding in strict mode is it eliminates silent errors by changing them into throw errors. A JavaScript statement uses strict mode if “use strict”; is invoked before a statement.

function referenceErr(a){
    "use strict";
   foo = true;

   if(a == 0){
     return foo
   } else {
     return !foo
   }

  }


  console.log(referenceErr(1))

//   Uncaught ReferenceError: foo is not defined

As JavaScript developers, we know to use var, let, or const to define a variable, but the above example would have been a silent error if strict mode was not invoked.

function referenceErr(a){
    "use strict";
   let foo = true;

   if(a == 0){
     return foo
   } else {
     return !foo
   }

  }


  console.log(referenceErr(1))
//   returns false

Redeclarations

Not full understanding how to redeclare variables can also trigger reference errors.

function redeclarations() {
    let declare = 1;
    if (true) {
      let declare = (declare + 1);   
    }
  }
  console.log(redeclarations())
// Uncaught ReferenceError: Cannot access 'declare' before initialization

To fix the code above, we must either change “let” to “var” or omit “let” inside our if statement completely.

function redeclarations() {
    let declare = 1;
    if (true) {
    declare = (declare + 1); 


    }
  }
  console.log(redeclarations())

SyntaxErrors

Syntax are rules that dictate how programming languages should be written. Each language has its own set of rules with different syntax. We can think of them like grammar or punctuation marks in spoken languages. The question mark in English (?) differs from the question mark in Greek (;).

We can deduce that when we get a syntax error, we are writing our programming language incorrectly. We may either be omitting something accidentally or accidentally using syntax from a different language, which is something that often occurs as developers grow their tech stack.

Common Syntax Errors and How to Fix Them

Brackets

Missing or an overflow of brackets are a cause for common syntax errors. One short can result in a syntax error of an unexpected end of input, one too many can result in an unexpected token.

function errors(a){

    if(a > 5){
      return true
    } else {
      return false
    // missing closing curly bracket


  }


  console.log(errors(5))
// Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected end of input

function errors(a){


    if(a > 5){
      return true
    } else {
      return false
    }


  }
//   one bracket too many below
} 


  console.log(errors(5))
// Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token '}'

There are several extensions available in VS Code and other text editors that can help you keep track of matched and mismatched brackets to prevent these errors from being thrown. The error in the console will also state what line in the code the error is occurring.

Parentheses

Like brackets, sometimes it can be hard to follow a match to a closing parentheses, or where a parenthese may be needed, like in the parameters of arrow functions.

const errors = a, b => {
    if(a + b == 5){
      return "equals"
    } else if (a + b > 5 ) {
      return "greater"
    } else {
      return "less"
    }
  }


  console.log(errors(1, 2))
//   Uncaught SyntaxError: Missing initializer in const declaration

We need to enclose the parameters a and b inside a parentheses to write the syntax of the above function correctly.

Commas

Forgetting commas in objects is another common syntax error trigger.

let student = {
    name: "John",
    age: 23
    location: "Remote"
  }


  console.log(student.name)
//   Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier

We need a comma after every key value pair. The fix for the above is putting a comma after 23.

Semicolons

Forgetting semicolons where they are expected, like in for loops, are another common syntax error trigger.



### let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]


### for(let i =0; i < arr.length i++){


###   console.log(arr[i] * 2)


### }


### // Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier

Multi-lingual Syntax Confusion

It is very common for developers to use syntax from a different language in JavaScript, either intentionally or by mistake. It is important to be familiar with JavaScript’s own set of rules and be mindful of them when coding.

The below is a common syntax error thrown if Python is the developer’s primary programming language.

let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]

for(i in length of arr){
  console.log(arr[i] * 2)
}

// Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier

As JavaScript developers, we code for loops in a different way.

let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4]

for(let i in arr){
  console.log(arr[i] * 2)
}

TypeErrors

A TypeError is an object that represents an error as a result of doing an operation that cannot be performed, usually because a value in an operation is not of the expected type.

But what are types? According to the latest version of the JavaScript specifications, ECMAScript, there are nine data and structural types. Six of which – sometimes seven if we count null – are primitive data types, those being string, number, bigint, boolean, undefined, and symbol. Before we can understand why TypeErrors trigger during an operation, let’s review our nine types in JavaScript. If we are ever in a position where we are unsure of how to categorize a type, we can use the typeof operator.

undefined: A type of value that automatically gets defined to variables that have just been declared. We often get a typeerror value of undefined when we forget to define or add a value to our variable.
Boolean: Logical data type containing only values of true or false.
Number: Numeric data type.
String: Sequence of characters inside backticks, sing, or double quotes.
BigInt: Numeric data type sometimes known as bignums in other programming languages.
Symbol: Value that represents a unique identifier created by invoking the Symbol function.
Object: A structural type and almost anything the ‘new’ keyword is able to create, like an array, object, map, set, etc.
Function: Another non-data structure that is a code snippet that may be called by other pieces of code.
null: Usually an intentional value representing an object or address that does not exist.

Most Common JavaScript TypeErrors and How to Fix Them

TypeErrors can be thrown at you when attempting to change a value that cannot be changed or when using a value in an inappropriate way. It can also occur when an argument is passed to a function incompatible with the type expected by the function or the operator inside of the function.

Changing a Value That Cannot be Changed

When you use the const keyword to assign a value to something, this means it is constant, it will not change. Attempting to change the value of a constant variable will result in a TypeError.

const a = 5
a = "5"
// Uncaught TypeError: Assignment to constant variable.

We can fix this by simply changing the name of the identifier we want to identify the string of “5”.

const a = 5
const b = "5"

Using a Value in an Inappropriate Way

Developers must also make sure values are being used as intended. In the example below, “Cat” and “garfield” are backwards when trying to verify if garfield is an instance of the Cat() function.

function Cat() {}
function Dog() {}

let garfield = new Cat()

Cat instanceof garfield

// Uncaught TypeError: Right-hand side of 'instanceof' is not callable

We can fix this by correcting the order of the two.

function Cat() {}
function Dog() {}

let garfield = new Cat()

garfield instanceof Cat

An Argument That is Incompatible with the Type Expected by a Function

When coding an operation, developers have to make use of values for a desired result. The value of null can be used intentionally to signify the absence of an object, but the way in which it is used below will result in a TypeError as it is being used in as an argument incompatible with the type expected by the function.

function readingErrorsAreImportant(a){
    if(a.length === 5){
      return "equals five"
    } else if(a.length > 5) {
      return "Greater than five"
    }  else {
 return "Less than five"
    }
   }
   console.log(readingErrorsAreImportant(null))
   // Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'length' of null

We can fix this by passing in a value type it is expecting. Like a numeric value type.

function readingErrorsAreImportant(a){
    if(a.length === 5){
      return "equals five"
    } else if(a.length > 5) {
      return "Greater than five"
    }  else {
      return "Less than five"
    }
   }
   console.log(readingErrorsAreImportant(10))

URIError

A URI error is an error that occurs when a global URI handling function is used incorrectly, either the encoding or decoding argument wasn’t successful.

