DEV Community: Ricky White

Python Community Interview With Ali Spittel

Ricky White — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 15:20:54 +0000

Happy Monday, all!

I recently had the enormous pleasure of interviewing Dev.to's very own Ali Spittel for my regular Python Community Interview series on RealPython.com.

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Ali Spittel

Passionate about education, Python, JavaScript, and code art.

ASpittel aspittel https://www.alispit.tel/links/

Join me as we talk about her love for CSS art, her non-traditional path to learning to code, teaching at a Bootcamp, and her transition from Dev.to user to a Dev.to team member.

Happy reading,

(click the here/image for the interview)

P.S. You can check out the rest of my Python Community Interviews here.

Writing my first VS Code extension

Ricky White — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 21:51:58 +0000

I'm (slightly) celebrating this week because I achieved something, albeit relatively small.

I published my first VS Code extension!

VS Code is becoming an increasingly popular code editor with a huge selection of extensions to customize your experience. Despite this I still found myself creating my own custom snippets for the code I wrote repeatedly.

After too long, it dawned on me that if I benefitted from these handy shortcuts then others might too.

And thus, Python Template Snippets was born.

Just search "python template snippets" in VS Code's extention tab to install, or manually download from the Github repo below.

It's only v1.0 but it's a start. Happy for feedback and issue requests.

And don't forget, if you like it, leave a star rating ⭐ 😊

Happy coding!

EndlessTrax / python-template-snippets

A VS Code snippet extension for both the Jinja2 and Django template engines.

Python Template Snippets

This VS Code snippet extension includes snippets for both the Jinja2 and Django template engines.

Quickly add snippets to HTML template files in your project.

If there is a snippet that is not included in this extension, please open an issue on the repo here.

Setup

Just hit install!

If installing this extension directly from the repo, copy it into your local <user home>/.vscode/extensions folder and restart VS Code.

Works best with editor.tabCompletion enabled (on) in your VS Code Settings.

Usage

Simply type pt to start using any of the snippets. The full documentation is below.

This extension works best with editor.tabCompletion enabled (on) in your VS Code Settings.

Changelog

The full changelog can be found here.

Documentation

See the tables below for general, jinja, django snippets. The * denotes where the cursor will start so you can start…

View on GitHub

NOW CLOSED - [Hiring] Django Dev (Freelance & Remote)

Ricky White — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 21:48:39 +0000

Among many things, I’m the President of a non-profit. We need a new Web App building to replace our old defunct one.

I am unable to build it myself as I cannot charge my own charity (conflicts of interest), and I don’t have a few months to give away for free (unfortunately.)

The full details are below. Thanks

Job description

Walk AS One is looking for a Django developer to work alongside an architect, project manager, and other developer(s) / designers. The new web app will involve integration with third parties (such as Fitbit) and will be hosted on AWS or similar service. The project is planned to start by the end of October (or sooner, if able) and should be completed before the end of January, to allow for beta-testing before our flagship event.

About us and the job

Walk AS One is a registered 501c3 non-profit registered in Maine. We serve the Ankylosing Spondylitis community by helping to raise awareness and by helping sufferers stay active, which is a vital component to the management of the disease.

Each year we hold a virtual walk-a-thon called Walk Your AS Off (walkyourasoff.com). Registered users use our website to track their step counts and “donate” them to our current goal of reaching Mars. Each user is also part of a team, and we have built a real community around the event.

I am both pleased and saddened to say that we have outgrown our current website and technologies. We are looking for an ambitious developer to build a new site from scratch that will help us add features and scale the web app as future funds allow.

Some key features of the web app will be: Responsive design, progressive web app features, in-app messaging (using third-party API), and user/team management functionalities.

How to apply

All applicants are asked to fill in this form: https://goo.gl/forms/pAxFwIsj3QsQhvWp1

The shortlisted candidates will be contacted via email to arrange a Skype interview with the President of Walk AS One (+/- the architect.)

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide a proposal for compensation after they have been interviewed and have reviewed our technical specifications document.

Please email any pertinent questions you have before applying to info@walkasone.org.

