DEV Community: kennethcassel

We're building an OSS library to embed executable code snippets on your site!

kennethcassel — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 15:27:15 +0000

Hey y'all!

We're building an open-source tool which makes it easy to include executable code snippets on your site.

Today we support:

Python + basic scientific computing stack (numpy, pandas, etc)
Typescript
Python's w/ Matplotlib

It's called run-wasm, it's free and open-source :)

We're on a mission to build the best tools for sharing instructional programming knowledge and run-wasm is just one small step in that mission.

We're leveraging existing WASM based versions of popular languages to execute code on the client.

Today, there are tons of really awesome WASM based languages, but most of them require a lot of configuring to use.

We're building an abstraction over these languages so that people can easily execute code in their projects via a simple api.

If you're looking for something fun to work on for Hacktoberfest, we're going to add a lot of new issues for the month :)

Can't wait to see what people build with it!

I built an interactive course that teaches you vim in the browser.

kennethcassel — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 12:12:12 +0000

I recently launched an interactive course (https://www.vim.so) that helps you learn vim in the browser.

Why build this?

I built vim.so because I was frustrated with how unapproachable it was to learn vim. The text-based tutorials didn't do a great job of helping me actually practice and get comfortable with vim.

I wanted something to help with muscle memory and be an easier onboarding to vim for developers.

This video shows what a lesson looks like 👇

Kenneth Cassel 🐍

@kennethcassel

vim.so is now in full release!

Learn and master vim with 10 interactive lessons designed to maximize your vim performance fast.

It's the last year of my learnings condensed into 10 actionable exercises in the browser.

Retweets appreciated

14:45 PM - 18 Jan 2021

Why learn vim?

If you're a productivity nerd (🖐) you'll probably like vim. Once you get past the learning curve, it feels like super-powered CMD+C, CMD+ V.

You can do things like "select all text within brackets" or "replace all text within quotes" or "go to first occurrence of this letter in this line".

With practice, it feels easier to stay in the flow while editing code.

The great thing about it nowadays is that you can use vim within most IDE's and code editors.

Vim in VS Code

I use vim inside of vs code as my main development flow. I'd been using vs code for years and didn't want to switch off of it. I think it's a powerful combination and allows you to start adding vim commands little by little while you're learning.

The vim extension I use is called vscodevim https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vscodevim.vim

I Built An Open-Source Resource for Data Scientists In an Evening

kennethcassel — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 14:35:16 +0000

I built the first version of Use Pandas in one evening. It's a collection of easy to use Python pandas recipes for Data Scientists, Data Analysts, and Machine Learning engineers.

Leveraging existing tools, I was able to quickly spin up and deploy a new site. I shared it with my LinkedIn and quickly got some decent traffic. The site went live October 22nd.

Quick highlights of the first 14 days

2622 Unique Visitors
5055 pageviews
A principal research from Microsoft (contributed)[https://github.com/kennethcassel/usepandas/pull/20] to the project!
Tons of new LinkedIn and Twitter followers

So let's get on to how I actually made the site!

Resources I used to make the service

How I built it

1. Choose a Gatsby theme.

My site is for code recipes so I had to find a gatsby theme that would take care of the bulk of this.

I was looking for a theme that had code blocks, syntax highlighting, dynamic page routes, and was mobile responsive.

I ended up finding this theme which met all my criteria.

2. Choose a name.

I was heavily inspired by Gabe Raglands site for react hooks called usehooks, so I chose a similar name. I purchased the domain usepandas.com from NameCheap.

3. Make it your own

I used the Namecheap Logo Maker to easily create a logo. I'm not a graphic designer but I understand the importance of something looking nice. The NameCheap logo creator is pretty awesome and it's FREE!

4. Deploy it

The gatsby + netlify integration is so easy to use. On merge's to the master branch of my repo, the site is updated. I never used it before this project and it was pretty easy to learn.

5. Share it with the world!

When I launched Use Pandas, I only had a few basic recipes on the site. I still got overwhelming positive feedback which gave me the motivation to add more.

I'm adding more recipes all the time!

If you'd like to here more from me, I build in public @KennethCassel

Getting rejected from Facebook ended up being a blessing in disguise

kennethcassel — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 10:58:21 +0000

In September 2018, I applied for an internship at FB. I got the interview but I bombed it.