Warnings

Unlike errors, warnings will continue to execute your code, but are there to explain to you of potential pitfalls a piece of code may have. There are several different types of warnings that may be thrown, but the important thing to do is fix them when they occur to prevent undesired outcomes in your code later on.

HTML Tutorial Library from Career Karma

Artur Meyster — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:52:54 +0000

In this Career Karma article roundup, we cover all of the best posts from the Career Karma blog on how to create the skeleton for our front end projects with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) using industry best practices.

HTML is the equivalent to the frame of a house or the human skeletal system: it’s the foundation of a website’s creation. HTML is a markup language that describes the structure of a web page using elements that indicate its purpose.

This guide is a progressive tutorial that walks through how to get started with HTML. We feature links from some of our resources and interactive tutorials so you can get up to speed with HTML in no time.

HTML Tutorials from Career Karma

Semantic and Non-Semantic Tags

Semantic HTML allows our website to become more accessible for those with disabilities. It is important to be familiar with how to bring web accessibility to your website if it ever gets to a point where you need to create pages for a site that provides online services. Those types of sites might need to start to legally be accommodating to users under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a result of the Supreme Court handing a win to a blind man who sued a major pizza chain over online accessibility.

The following walkthroughs and tutorials talk about semantic elements in HTML:

<header>

The header of an HTML document tells us information about the primary purpose of the page or section of a page. It is first introduced in HTML5 as part of the goal to make HTML more accessible. There can be multiple headers per page, but typically we have a page header and a header for each section of the page.

<main>, <section>, <h1> - <h6>

The main, section, and heading (<h1> - <h6>) elements are semantic elements that describe the purpose of a block of markup text. <main> is separate from the <header> element we just looked at. It’s one of the three major components of the <body> of an HTML Document (the other two being the header and footer). Section elements are located in the main element and divide the main web page into pertinent parts. The heading tags indicate the importance level of a section or subsection. In this article, we focus more on these and other semantic tags.

<div>

The div element is the most versatile of all the elements available to us in HTML. It’s generic by definition, which means it is not** **a semantic HTML element. Div is used when you are not able to reach for another element that better describes the purpose of your page. Here we describe more in-depth about what divs are and how they are used in your application.

forms

When we want users to make selections on forms, the best way to incorporate it into our page is by using HTML Input elements.

Inputs come in all kinds of flavors, but in this article, we describe how to get up and running using the checkbox and radio inputs for your form. To create dropdowns for your form, use the <select> element to describe the dropdown and then <option> to add choices.

<ul>, <ol>

Using lists on our webpage helps us create bullet points – unordered lists – or numbered lists – ordered lists – to help us to be more concise in our descriptions. Sometimes getting straight to the point helps consume information faster since we don’t skim a block of text. When you need to list salient points to be concise, use a list element. Learn more about that here.

<a>

The anchor tag is an important element in HTML. It’s what makes up the “HT”** **in HTML: hypertext is the type of text that directs you to other sections of a page or to a new page. Here we’ll learn how to create a hypertext link using the anchor tag.

<img>

In this article, we learn to add visual aesthetics to our web pages by adding <img> tags. Sometimes, we might want to use images as links to other pages as well.

Formatting Tags

In addition to the basic layout of the page, HTML can assist with the formatting of text so that it can be emphasized correctly for screen readers. These tags are defined or redefined in HTML5 as part of an effort to make the web more accessible to those who need it.

Learn more about tags that provide emphasis here and tags that allow us to create sub- or superscript text here.

Attributes

Attributes describe an HTML element even further by giving the element some meaning. For example, an anchor tag has an href attribute added to describe where you go next if you click on it. An img tag will have an src attribute to point to where the image is. All elements can have a style attribute that illustrates how the element should look on the web page. Read about these attributes and more in this article.

This is just the beginning! Our library of programming tutorials constantly expands to cover more topics and functions, so be sure to check the full beginner’s guide to learning HTML on the Career Karma blog the next time you encounter a HTML problem!

A Guide to Solving Common Python Errors for Beginners

Artur Meyster — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 16:46:20 +0000

A Guide to Solving Common Python Errors for Beginners

Errors are a natural part of programming. Unlike humans, programming languages cannot gloss over tiny mistakes like typos. Languages need us to fix any problems in our code before they can continue to run our code.

As a beginner, errors can seem intimidating. To make matters worse, Python displays their errors in red. What’s scarier than a complicated red message that includes code and sometimes technical words that you may not have heard of?

We’ve decided to compile a list of top Python errors that beginners encounter. This list spans from name errors to type errors so that you’ll be prepared to handle a vast array of different problems in your code. Let’s dive into the top ten errors that Python beginners encounter!

nameerror: name is not defined

Name errors occur when you try to use a variable or a function name that has not been assigned. This problem can be caused by, among other reasons, a misspelled variable or function name, calling a function before declaration, or forgetting to define a variable or function.

typeerror: string indices must be integers

In Python, strings can be accessed using indexing. This is where you specify the index number of the item in a string that you want to access. Index numbers must be stated as numbers. You can solve this error by accessing values in a string using integer index numbers.

typeerror: can’t multiply sequence by non-int of type ‘float’

Integers can be multiplied by strings to create repeating strings. Floating-point numbers cannot be multiplied by a string. To solve this error, you should make sure any numbers are converted to floating points before attempting to multiply them together.

typeerror: ‘int’ object is not iterable

Objects like lists, dictionaries, and tuples are iterable. This means that you can loop through them using a “for” loop. You cannot iterate over a number. This error is commonly raised when you use len() to iterate through a list of numbers but forget to use a range() statement.

typeerror: list indices must be integers or slices, not str

Like strings, lists can be accessed using indexing and slicing. The index number you specify to access an item from a list must be an integer. If it is a string, this error will be raised. To solve this error, convert any index numbers to integers before using the indexing or slicing syntax.

typeerror: can only concatenate str (not “int”) to str

Strings can only be merged, or “concatenated,” with other strings. This is because the concatenation operator (+) is treated as an addition sign for numerical operations.

