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Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D for Microsoft Azure

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Q: As a #CodeNewbie, what are your learning goals for the next #30Days?

Microsoft is sponsoring Codeland Conference again this year. Come join us in the #CodeNewbie Forem Jun 16-17 to jumpstart your learning journey into Azure & AI, and meet your peers!


In her popular Learning To Learn course, Barbara Oakley talks about learning modes (diffused and focused), learning sprints (focus for X minutes, relax for Y minutes) and learning practices ("chunking" into small activities that build on each other) that help improve your understanding and recall of what you learn.

Planning a #30Days learning journey is one way to put these ideas into practice. Learn or make something in 30 Days by breaking down the end goal into daily chunks of activity that build on each other! Get automatic "breaks" between those focused periods, to help your brain process and recall the information better.

What would you like to learn in #30Days - and how do you plan to go about it?

Some examples:

  • I want to become a power user of (this) developer tool
  • I want to build my first app using (this) framework
  • I want to learn the fundamentals of (this) technology

Please do leave us your thoughts and ideas in the comments. If you are looking for ideas, check out these options:

If you are an experienced developer, do share your experiences with any #30Days of learning projects or resources that may be useful for beginners.

Oldest comments (42)

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asbourlotos profile image
Alexander Bourlotos

I can't wait for the talk! I'm already working through a Udemy web development course but in the next 30 days I'm hoping to finish through the React.js portion of the course which will set me up with a to-do list, blog website and knowledge with things like authentication, etc.

Discord - alexbourlotos#7116

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

Woot!! I am a REACT fan myself so I approve of this goal! There is also a great resource on FreeCodeCamp with hands-on projects that may help refine this

PS. if you attend my lightning talk tomorrow do stop by after so I can make you a custom sketchnote with this goal. Use it as desktop wallpaper and stay acccountable. :-)

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mariasilva_dev profile image
Maria Silva

In the next 30 days I am hoping to finish my weather app with Vanilla JS! I need to learn about APIs so I can use real data, learn about GitHub and hosting, and of course continue to tweak it to perfection.

If you'd like to see my progress here is a twitter update!
https://twitter.com/mariasilva_dev/status/1536483541726511104?s=20&t=zX3ZSl8Tsj7LNfkubBcOwQ

Discord - Maria S#0727

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

I just checked out your project!!! This is awesome and I hope to check in on your progress .. love the fact your are building projects that reflect real data and use cases!

PS. - if you attend my lightning talk tomorrow do stop by after so I can make you a custom sketchnote with this goal. Use it as desktop wallpaper and stay accountable. :-)

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mariasilva_dev profile image
Maria Silva

Hi Nitya, I would love that! Thank you for checking out my project, I look forward to your lightning talk tomorrow!

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theoriginalbpc profile image
Sarah Bartley Dye

I would use 30 Days to learn fundamentals of Angular so I can start building projects with it. I'm not sure what I'd build with Angular, but what I might do is take the React versions of projects I've already made and see if I can build them again with Angular.

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

This is an EXCELLENT goal - if you attend my lightning talk tomorrow do stop by after so I can make you a custom sketchnote with this goal. Use it as desktop wallpaper and stay acccountable. :-)

There are a number of folks on my team who are Angular experts - check out the dev.to/azure organization for more

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itsjudedw profile image
itsjudeDW

For the next 30 days I want to code for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. My goal is to finish reading "Coding for Beginners" by Mike McGrath and go through all of the excercises.

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

This is exactly what the Barbara Oakley course also recommends - chunked learning with breaks to allow the brain to consolidate and absorb the information. I have not read that book - do consider making a post on what you learned when done!! A great goal too!

PS. - if you attend my lightning talk tomorrow do stop by after so I can make you a custom sketchnote with this goal. Use it as desktop wallpaper and stay accountable. :-)

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klove2016 profile image
KJ

In the next 30 days I hope to have a solid grasp on nest loops and looping through objects.

-KJ
klove2016#6196

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

This is absolutely the right kind of goal to set if you are starting off with code. Fundamentals matter - thanks so much for sharing!

PS. - if you attend my lightning talk tomorrow do stop by after so I can make you a custom sketchnote with this goal. Use it as desktop wallpaper and stay accountable. :-)

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aigarspl profile image
Aigars Pluฤฃis • Edited

Learn and understand Python for Web and Linux system monitoring usage as well as for making secure apps.

DSC: aigarspl#7343

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

There are a bunch of Python resources we shared at Codeland here:
aka.ms/codeland/2022

But the Linux system monitoring usage sounds interesting! Good luck

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Christopher Aaron

I am so excited for the lightning talk tomorrow! I am currently going through the fundamentals of Node and Express, but what I would love to finish in the next 30 days is to complete a three.js course. I would really like to jump into learning how to deal with WebGL projects!

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Scott Soine

Thanks! only about 30 minutes a way! Also add me on Discord and I can send you a link to some SWAG since you are based in the US: Scott Soine#6391

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

Thank you so much - just catching up with alll comments but WebGL is a great goal and career direction as well given all the work going on in the AR/VR space. What three.js course do you recommend for beginners? Do share your learnings as you go and good luck!

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hatricia profile image
Hattie

Learning how to Learn is LIFECHANGING, Barbara knows what she's talking about. I am learning a lot of things but for the next 5 weeks in particular I'm taking part in a free course on the fundamentals of Azure which i'm excited about, I know absolutely nothing right now! I will definitely be using spaced repetition to help my learning along!

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

I know right? One of my favorite courses of all time! Let me know how your Azure fundamentals journey is going and if we can help. Good luck and hope you also aim for the certification

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abm_dev profile image
Auroiah Morgan

Az-200 and Az-204 while playing around on MAUI.

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scottsoine profile image
Scott Soine • Edited

Awesome! both are great and MAUI is fun to play around with! Feel free to ping me in Discord for some free SWAG: Scott Soine#6391

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abm_dev profile image
Auroiah Morgan

Most definintely will! Thank you!

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

Yess!! Don't forget to check out the #30DaysToLearn it link above and see if any of those challenges can help you (plus gives you a path to certification!)

For MAUI - definitely check out MAUI Community Toolkit
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/co...

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anamonteiro430 profile image
anamonteiro430 • Edited

I want to finish CS50 !
Working of organizing myself and start using a second brain so I can learn in a better way.
Getting into reading some classic tech books like Don't make me think! and Clean Code

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scottsoine profile image
Scott Soine

Awesome goal and real cool! Thanks for stopping by!

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nitya profile image
Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D Microsoft Azure

Don't make me think is a classic and the #CS50 series is a great one to take for fundamentals from CS to AI. This is awesome - look forward to seeing your learnings from this