DEV Community: Bree

Create Your Technical Interview Toolkit: Plan and Prepare for Your Next Software Engineering Interview

Bree — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:45:05 +0000

It's time to create your technical interview toolkit! Fill it with resources that will help you plan, prepare, and pass your next software engineering interview. Coding interviews can feel difficult, but with the right preparation, you'll walk into your next interview with confidence.

These are some of my favorite resources specifically for coding interviews. You may not need every item on this list, so feel free to pick the ones that will enhance your interview experience.

1. Practice Data Structures & Algorithms and System Design

💻 Cracking the Coding Interview | 💸 $39.95

A walkthrough and deep dive of 189 data structures & algorithms technical interview questions

💻 Technical Interview Handbook | 💸 Free

Guided behavioral and technical interview prep that includes data structure & algorithm prep, resume guides, and salary negotiation advice

💻 System Design Primer | 💸 Free

Learn the ins and outs of building scalable systems

💻 FullStack Cafe | 💸 Free Tier & Pro ($69/lifetime access)

Questions, answers, and explanations to the most common full stack and mobile dev, data structure, and system design interview questions

💻 Tech Dev Guide: Interview Prep by Google | 💸 Free

Interview prep materials and coding questions previously used during Google's hiring process

💻 Tech Mock Interview | 💸 Varies

Technical and behavioral interviews with experts at top tech companies

💻 Hiring Without Whiteboards | 💸 Free

Technical and behavioral interviews with experts at top tech companies

💻 Grokking Dynamic Programming Patterns for Coding Interviews | 💸 Educative.io membership ($59/monthly OR $199/annually)

Learn to solve dynamic programming problems and identify dynamic programming patterns for coding interviews

💻 Grokking the System Design Interview | 💸 Educative.io membership ($59/monthly OR $199/annually)

Learn and practice modern system design to prepare for coding interviews

💻 Ace the Coding Interview | 💸 Educative.io membership ($59/monthly OR $199/annually)

Get ready for technical interviews within your niche of software engineering with these comprehensive interview prep courses

2. Practice Coding

💻 HackerRank | 💸 Free

Practice solving coding problems with data structures and algorithms

💻 LeetCode | 💸 Free Tier & Pro ($35/monthly OR $159/annually)

Practice solving coding problems with data structures and algorithms

💻 Great Frontend | 💸 Multiple plans available - $29/month, $128/lifetime

Gear up for frontend development interviews with frontend technical challenges, curated study plans, and interview simulation

💻 Frontend Mentor | 💸 Free Tier & Pro ($96/annually OR $12/monthly)

Practice using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frontend frameworks with FrontendMentor. They provide the design and assets, you provide the code.

💻 Frontend Practice | 💸 Free

Practice using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frontend frameworks by replicating real company websites as best as you can!

3. Mock Interviews

💻 Pramp | 💸 Free

Free data structures & algorithms, product management, behavioral, system design, frontend, and data science mock interviews

💻 Interviewing.io | 💸 Interviews start at $150/interview

Anonymous technical, behavioral, and management mock interviews with real-time feedback

Thank you for reading! I hope this article was informative or entertaining (or both)! If you liked this post, feel free to like and follow me on my socials around the web.

5 Resources to Cure Coding Block | The Best Resources to Practice Frontend and Full Stack Development

Bree — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:32:39 +0000

Building projects is one of the best ways to learn to code. Building projects helps convert the concepts we learn in tutorials into practical knowledge. But what do you do when you've reached coder's block and can't figure out what to create? If you find yourself unable to think of a project to work on, the resources below will have you coding in no time!

1. Frontend Mentor

Frontend Mentor allows you to strengthen your frontend development skills by creating real-world projects. They provide a project brief and assets for each challenge so you can focus on the code - not the design. There are also tips for how you can challenge yourself with each project. Once you’re complete with your project, submit it for peer review and learn from other developers on the platform. There’s a Slack community where you can connect and learn from other developers.

2. DevChallenges

Dev Challenges is a great resource for both frontend and full-stack developers. It includes three tracks: responsive web developer, frontend developer, and full stack developer. Each contains a variety of projects specific to that skill set.

For each project, you’re given different user stories to help guide your development. From there, it’s your choice to select your tools and where to start! Once you’re done with the project, submit your solution for peer review or join the Dev Challenges discord to discuss your projects.

3. Project Learn

Project Learn is a library full of web dev, mobile dev, game dev, and machine learning projects! Select projects by the type of development or by the programming language you would like to use. This library contains both videos and articles to guide you through creating over 100 different projects!

4. Frontend Practice

Frontend Practice challenges developers to replicate websites from real companies. Replicating all (or parts) of these websites is a great way to practice the skill of bringing a web design to life. Use basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or your favorite frameworks to get build these sites and see how close you get to the original design.

5. JavaScript30

JavaScript 30 helps developers learn JavaScript by completing 30 projects within 30 days. These projects will help you solidify your fundamental JavaScript knowledge and help you practice with CSS, integrating audio and video, and more! These projects don’t require frameworks or libraries, so they are truly beginner friendly!

6. ✨ A Bonus Tip

Just because you've completed the requirements for a project, don't stop! These are great projects to practice your creativity and add to your developer portfolio. Many of the frontend projects are shells. Remove the stub or dummy data and find a free, open-source API to integrate into your project to push it to the next level. Look for different ways to make these projects your own!