To solve this error, convert all values that you want to concatenate to the string data type using the str() method.

‘str’ object does not support item assignment

Strings are immutable objects. This means that they cannot be changed after they are declared. You cannot use indexing to change characters in a string like you can with a list. This error can be solved by assigning a modified string to a new variable.

indexerror: list assignment index out of range

You can only assign an item to a list if the position to which you want to assign that item exists. You can solve this error by making sure that you only assign items in a list if there is already a value in the specified position. You can also initialize a list with the right number of values before using it to resolve this issue.

syntaxerror: EOL while scanning string literal

This error is raised when you forget to close a string by the end of a line.

This error is commonly caused by mismatching quotation marks (i.e. a single opening quotation mark and a double ending quotation mark), missing quotation marks, or multi-line strings that do not use three quotation marks (“““ or ‘‘‘).

typeerror: ‘int’ object is not subscriptable

Objects that contain other objects, like lists, are subscriptable. Integers are not subscriptable because they do not contain other objects.

This means that you cannot access values in an integer using slicing or indexing. To solve this error, make sure an integer is converted to a subscriptable object like a list or a string before trying to access values using slicing or indexing.

Conclusion

There are plenty more Python errors that we have not covered. There’s a lot of ways that developers make mistakes in their code and Python has to account for all of them that affect the way the Python interpreter reads code.

Do not let error messages hold you back from coding. They’re a natural part of programming. Once you get some practice solving an error, you’ll find it gets easier to identify the cause of and solve similar errors in the future.

SQL Tutorial Library from Career Karma

Artur Meyster — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 20:39:50 +0000

SQL Tutorial Library from Career Karma

Databases are absolutely everywhere. They’re used by software engineers to store data for apps and games. They’re used by web developers to store user data. They’re used by companies to manage all the data they create.

SQL is used to store data in and retrieve data from databases. If you’re new to SQL, this article is for you! We’ve compiled a list of Career Karma tutorials on SQL to help you beef up your knowledge of the database language.

What is SQL?

SQL, which stands for Structured Query Language, is a language that allows you to access the contents of and modify the values in a database. SQL is pronounced as “S Q L” or “sequel”.

SQL allows you to view data in a database, add data to a database, amend data inside a database, and manage access to a database.

SQL was invented in the early 1970s. It may be an old technology but it’s still widely used today. In fact, SQL was declared a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1997. It’s still the number-one database query technology to this data.

SQL Tutorials

Create a Table

First, you’ll need to learn how to create a table in a database. A table organizes data inside rows and columns. To create a table, you can use the CREATE TABLE statement.

Create a Record

Database tables consist of records. Each record is an individual entry in a table. You can create a record by using the SQL INSERT INTO statement.

You can create a record that fills in all the column values in a database or you can create a record with some values omitted that you can set later on.

Select a Record

SQL makes it easy to select data from a table. You can use the SELECT statement to select which data you want to retrieve from a table. You can select all the columns from a table or a specific set of columns.

Using the WHERE Statement

The WHERE statement is used to select records on which a command should be run. It can be used with a SELECT statement to view records that meet a condition. It can also be used with statements like UPDATE and DELETE to select which records should be modified.

Viewing Information About a Database

Aggregate functions allow you to retrieve information about data inside a database. The SQL aggregate functions are COUNT, MIN, MAX, AVG, and SUM.

For instance, you can retrieve the average of values in a database column, or the highest record with the highest in a column.

Update a Record

The UPDATE statement modifies the contents of a record or multiple records. By default, the UPDATE statement amends all records in a database. That’s why it is often used with a WHERE statement. The WHERE statement lets you select specific records to change.

Delete a Record

What happens if you want to delete a record? That’s where the DELETE statement comes in handy. The DELETE statement can delete all records in a database or a record or set of records that meet a particular condition or list of conditions.

Commenting in a Database

You can write comments inside an SQL database. Developers use comments to keep track of their queries and commands and how they work. Comments can span over one single line or over multiple lines.

Limit a SELECT Query

A SELECT query could return hundreds or thousands of values in a large database (or even more). The LIMIT statement limits the number of records returned by a query. For example, you could return only the first 10 records when a query is run.

Check if a Value is Not Equal

The not equal operator (!=) checks if a value is not equal to another value. This allows you to select or modify records which have a column whose value is not equal to a particular value.

Conclusion

SQL may be an old technology and developers may debate over how to pronounce it. Nevertheless, SQL is still the most widely used database query technology in the world.

Learning SQL will put you on a good footing for a number of careers in technology. Whether you want to be a database administrator, a data scientist, or a web developer, knowing how to write queries in SQL is helpful.

JavaScript Tutorials from Career Karma

Artur Meyster — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 17:03:48 +0000

JavaScript for Beginners: The Career Karma Roundup

Without JavaScript, the web would be a different place. There wouldn't be any animated images. Forms would not be as interactive as they are today. JavaScript is embedded in almost every web page that you visit. Even this web page uses JavaScript so that buttons animate when you click on them, and to allow you to post comments.

JavaScript is a scripting language that allows you to add interactive features on web pages. Whereas HTML and CSS take care of the structure and style of a web page respectively, JavaScript helps you add dynamic content.

JavaScript has a friendly syntax which means that it's quite easy to get started, if you are willing to invest the right amount of energy. But, there's a lot to learn, and so it can be difficult to figure out where to focus your attention. We've prepared a list of tutorials on JavaScript to help you get started on your journey.

Functions and the Console

Functions allow you to divide your code into blocks which can be executed multiple times in your program. Writing functions helps reduce repetition and improves the readability of a program. The console allows you to keep track of what your program is doing.

JavaScript Functions

A JavaScript function allows you to group together a block of code into one place. You can declare a function either using the function expression or the "function" keyword. In this guide, you'll learn more about how to declare and work with functions using both these methods.

Arrow Functions

Arrow functions are a newer way of declaring functions. Arrow functions, sometimes referred to as "fat arrow" functions, are more concise and therefore easier to read than traditional functions.

The Console

The console is an essential tool for debugging. You can use the console to track events in your code, including warnings and errors. In this guide, you'll learn how to debug code using the JavaScript web console.

Working with Lists and Objects

Lists allow you to store multiple similar values in one variable. For instance, a program could store a list of user names, or a list of cookies sold at a local bakery, all in one variable.