From Python to C#

Ricky White — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 23:22:36 +0000

It looks like I'll be helping a friend with a contract he has, and I'd be the main developer, which is great. But it's a .NET / Winforms gig, and I'm a Python developer.

So I need to get up to speed quickly. Can anyone name any good resources, aside from msdn/channel 9/MVA? Not looking for hand holding type stuff, a quick pace is fine.

Cheers in advance.

My #100daysOfCode Challenge

Ricky White — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 11:37:01 +0000

The 100 days of code challenge is becoming more popular by the day. It was started by Alexander Kallaway as a way of forming a habit, one of regular coding. More developers seem to be committing to the challenge daily.

Starting the challenge has been on my mind for a while now, and I've finally decided now is the time to commit to it. Today is my Day #1. You might be wondering why I decided to join #100daysOfCode? Or what do I plan on doing during the challenge? Well, all is answered below. This, of course, will likely change as the 100 days progresses. So to keep up, check back to this blog regularly or follow my #100daysOfCode Github repo.

EndlessTrax / 100-days-of-code-2018

My first 100 days of code challenge! Wish me luck...

My 100 days of code challenge 2018

Why?

Because I need some structure! My life is hectic, at best. So I need social accountability (otherwise known as positive peer-pressure) to get shit done sometimes. It's how I wrote my first book!

This will also help me take steps to build my portfolio, friends, and confidence as I aim for the next level in my career as a developer.

The (modified) rules

I vow to code for a total of one hour per day. This will be done in one or more sessions.

This coding time will be used to build portfolio and personal projects, and not client work. It may include tutorials that involve following along while coding. Just watching the videos doesn't count. Writing pseudo code does count.

Writing coding tutorials for my blog may count towards the total time, but can not make up more than half of…

View on GitHub

(If you have never heard of the challenge, you can find the official rules and FAQ here.)

Why take the challenge?

Because I need some structure! My life is hectic, at best. So I need social accountability (otherwise known as positive peer-pressure) to get shit done, sometimes. It's how I wrote my first book!

This will also help me take steps to build my portfolio, friends, and confidence as I aim for the next level in my career as a developer.

The (modified) rules

I've taken the liberty (like many before me) to modify and extended 'the rules'. The rules below extend the official rules of the challenge.

I vow to code for a total of one hour per day. This will be done in one or more sessions.
This coding time will be used to build portfolio and personal projects, and not client work. It may include tutorials that involve following along while coding. Just watching the videos doesn't count. Writing pseudocode does count.
Writing coding tutorials for my blog may count towards the total time, but can not make up more than half of the total time spent (30 minutes max).
On travel days I will miss no more than two full days consecutively. Any days missed will be added onto the end of the challenge until 100 coding days has been reached.
Acceptable reasons for missing a day:
- Traveling on plane/train/car over distance.
- Nursing sick children.
- Loss of limbs / or serious hand injury.
- Death.
Code is to be pushed to Github or Bitbucket (for private repos) daily. Not all code will be in my #100daysOfCode repo. Projects may require their own repo, in which case the links to those will be placed in the on this README.md file.

What will I build?

I have a few ideas. Some are mentioned on the repo for the challenge. Some, well, will be private. Not everything has to be open-source and free. ;)

One thing is for sure though, I will be starting the challenge with the Real Python Course. Some of it, admittedly, might be aimed at someone a little newer to programming than I. But practice is practice, and I'm sure I'll get plenty out of it all the same. I intend to share some of the things I've learned on the course on this blog.

In the spirit of transparency, I do work for Real Python as their Community Manager. The copy of the course I have is an advance copy of the newest version of the course, which I'm told has had major rewrites and will be released at some point later this year. I plan to be honest in my assessments and reviews, however, as I know my feedback will help improve the course for future Pythonistas.

Ready, Set, Go...

I guess the only thing left is to start coding! You can check my daily progress on Twitter (as per official rules). You can follow me on twitter, or search the hashtag #100daysofcode for updates.

Are you doing the challenge? If so let me know in the comments. Any advice you have will be appreciated :).

Happy coding.