Thank you for reading! I hope this article was informative or entertaining (or both)! If you liked this post, feel free to like and follow me on my socials around the web.

4 Ways to Gain Developer Experience BEFORE You Land Your First Job

Bree — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:19:41 +0000

At one point, we've all scrolled a job board for entry-level software engineering roles. I can almost guarantee you've also encountered listings for entry-level roles that require a year or two of experience. This brings the age-old question: how are you supposed to find a job to get experience if jobs require experience?

I found myself trapped in this loop until I learned a secret that made things a little easier. The experience requirement on job listings is not always restricted to traditional employment! Let's discuss a few ways to gain experience that will help you land your first role as a software engineer.

1. Build A Developer Portfolio with Your Best Projects

"Build projects." It's a common piece of advice I'm sure you've heard at one point or another. While you may think it's overused, building projects is a great way to learn. Not only is it a great way to learn, but it is also a good way to show prospective clients or employers what you know. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the same is true on your coding journey.

You don't need dozens of projects in your portfolio to show mastery in your skillset. The handful of projects you do have should be well-crafted and relevant to the role you're applying for. Your projects are an opportunity for you to stand out in the candidate pool! It's not what you create - it's how you created it. The subject matter of the project is just the vessel that will deliver you fantastic skills.

2. Contribute to Open Source Projects

Contributing to open-source projects is a fantastic way to gain experience working on a team even before you land your first role. Open source projects are community-led projects that accept work from the greater coding community. You don’t have to be a member of the organization to participate in code contribution.

When contributing to open-source projects, you’ll accept an issue/request and open a pull request for your work. After opening a pull request, other developers on the project will review your code to ensure it meets the project's standards for merging. This replicates what you will experience during your first engineering role (minus meetings).

I highly recommend contributing to an open-source project if you’re looking for ways to set yourself apart! If you’re interested in starting, but not exactly sure where to start, here are a few places:

Awesome First PR Opportunities

A repo dedicated open-source projects that have good opportunities for anyone looking to get their first PR into an open-source project. It also notates the issue flag you should look for in the repo when looking for issues
From Zero to Hero: Quick Tips to Navigating Open Source Like a Pro

This blog post breaks down contributing to open-source projects for absolute beginners.
Complete Guide to Open Souce

A comprehensive guide by FreeCodeCamp that walks you through contributing to open-source projects for beginners!

3. Participate in Hackathons

Hackathons are a fun way to code for a little cash or other prizes! Hackathons are coding competitions where you create an app to match a theme or solve a problem. Some hackathons take place in person over a day or two, and others are virtual over a few weeks or a month.

Hackathons allow you to show how creative you can solve a problem with code in a relatively short amount of time. They force you to think outside of the box. You may create something you never would have expected. It doesn’t matter if you choose to work solo or with a team, it’s going to be a great learning experience. These projects can be great for your portfolio or just a great resume talking point.

If you’re interested in hackathons, DevPost has a great list of hackathon events! If you don’t find what you’re looking for, a quick Google search for "Hackathons happening soon" will do wonders!

4. Volunteer

Volunteering can be a great (and rewarding) way to gain experience as a developer. There are so many options, but here are a few recommendations.

If you’re interested in coding to help your community, try searching for coding groups in your area. Some cities have coding cohorts that gather to create apps that directly benefit their community. This is a great way to meet and interact with other devs in your area and do a little “social good”.

Another option might be helping a local "mom and pop" business. If you’re a frontend dev, try helping a local business that may need a website (or may need to refresh their website). You may opt for an agreement where you offer a simple website free of charge and they pay for hosting. This allows you to add real-world projects to your portfolio and start collecting testimonials.

Even though you may be looking for your first software engineering role, it doesn't mean you lack experience. Experience comes in many forms! It all comes down to how you present that experience on your resume and in interviews.

Thank you for reading! I hope this article was informative or entertaining (or both)! If you liked this post, feel free to like and follow me on my socials around the web.

Mad Libs: A Simple & Easy HTML, CSS, & JavaScript Game Tutorial

Bree — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 17:38:57 +0000

Mad Libs Game Coding Tutorial

Create your own game of Mad Libs with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This step-by-step tutorial will walk you through creating the Mad Libs form to accept user input, styling an HTML form, then accepting and generating a string based on form data!

What is Mad Libs?

Mad Libs are stories with words removed and replaced by blank spaces. Each player fills in the blanks for a fun story! Make sure to think outside the box. The wackier, the better! This game is fun for children and adults alike.

How is the game played?

Mad Libs is a simple game that only requires users to fill out a form. Once the form has been completed, a story (with their inputs) is created!

Mad Libs is an awesome project for new developers because it allows you to practice creating and styling HTML form elements, work with user input, and insert elements into the DOM with JavaScript.

✨ For a step-by-step video tutorial, you can watch the full tutorial on my YouTube channel.

✨ For a guided step-by-step document, check out the project wiki.

✨ To see the completed code, check out the Mad Libs Github Repo.

✨ Click here for a live demo of Mad Libs in action!

I would love to see your version of Mad Libs! If you create your own version, leave a link in a comment below.

Thank you for reading! I hope this article was informative or entertaining (or both)! If you liked this post, feel free to like and follow me on my socials around the web.

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