Objects allow you to store multiple properties about a certain value.

Find an Item in a List

The JavaScript includes() function allows you to check whether an item is in a list, and returns a boolean depending on whether that item can be found.

Sort a List

The JavaScript sort() method allows you to sort an array in a particular order. In this tutorial, you'll learn about how to use the sort() method on a list.

An Introduction to Objects

JavaScript objects store data in name:value pairs. This means that you can add labels to specific types of data that you want to store within an object. For instance, an object could store the title, author, and date of publication for a book.

Conditionals and Loops

Conditional statements allow you to control the flow of your program. They evaluate an expression and run a block of code depending on the outcome of that expression. Loops, on the other hand, allow you to automate repetitive tasks.

if Statements

"If" statements in JavaScript evaluate a condition and run a block of code depending on its outcome. With an "if" statement, you can specify "else if" statements to check whether one of multiple conditions has been met in your code.

for Loop

The for loop in JavaScript runs a particular block of code a pre-defined number of times. This helps you reduce repetition in your code and automate common processes.

forEach Loop

Similar to the for loop, the JS forEach loop runs a block of code for each item in an iterable object. You can use a forEach loop to go through a list, a string, an object, or another iterable.

Next Steps

Are you up for a challenge? You've come to the right place. Here are a few hand-selected tutorials for you that will push your knowledge to the limits and help you become a master of coding in JavaScript:

Manipulate the contents of a page using innerText and innerHTML
Create events using JavaScript
Use date and time in your programs
Use the querySelector method
Work with JS default parameters in your functions

There's a lot to learn about JavaScript, and we haven't even started talking about frameworks. This isn't a problem because it means that there will always be something new for you to learn. Once you master the basics, you'll be well positioned to build even more complex applications.

CSS Tutorial Library from Career Karma

Artur Meyster — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 20:36:21 +0000

In this Career Karma article roundup, we’re covering all the best posts from the Career Karma blog on how to create the styling for our front end projects with CSS using industry best practices.

Cascading Style Sheets, otherwise known as CSS, was created to solve a big problem when it came to HTML: adding the interior decoration to the frame of the website. When Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) started to implement styling, it became burdensome for developers. So, CSS was created by the W3Consortium to solve the styling problem cluttering up the markup language.

If you’re looking for a progressive tutorial that walks through how to get started with CSS – this post is for you! We are featuring links from some of our resources and interactive tutorials so you can get up to speed on CSS in no time.

CSS Tutorials from Career Karma

CSS – What is it?

Cascading Style Sheets makes up one part of the trifecta that is primarily responsible for frontend web development. In this article, we take a deep dive into what CSS is, how it works, and how to get started when it comes to learning how to style your HTML.

CSS Syntax

The first thing you will want to start to master is CSS syntax. Here, we will talk a little bit about how selectors work and how to write declaration blocks using basic CSS Style rules.

How Do You Link CSS to HTML?

As your projects grow in size, we need to move our CSS from in between style tags in the head of our HTML Document to its own .css file. In this article, we examine how to link CSS and HTML.

Using CSS Selectors

Take a deep dive into using CSS Selectors by learning about class, id, universal and descendent selectors – this will pave the way for creating declaration blocks with CSS properties and values that will affect how the UI looks.

CSS Properties

Position

The position property in CSS affects how elements are positioned on the web page. We use the position property, for example, to fix a navigation bar up at the top of a web page so that it can be seen the entire time a user is scrolling on the page. We’ll take a look at the five different values we can use for the position property and how they are used in CSS.

Float

Let’s take a look at how to position elements on a web page by using the CSS float property. This tutorial takes a look at how float works with interactive tutorials.

Display

The CSS display property is arguably one of the most important properties to understand in CSS. In this article, we look into the inline, inline-block, and block display values and the differences between each.

Margin

The CSS margin property is one of the four components of the box model. Here we take a look at how to write out the margin property and what role it plays in the layout of a web page.

Padding

The padding property in CSS is another one of the four components of the box model. Here we take a look at how to write out the padding property and what role it plays in the layout of a web page.

Border

The CSS border property is another one of the four components of the box model. Here we take a look at how to write out the border property and what role it plays in the layout of a web page.

Color

In this article on the CSS color property, we learn about not only color but also background color and how to use it on text blocks.

Font-Size

CSS font-size comes into play when we talk about accessibility. Here, we take a look at the different types of font-sizes we can use on text: pixels, rems, ems and vw/vh.

CSS Models

Box Model

The CSS Box Model is the oldest layout pattern in CSS. We use properties like float, vertical-align, display: inline, display: inline-block, and display: block to map out the layout of our web page. In addition, we will take a deep dive on margin, padding, and border, and content and how those items affect the container(s) that have our elements.

Flexbox Model

The CSS Flexbox Model uses display: flex and all the flex properties to create a more responsive layout in CSS. We’ll discover the different flex properties, including flex-direction, flex-wrap, flex-flow, justify-content and align-self, and align-items to create highly flexible, responsive layouts that help to make our lives as developers a little easier. Read on to find out more!

Media Queries

Media queries in CSS are special selectors that allow us to use CSS selectors at different breakpoints. This is especially important to implement if we want to ensure a responsive layout for our site. When you’re ready to make your site responsive, you’re well on your way to earning your membership to the CSS dojo.

This is just the beginning! Our library of programming tutorials is constantly expanding to cover more topics and functions, so be sure to check the full beginner’s guide to learning CSS on the Career Karma blog the next time you encounter a CSS problem!

Guide to Learning To Code During Coronavirus

Artur Meyster — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 20:31:36 +0000

Coronavirus: A Guide for Online Learners

Coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has impacted all of our lives. Whether we know someone who is sick, or whether we have been asked to work from home — or go even further — there has been no escaping the virus. We are all under a lot of stress, and we at Career Karma are here to help you get through this crisis.

There is no shortage of suggestions on how you can protect your health — again, remember to wash your hands and follow government guidelines — but coronavirus has resulted in us all making compromises. For example, many of us have been asked to switch to online classes, rather than go to school or bootcamp in person. If you have experience with learning from home, this may not feel any different, but if this is your first time as an online learner, you may be confused.

In these times, the last thing you should be confused about is how you can continue your studies. In response to our Career Karma discussions thread about learning remotely during Coronavirus, we’ve compiled a quick guide with tips on how you, an online learner, can continue to invest in your personal development.