It all ended up working out great for me in the end though.
Failing at the interview directly led to me landing my dream job.

(Check the story out in video form below, or keep scrolling for the text version)

September 2018

I'm a few years into studying CS, and I'm actively searching for a good internship or job opportunity. A good friend of mine ends up landing a FB internship interview.

So I ask how he got the interview and he forwards me the recruiter's information.

I sent him this email.

Shortly after that email and some back and forth, I land an internship interview with FB! This could be huge. I'm beyond excited, and I'm a little bit nervous.

I start preparing for the coding interview. I'm practicing leet code, whiteboarding with my friends, and studying up on interview tactics.

Searching for additional interview practice

I noticed that I wasn't nervous when I was whiteboarding with my friends.

How could I recreate the feeling that I'd have during the interview?

Luckily enough, I find a local developer group is hosting mock interviews! So, I sign up and go.

Algorithm questions weren't super popular at the meetup but I still got to practice a few simple ones under pressure.

Towards the end of the mock interview sessions, I end up meeting a guy named David. He's one of the co-owners of a local boutique software firm. We hit it off and he seemed impressed with my performance in the interview.

We decided to stay in touch and exchanged information. I add him on LinkedIn.

The Facebook Interview

The day of the FB internship interview came before I knew it and I still felt a bit underprepared.

I was able to find a solution but it was a O(n^3) (read: a very bad) runtime.

The interviewer seemed a bit distracted during the interview and I got the impression that he wasn't very impressed at all with my performance.

Rejected.

One good thing about the FB process was they got back to me almost immediately. The next day I was informed that I didn't pass the interview. I was a little bummed but not very surprised.

I still had a goal of landing a good internship and quickly got back to trying to improve my chances. One way that I did this was by going to lots of hackathons and documenting my progress on LinkedIn.

Through some luck and hard work, I was able to win 1st place at a hackathon with a team of my good friends.

Serendipity

David, the guy with the boutique consulting firm messaged our team on LinkedIn after our win. He had a project in mind for us. A paid project.

He was interested in hiring our team to build some proof of concepts in partnership with one of his clients.

After some back and forth, he brought 4 of us on as interns.

2 years later, 3 of us still work here full-time!

An overview of the events:

Friend gets a FB internship interview
I ask for a referral to the recruiter and get the FB interview as well
In order to prep for the interview, I go to a local interview prep meetup
I meet David at the meetup, who owns a consulting firm
I bomb the FB interview
I go to hackathons and stay active on LinkedIn
David notices my activity and happens to have a project that would be perfect for a hackathon team
David hires me, the friend who referred me to the FB interview, and 2 others

Current job and how it fits me better than FB

I've been here for 2 years now and it's been an incredible journey. I'm a full-stack software engineer.

I get to work on a variety of projects and my schedule is incredibly flexible. I mostly work from home, make a great living, and work with some of the smartest and fun people I've met.

There's so much opportunity for growth here and I really like the small company feel. My work directly has an impact on the entire company.

Thanks for reading y'all!

How has failing helped you in your career?

Get More Done Using a Hack Learned from Twitch Streamers

kennethcassel — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:37:26 +0000

I've noticed that reducing any friction on my side project is a HUGE productivity boost.

Reducing the number of steps to get to the actual coding part is critical, especially when tackling small tasks.

I found a simple way to launch my side project with the push of one button.

Now when I want to work on my side project, all I have to do is press one button and my dev environment spins up and my project builds automatically.

I learned this trick from Twitch streamers.

Some streamers use a device called a Stream Deck. It's a small hardware device that lets you launch macros with the push of a button.

Streamers use these to display certain graphics, apply sound effects, and more in their streams.

I found that El Gato, the maker of the stream deck, also publishes an app version of the stream deck.

*I've started using it in my dev workflow and have found it to be great productivity boost for me. *

Here's a link to the El Gato Stream Deck app for anyone curious.

You can set up different commands, macros, etc, and control your computer through the app.

I have a variety of shortcuts set up.