Embracing remote work (or learning)

Many of us are used to the idea of showing up to school to learn, whether that means going to college or a vocational training program like a coding bootcamp. Middle school and high school students had an extended spring break, and now in-person classes are shutting down for the rest of the term.

Plus, colleges and universities are confining students to residence halls, or simply sending them home. And while some public schools remain open, many already closed down and are asking students to attend remote classes instead. Now, people have to adapt to this temporary interruption and learn to become online students.

It will be no surprise to tell you that online schooling is significantly different from learning in school. There are no lecturers in the same room as you who can prompt you to work; you need to find the motivation yourself when you are learning from home. There are no students around you with whom you can talk in the same classroom; you need to reach out to them remotely when you are learning from home or working remotely.

Eliminate distractions

Are you someone who likes to keep a news tab open? Or someone who is partial to looking at Twitter every time they get bored?

There are a number of tools out there like RescueTime and Freedom that can help you eliminate these distractions and get on with your day. Before you start learning, spend some time thinking about the biggest distractions that are likely to affect your day — like social media, the news, television — and take deliberate steps to eliminate them.

While you’re at home, there will be no shortage of real-life distractions, too. Remember that learning from home still means that you should be learning (and not about how best to fold your clothes!). When you’re learning, make sure you focus on your studies and working on assignments, and build systems to help you ignore real-life distractions. Are you tempted to eat a snack? Work away from the kitchen. Do you want to go for a nap? Work outside your bedroom.

Make yourself visible

When you’re in a classroom, everyone is visibly learning — it’s easy to tell that everyone is working hard. But when you’re learning from home, it can be more difficult to tell when others are working. For others, this means it can be difficult for them to know when to reach out to you; for you, it means you may struggle to find out when you can talk with your classmates.

If your online course has a community, enable push notifications and set a Slack status update to let people know when you’re active and available to learn together. You could even set a specific status for when you have a spare few minutes and want to provide feedback on others’ projects.

The more visible you are, the more likely people are to reach out to you and want to chat. During a time where you may be in the house more than usual, this is crucial.

Create a structure

Structure is the secret to success as a remote worker (or learner). When you’re in a classroom, there is already a set structure ready for you: there is a timetable, a clear schedule, a predefined break and lunchtime. At home, however, you need to create most of this structure yourself.

Here are a few tips you can use to create structure for yourself as a remote learner:

Separate home from studying

Learning from home means that your home is your school. Home is also home, though: a place where you cook, sleep, and spend time with family.

When you start learning online, you should build a schedule around taking breaks. Perhaps you get up every hour and walk around the house for five minutes, or perhaps you take a long lunchtime break, an afternoon break, and clock off early. Do whatever works for you, with one condition: you give yourself adequate time to rest and relax.

In addition, after you have reached your goals for the day, you should stop and relax. In fact, you may even find it better to walk away from your computer entirely and go do something else, like practice piano or cook. The more you can do to physically distance yourself and your “work setup” after you have finished studying for the day, the easier you will find it to build a balance between work and home.

Figure out when you work best

For seasoned remote workers, knowing when you work best is usually instinctual. But that feeling only comes after spending weeks and months getting to know your work routine. If you’re a new online learner, you’ll likely be starting from square one.

Throughout your online learning journey, you should aim to figure out when you work best or what some people call the “Flow State”. Do you work best in your living room or your bedroom? Do you work best in the morning or in the evening? One of the advantages of remote studying is that you have more flexibility over your schedule, so you have the freedom to experiment with new working times and patterns.

Building your community

Community is an essential part of success as an online learner. While you may no longer be in the same room as your classmates, that does not mean there is no community for you to access. In fact, if you do some extra work, you’ll be able to find so many interesting people with whom to talk through the internet.

When you start learning online, reach out to your classmates and get to know them. Ask them questions about themselves — where do they live, where did they attend school, why have they enrolled in a specific online course — and talk with them like you would if you were in the same room.

These people will act as your support network throughout your course. If you are stuck, they’ll be around to help; if they need help, they will be sure to reach out to you. (If you are struggling to find this community — for instance, if you are taking a standard online course with no classroom component — check out the Career Karma Discussions platform. We’ll introduce you to a number of other online learners who you can think of as accountability buddies!)

If you have a question about your studies, be sure to reach out to people in your community. It’s likely that a classmate has been through — or is going through — a similar problem that you are only now encountering, and they may be able to help you work through it.

In addition, you should also make sure all your social time is not about studying and learning. Ask your classmates if they would be up for a 30-minute evening call where you all get together and chat about your lives. You could even ask to watch a television show with them remotely, or play a game together.

Starting your job search on the right foot

The goal of many online learning programs — like coding bootcamps — is to help you get a job, and you may be asking yourself “how can I start my job search if I have to learn and work from home?” Great question!

Connect with program alumni

Reach out to the alumni of your online learning program and ask them about their job search process. This will allow you to get a better sense of the career trajectory of successful graduates of your online learning program, thereby helping you to inform your next steps. Here are a few sample questions you could ask:

When did you graduate from the program?
How did the program help you find a job?
What tips do you have for someone who is about to graduate?

Program alumni usually have a lot of advice to share about how to make the most of the resources made available to you by your online learning program. It’s just a matter of asking.

Build your network

As a result of coronavirus, many of us have to stay at home. This means that in-person networking — the “tried and true” method of finding a job — is no longer a tool you can leverage. Instead, you should try to build your network online. Create complete profiles on Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, and Career Karma Projects to share your bootcamp projects and connect with startups and recruiters looking to hire bootcamp grads. Reach out to people who you find interesting, and keep an eye out for opportunities.

Set career goals

You may be bound to your home, but that doesn’t mean you should not set career goals. In fact, setting career goals will be a crucial part of getting to where you want to be in the future (remember, even when times seem tough, you should know that we will get through this!).

As you progress throughout your job search, you should set clear and actionable goals. The clearer your goals are, the easier you will find it to break down those goals into simple steps you can take to make progress in your career. Here are a few ideas:

I will cold email 20 companies in the next 10 days
I will participate in three phone interviews
I will study for 5 hours for my upcoming technical interview
I will do a dry-run technical interview with my friend

In addition, you should try to make your goals action-oriented. In the above examples, our goals were simple, clear, and were focused on a particular action, like sending cold emails. It can also be helpful to introduce numbers to help make your career goals more specific (i.e. do X within the next 5 days).

Going forward

Learning is still important, and online education shouldn’t reduce the quality of your studies. All signs point to the fact this may be a long crisis, but one that society, as a whole, will be able to get through. When this ends, you’ll want to be able to feel as though you were able to use your time productively, instead of using your time obsessing over the next news story.

Being at home more than usual presents you with an opportunity to invest more in your skills. Learn about the topics you have wanted to read about for a long time; build the skills you know you need to get to where you want to be in your career. Learning is all about doing your future self a favor, and right now that’s what we all should be doing.

One thing you should remember is that everyone will have a different experience learning from home. Some of your fellow students may be balancing family time and studying; others may be working alone and so are looking for more social contact remotely. As a result, there is no “one size fits all solution” for remote learning. It’s all about trying out new things until you find what works for you.

Stay healthy, keep learning, and do your best to take care of yourself.

If you’re starting out to learn and work from home, join the Career Karma discussions to find and share tips to stay motivated and see what other people are doing to stay focused during Coronavirus quarantine.

NEW RESOURCE: Python Tutorial Library from Career Karma

Artur Meyster — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 14:52:33 +0000

Python is a popular object-oriented programming language that we use for a variety of purposes, including software engineering, data science, and back end web development. The language, created by Guido van Rossum in 1991, is easy to use thanks to its readability. The language features thousands of third-party packages giving developers access to numerous additional functions.

Python is an easy programming language to learn, but it features several benefits that make it an excellent choice for beginners. Python uses simple syntax, making it more readable than other languages, which means it’s easy to start with. Additionally, Python works in a variety of contexts, so you can build powerful applications shortly after learning the basics.

If you’re looking for quick and easy tutorials on the most commonly-used Python concepts and functions, this post is for you! We have linked to our interactive Python tutorials on each concept, which include source code for the concepts we discuss.

Now, let’s delve into some of the most useful Python functions you should learn.

Python Tutorials from Career Karma

Python Append to List

When you’re working with a list, you may want to add items to that list. For instance, you may have a list of toy animals stocked at a store to which you want to add a new animal.

We can use three functions to append an item to a list: append(), insert(), and extend().

Append() allows you to add an item to the end of a list. Insert() will enable you to add an item at a specific position in a list. Extend() allows you to merge two lists into one. Read our guide on these methods for examples on how to use them in practice.

Python Array

Arrays are an essential data type in Python that allows you to store lists of data. You can manipulate arrays in several ways: you can add items, remove items, clear the array, and more. Learn more about Python array functions in our guide on the topic here.

Python Break and Continue

We can use a Python break statement to stop a loop and continue with the rest of a program, and the continue statement works to exit a loop and proceed to the next iteration. Both of these statements are useful if you’re looking to skip certain parts of a loop.

Python Comment

Comments allow you to take notes on your code that will be ignored by the compiler. There are a couple of reasons why developers write comments. If you’re working on a big program, comments can help you keep track of each operation; comments can help teams ensure that everyone can read each other’s code; if you’re fixing a bug, comments can help you keep track of your thoughts.

Python Enumerate

The enumerate() Python function allows you to loop through a list of items while keeping track of the index value in a separate variable. This function is useful if you have an array that you want to loop through, and where you want to keep track of the index value of each item.

Python Input

Retrieving and processing input from a user is a crucial part of programming. Let’s say you are writing a program that collects a student’s numerical grade on a test and tells them whether they earned an A, B, C, D, or failed the test. You would need to get the user’s grade.

The Python input() function allows you to retrieve information through the keyboard, which you can then process in your program.

Python Print Without Newline

When you’re writing a program, you may want to print a value to the console and keep it on the same line as another value. For example, you may wish to an employee’s name, payroll address, and salary to appear on the same line in your program.

Python Queue and Deque

Queues are a function in Python that allows you to store data in a first-in, first-out order. For example, if you have a product waitlist and want to enable people to order your product in order of when they signed up, you could use a queue.

You can also create a deque, which allows you to create a double-ended queue that is last-in, first-out.

Python Read File

Often, you’ll store data for a Python program in a file, which is useful if you have large sets of data you want to work with, or if you want to save data. To read the contents of a file, there are three Python functions that you can use:

read(): Returns the contents of a file
readline(): Returns the next line of a file
readlines(): Returns a list of lines in a file

Read our full guide on Python read file methods to learn more about how these work, and how you can use them to read the contents of a file.

Python Reverse List

There may be an occasion where you have a list that you want to flip into reverse order. For example, you may have a list of employee names in alphabetical order that you want to appear in reverse alphabetical order.

There are three ways you can reverse a list in Python:

Slicing
Reverse()
Reversed()

Python Sort

The Python sorted() function allows you to sort a list. For example, you can use sorted() to sort an array of employee names in ascending order, or a list of orders in descending order of their order IDs.

You can use sort to arrange a list in both ascending or descending order. Or you can use the key parameter to specify your own custom sort if you want to run a more advanced sort operation on your list of values.

Python Substring

When you’re working with a string, you may want to split it up into different parts. For example, you may want to split up a user’s name into two variables: first name and surname. Or you may want to get the last four numbers in a user’s ID.

By using the Python slicing approach, you can retrieve this data. Slicing allows you to get a specific part of a string and create a substring.

Python Try Except

When you’re writing a program, you may want to test a specific block of code to make sure that it works before the rest of your program runs. In Python, you can use try/except blocks to test your code for problems and handle exceptions and errors gracefully.

Python Zip

When you’re working in Python, you may want to create a set of dictionaries from two arrays. For example, you may have three arrays that store a user’s name, their customer ID, and their email address, that you want to merge into one. That’s where the zip() function comes in.

Python zip() allows you to create a list of tuples which contain elements from the iterable items — such as a list, set, tuple, or dictionary — that you have passed into the zip() function.

But this is just the beginning! Our library of programming tutorials is constantly expanding to cover more topics and functions, so be sure to check the full beginner's guide to learning Python on the Career Karma blog the next time a Python problem leaves your brain feeling squeezed!

🚨Coding Bootcamps over a Decade - We analyzed 130,000+ bootcamp grads over the last 10 years, and here is what we found...

Artur Meyster — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 20:23:59 +0000

We studied 105 bootcamps and 133,392 bootcamp students using publicly available LinkedIn alumni data over the last decade and here are the results.

The Analysis

Our State of the Bootcamp Market Report analyzed data from over 130,000 coding bootcamp graduates who attended one of 105 US-based coding bootcamps. This data included information on graduate skills, top companies that hire bootcamp graduates, the locations of bootcamp graduates, and the number of people who have attended coding bootcamp.