The green staircase opens a folder with various commands for starting my project Deliberate Python.
The owl is a folder with commands for my day job project.
GH is a shortcut that types my github URL.
LI is a shorcut that types my LinkedIn URL.
Stack overflow, github, notion, and hacker news are all shortcuts as well. These buttons open a browser and navigates to those URL's

How I used to get started on adding features to my project:

Open terminal
Navigate to my project
code deliberatepython/front-end
run npm start in vs code
Switch over to another desktop so I can open the backend code in that workspace
Go back to terminal
code my_backend_project
pyenv shell deliberatepython
uvicorn sql_app.main:app --reload

Using the Stream Deck app

Press the Front-end button on the stream deck app and let it complete all the front-end steps If I need the backend spun up, then I just:
Press back-end button on the stream deck app and let it complete all the back-end steps.

I've noticed that I'm able to work on small features easier when I only have 10-20 minutes here and there using this system. It's been such a big productivity boost.

5 Things I didn't learn in college studying Computer Science

kennethcassel — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 12:15:58 +0000

I studied computer science in college and completed my third year level courses before I dropped out to work in the industry full-time.

I've been a software engineer for 2 years now and I'd like to share 5 things I didn't learn in CS School.

If you're more of a video content type of person feel free to watch the video version here as well:

1. Code Review Process

When I completed my first code review, I was overwhelmed. It was for a colleague with > 15 years experience. I left no comments ,because in my mind, I had nothing valuable to contribute. And worse, what would my colleague think of a new engineer commenting on his code? Surely he'd think it was rude.

This is as far from the truth as it can be. My manager noticed I merged the PR with no comments. He kindly pulled me aside later on, and let me know what code reviews were for.

Code reviews are not a personal attack. They aren't a comment on someone's ability. They are meant to be a constructive form of review.

Code reviews are beneficial for the reviewer, the reviewee, and the code base.

If you're leaving a review, it teaches you to think critically about someone else's code.

Reading code effectively is one of the best skills you can develop as a software engineer.

If you're having your code reviewed, it encourages you to write readable code. You have this added pressure that someone else will look at your code, so it makes you write to a higher standard. Also, you get valuable feedback on your code.

Lastly, it helps the codebase stay up to current standards. Code review helps prevent unwanted, unnecessary, or incorrect code from entering your codebase.

2. Importance of UI

UI is important. UI is important. UI IS IMPORTANT!

Whether you're making a side project, or a project for a client, UI is important. Even for internal tools.

UI is how your product is perceived by everyone who is not a developer.

I learned this lesson when I worked on a project and built out all functionality without focusing on UI. The client perceived that very little work had been done, even when there was a ton of work completed.

UI is how you let people know you care about your product.

Even if you're not a designer you can use popular tools to make your work look better.

Some tools I use often:

Dribbble - Tons of beautiful UI designs and examples to get inspiration from
TailwindCSS - A fantastic and easy to use CSS utility
Cooloors - Generate beautiful color palletes

3. CI/CD

CI/CD is continuous integration and continuous deployment.

I never even heard about CI/CD in college. It wasn't until my first software job where I learned just how important it can be.

There are ton of great resources about CI/CD online so I won't go too in depth here.

The main benefits are shorter iteration times, the ability to deploy easily, and less manual errors.

Getting comfortable setting up your projects with a CI/CD pipeline will help you ship faster.

4. Agile / Project Management

Most companies use some form of project management like Agile, Scrum, or other popular methodologies.

The methodologies dictate meeting frequency, deadlines, dealing with scope creep, and more.

We didn't cover this topic in school.

Luckily, it's pretty easy to learn the basics.

It was definitely eye-opening to see how software was built in the real world.

It'd be worthwhile looking into the various methodologies and seeing which one aligns well with your personal preferences.

5. Working with Legacy Codebases

This is a big one. Working with legacy codebases is a large part of most software engineering roles. I'm a bit surprised they don't teach strategies for exploring legacy codebases in University.

There is a gigantic learning curve with familiarizing oneself with a legacy codebase.

One way to get this experience before your first job is to contribute to open-source.

Exploring an existing project and finding a way to make a meaningful contribution will be a huge first step to becoming a better software developer.

That's it!

If you have any thoughts on other items that CS school doesn't teach you, I'd love to hear them! Comment below.