For the purposes of this report, our definition of a coding bootcamp was: “An immersive, employment-focused educational program of typically 3-12 months’ duration designed to help adults develop industry-oriented skills relevant to pursuing careers in tech.”

In addition, we also analyzed the bootcamp market more broadly to find out more about where the market has been in the last decade, and where bootcamps could go if they reach their full potential in the next decade.

Market Size

In 2019, 33,959 students attended one of the 105 coding bootcamps studied in this market analysis, representing a 4.38% growth since 2018. In addition, the number of students who attended coding bootcamp in 2019 reached an all-time high.

Historical Alumni Statistics, 2012-2019

The following chart shows the number of students graduating from bootcamps in the United States each year between the years 2012 and 2019. This data is not cumulative, and represents the number of graduating students in each year. In 2020, we expect the bootcamp sector to grow to an estimated 35,446 students.

In 2019, 6,995 students graduated from an online coding bootcamp, a 31.44% increase since 2018. The average tuition for these courses was $14,623.

Tuition revenue in 2019 was approximately $460,733,000, a 4.81% increase from $439,581,000 in 2018.

Bootcamp Costs and Financing

The average in-person bootcamp cost $13,293 in the US in 2019. The most expensive full-time programs charged over $20,000 in tuition. The most expensive full-time programs charged over $20,000 in tuition. The most common financing options offered by bootcamps were: upfront payment, installments, student loans, and Income Share Agreements.

We noticed a trend emerging with Income Share Agreements. In 2019, 27 US bootcamps offered ISAs to their students. The average terms were a 38 month term (length), $42,476 minimum income threshold, 13.8% income-share percentage, and a $32,754 payment cap.

Bootcamp Graduate Locations

Coding bootcamp graduates can be found all across the US. The top five metropolitan areas in 2019 in terms of how many bootcamp grads are employed in each city were New York City (46 bootcamps), San Francisco (33 bootcamps), Los Angeles (21 bootcamps), Seattle (18 bootcamps), and Washington, D.C. (16 bootcamps).

Top Employers

Companies of all shapes and sizes have hired coding bootcamps in the past. The five top companies who have hired the most bootcamp graduates as of 2019 were Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Largest Bootcamps

Coding bootcamps have been around for around a decade, and so there are a couple of bootcamps who are ahead of the rest in terms of student enrollments.

We identified the largest bootcamps by the total size of their student and graduate body. See the table below for the top ten bootcamps by the total number of students and graduates each school has served since being founded, as of December 21, 2019.

School Name	Students (as of December 21, 2019)
General Assembly	44,800
Hack Reactor / Galvanize	6,300
Flatiron School	5,600
Ironhack	4,500
Bloc	3,200
Lambda School	3,100
App Academy	3,000
Springboard	3,000
Thinkful	2,900
Fullstack Academy	2,700

The ten largest bootcamps in terms of the total size of their student body in 2019 were General Assembly, Hack Reactor / Galvanize, Flatiron School, Ironhack, Bloc, Lambda School, App Academy, Springboard, Thinkful, and Fullstack Academy.

Largest Acquisitions

Over the last few years, a number of acquisitions have taken place in the coding bootcamp space. Acquirers range from traditional education technology companies looking to expand to coding bootcamps who want to grow their businesses.

The top three acquisitions in the bootcamp sector in 2019 were 2U’s acquisition of Trilogy Education Services ($750 million), Chegg’s acquisition of Thinkful ($80 million+), and Bridgepoint Education’s acquisition of Fullstack Academy ($17.5 million + 2.5 million shares).

The Future of Coding Bootcamps

Based on the information we gathered from our study, we believe that coding bootcamps have a promising future. We identified that coding bootcamps are filling a real market demand, offering people who are underserved by traditional educational options the ability to acquire the skills they need to pursue a career in tech.

In the next decade, we expect that a few trends will emerge. Firstly, coding bootcamps will become more focused on new subjects such as cloud computing and big data. This trend is expected to grow as demands in the technology sector change, and bootcamps look for new ways to convince people to learn at their schools. Secondly, coding bootcamps will focus more heavily on making their offerings unique, perhaps exploring living stipends, new career offerings, “earn and learn” arrangements, and new learning approaches. These will all help bootcamps attract new students, which will allow schools to compete in a growing market.

In addition, we believe that there will be a strong focus on offering new payment options to students. As we discussed earlier, ISAs became more common in 2019, and we believe that because they offer more favorable terms for people who are debt averse in many cases. But one financing option cannot work for everyone, and so bootcamps in the future will likely try to offer as many different options as possible, whether those be upfront payment, ISAs, installments, loans, scholarships, or G.I. Bill financing.

Finally, we expect that coding bootcamps will start to explore the “bootcamp agency” model more closely. This is where students work on real-life projects while studying. These agency models can help students develop a greater sense of what it means to work on a professional software development project, and provides useful experience in preparation for the job search.

Bootcamps have their limitations, of course. For people who are looking to pursue a computer science education, a university may be a better option, for example. And bootcamps are also more focused on specific technical areas rather than the broader "computer science" field. But with that said, coding bootcamps are helping enable access to a technical education for many people who are not served well by the traditional system. For people who want to break into a career in technology quickly, bootcamps have established themselves as a good option.

Coding bootcamps are still relatively new in relation to other training options such as computer science degrees and online courses, and so there is still a lot to be seen. However, given the massive growth realized over the last few years in the industry, we can expect that bootcamps will play an important role in the future of training people for jobs in tech.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Career Karma matches career switchers to bootcamps and job training programs. Career Karma is paid by bootcamps to help prospective students prepare for and get accepted into a training program based on their needs. In writing this paper, the author acknowledged this conflict of interest and took appropriate action to ensure the paper’s findings were not influenced by any relationships with Career Karma partners, affiliates, or external stakeholders.

James Gallagher, the Career Karma main researcher assigned to this project, was given autonomy over the direction of this market study and the final authority on decisions pertinent to the content of this paper.

If you would like to use any infographics or statistics in the report, feel free to do so—just cite the original report https://careerkarma.com/blog/bootcamp-market-report-2020/

👋 If you found this study interesting, please ❤️

✍️ If you are a bootcamp grad or someone who has worked with bootcamp graduates on your dev team, please comment about your experience below.

🔮 If you're not in tech yet, what are your thoughts about the next 10 years for bootcamps? 🚀 or 💣

Python vs the World - Career Karma Roundup #5

Artur Meyster — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 14:22:36 +0000

Python is quickly becoming one of the most popular programming languages in use today. In this article roundup, we've gathered all our Career Karma blog posts comparing the versatile Python language against a variety of competing languages.

Python vs the World

Python vs C#

C# (‘C-Sharp’) and Python are both object-oriented, high-level languages. They offer fast development and good performance and are both highly relevant languages in most fields. So if you only plan on picking one, which is better: C# vs Python? We’re going to break down both languages and compare them to see why they are relevant and when each should be used.

Python vs Ruby

In this article, we’ll point out the differences between the two languages. We’ll give you a better idea of what Python and Ruby do best. Indeed, which scripting language is ‘best’ is a matter of personal opinion. So use your own judgment to determine which is ‘best’ for you when comparing Python vs Ruby.

Python vs PHP

In the world of web development, Python and PHP are popular buzzwords. It’s impossible not to come across them, especially in the context of web frameworks and back end development. For people starting their lives in programming, you might be interested in the field of back end development and how Python and PHP pertain to it.

Python vs C

When comparing two programming languages—even two of the most popular ones—it’s not always easy to make a one to one comparison. The languages may be so dissimilar or used for such different purposes that it’s hard to match them against each other. Python and C, while having some similarities, are very different languages used for a wide range of tasks.

Python vs Java

Since they’re 2 of the easiest programming languages to learn (and most important), it’s time for Career Karma to weigh-in on the Python vs Java debate.

Python vs JavaScript

Python and JavaScript are two of the most commonly used coding languages today—and for a good reason. Both have an enormous amount of practical applications, especially in web development. Although these two programming languages share many similarities, they’re also quite different. In this article, we’ll go over the similarities and differences between Python and JavaScript, and why it’s still a great idea to learn both languages.

I am a coding bootcamp grad and CTO of the Y Combinator-backed startup Career Karma. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about career hacks, resumes, the job hunt, and anything about learning to code! Please let me know your opinions in the comments below!

Career Karma Roundup #4: Top Tips for Technical Portfolio and Technical Resume Greatness

Artur Meyster — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:30:27 +0000

In this Career Karma article roundup, we're covering all the best posts from the Career Karma blog on how to create outstanding technical resumes and portfolios that will set you apart from the competition.

The Technical Resume

Technical Resumes: The Ultimate Guide to Standing Out from the Crowd

No matter where you’re at in your career, one of the most important tools you can use to land technical interviews and get hired is your technical resume. But with all the conflicting advice on how to format a resume, what to include on one, and things to avoid, it can be a challenge to determine what you should believe and how to go about resume writing. That’s why Career Karma has compiled this ultimate guide to technical resume greatness. Here, you’ll find all the information and tips you need to create a resume that will help you break into a new tech career or advance further in your current organization.

The Technical Portfolio

How to Make Your Behance Portfolio Stand Out

As a UX/UI designer, you’re in one of the best tech jobs of the day. You know how to make your visuals sing to the customer, and you have an intuitive grasp of graphic interface fundamentals. To put those skills to their maximum use, you need to make sure your Behance portfolio looks its best. A well-designed portfolio lets your future employers know what they can expect from your work.

How to Build a UI Design Portfolio and Land the Perfect Job

As a tech-inclined person with an eye for design, you’re probably familiar with user interface (UI) design. UI designer salaries are impressive, and these designers get to plan out the interfaces we all use in our daily lives. To compete for the top jobs, though, you need to know how to build a UI design portfolio. When you have a competitive UI portfolio, you stand out and get noticed by prospective employers. It can mean the difference between applying for a position and getting an interview.

How to Build a Full Stack Developer Portfolio

Whether you’ve just graduated from a coding bootcamp or are looking for a full stack developer job, you already know how important your portfolio is. Without one, your prospective employers won’t have any way to gauge your skillset. A robust full stack portfolio can set you apart from the other applicants. In this article, we cover some of the most important things to include when building a full stack developer portfolio and explain why it’s so important to nail this step of the job-finding process.

As a coding bootcamp grad and CTO of the Y Combinator-backed startup Career Karma, I've been in your shoes, so I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about career hacks, resumes, the job hunt, and anything about learning to code! Please let me know your opinions in the comments below!

A Letter to Code Newbies (from a Former Newbie)

Artur Meyster — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 14:06:32 +0000

Dear Code Newbies,

I know learning to code can be tough at times.

Chasing bugs for hours, only to realize that you misspelled a variable name or left out a semicolon.

I wanted to share some words of encouragement to reassure you that learning to code is absolutely worth it.

Five years ago, I was a total code newbie. If you showed me a piece of code, I wouldn’t know what to do with it.

Now I’m the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a venture-backed startup called Career Karma (Ycombinator 2019) helping people get jobs in tech.

I remember the hardest thing in the very beginning was finding the time to code. We all live busy lives, so making that extra hour to code after work at times seemed impossible.

Discipline

It took me months of "on-again-off-again" learning and doing tutorials to develop a habit where I can sit for two hours straight and focus on building a simple HTML page or solving a JavaScript toy problem.

For reference, now I can sit and code for 6-8 hours straight with time flying by. If you’re concerned that you won’t get there, don’t worry: you will. It's like going to the gym--being disciplined and consistent is everything.

Tutorial Purgatory

After a few months of learning the basics of JavaScript, I got a subscription to Udemy and started my journey through tutorial purgatory.

I would pick a JavaScript for beginners course, blindly copy everything that the instructor did, and midway through the course get bored and move on to the next tutorial that seemed more interesting.

After a few months, I realized that I was running in place. I still couldn’t build a project from scratch, and most importantly, I didn’t have the confidence to explore on my own.

Learning How to Learn

One day, I decided I would build a chat app--no matter what. I struggled tremendously because there was no instructor to guide me or answers to look up. I had to figure it out on my own using Google, Stack Overflow and GitHub.

Interestingly, it was after I built that app that I knew I had what it takes to become an engineer--learning how to learn is the secret to becoming great at coding.

Every single day I’m faced with technical issues and bugs I’ve never seen before. Being a software engineer means getting comfortable with not knowing the answer but knowing that the answer is out there--and that you will find it!

There were tons of people around me who helped me how to code and I want to pay it forward.

If you’re someone who is starting to learn how to code or exploring bootcamps, direct message me, and I will add you to a group of people I’m mentoring.

I look forward to seeing all of your coding journeys!

Artur Meyster
CTO of Career Karma (YC W19)

P.S. If you found it interesting, please comment below which point you are struggling with the most :)