DEV Community: Sarah Bartley

Anxious About the Tech Market? Try Digging a New Hole

Sarah Bartley — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:23:24 +0000

2026 can feel like an uncertain time to be in tech. Developers today might feel anxious and concerned about everything happening lately. Tech is always changing, and over the past 11 years since I wrote my first line of code, popular programming languages and frameworks have rotated like fashion trends.

When I started learning how to code in 2015, Ruby dominated the online conversations. A couple of years later, JavaScript took the spotlight with people debating which JavaScript framework was the best to learn. Today, Python has risen to one of the most in-demand programming languages to learn.

AI has been a disruptive force, and the world has been feeling the ripple effects. Every industry has been touched by AI, and more so in tech. Developers can use AI to help them code, making debugging and refactoring much more powerful skills regardless of the language or frameworks they use.

The coding journey isn’t always smooth sailing.

It doesn’t matter if you are getting started or a senior developer who has been coding for years. This journey itself tests every developer, regardless of what goals and destinations people want to reach. That means at some point every developer will encounter challenges such as impostor syndrome and burnout along the way to where they want to be.

The technical landscape has changed a lot since 2015. This journey is now adding new challenges that developers will encounter. Developers in 2026 face new stress and anxiety with a difficult job market, company layoffs, and jobs in danger of completely disappearing.

Most Twitter chats ended as new social media platforms emerged on the scene. Many online communities struggle to cover basic operations. Coding bootcamps and online coding schools began hosting webinars helping new developers handle the anxiety and stress that comes from navigating tech through a changing landscape and addressing AI worries.

The road through tech differs for each developer.

Adda Birnir (founder of Skillcrush) once said during a webinar that learning to code is not a linear path. It is instead an s-curve with lots of highs and lows along the way. These highs and lows will vary in size for every developer, making the journey each developer takes unique.

My journey definitely is an s-curve. If anything, it might look like a bunch of squiggly lines going all over the place from languages and frameworks I’ve learned, projects I’ve made, and experiences I've had. My coding journey hasn’t been smooth sailing, and there have been times when I get too wrapped up in my head and wonder if having a place in tech is still possible for me.

I have pivoted quite a lot in tech from learning based on the languages and frameworks I’ve learned and the resources I’ve tried. I often feel like my mind has an internal GPS that often says “recalculating” when I go down different routes that would get me closer to the end. I lost count of the number of times I stopped to self-reflect to check what direction I am going in.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future in tech for the past couple of years and even more now that I’m back on the job search. I’ve learned throughout the 11 years in tech that it is less about the destination and the paths taken that shape my tech story. As new challenges pop up for developers to face, I am re-examining the end destination that I spent years working towards and how the routes to the finish line are changing.

These changes feel like the maze is switching up the paths while I’m still inside. This is making it harder to stay hopeful as I was in 2015. I’m not sure what my future in code is going to be right now because I don’t think tech itself knows what the future has in store. Although AI is here, there is always something new waiting to shake up the coding world again.

So what should a developer do now?

There may be a lot of things happening right now, but the best thing anyone can do is have a clear target to focus on. This means concentrating on the things you can control instead of the things you can’t. When I’ve been feeling this, it seems like I am digging in the same hole and expecting different results.

Lately I’ve been pivoting away from learning more about coding to learn different skills not related to tech. I’ve been exploring design, data analysis, project management, and even a bit of AI. I’ve even been able to play around with tools I’ve always wanted to try and learn more about Agile and Scrum, two skills I’ve had on my coding to-do list from when I first started learning how to code.

I might not be writing a lot of code these days, but exploring other skills that complement coding is still helping me work towards my goal of being the best developer I can be. They also help me feel like I’m trying a new spot to dig for a bit to see what results it will bring. I haven’t given up on coding, but I am taking a bit of a break.

It is easier said than done to start paying attention to the things you can control. However, you can take baby steps to getting there. Here is a starting place developers can begin at as we all navigate everything happening in tech.

Revisit past projects.

When I was learning to code, I received a lot of advice encouraging developers to build new projects. That is still great advice in 2026, but coding isn’t about always creating something new. Developers shouldn’t forget the code they have already written.

Take some time to go through your GitHub profile and look at all the repositories you have done. Are there any that you’ve been meaning to fix or improve? Maybe one of the projects you made was written a certain language or framework that has been updated since then.

Did you make something when you started learning how to code that makes you cringe when you think about it? This is your opportunity to go back and either rebuild it using what you know now or improve on it. One thing you can do is take a project that you wrote in a different programming language and build it in another language or framework you learned.

Revisiting old projects isn’t just about making things better and current with today’s coding standards. Looking at these projects is a good way to get inspiration and motivation. It will remind you of everything that happened when you built these projects and the progress you’ve made.

Build something you love.

The market may be tough right now, but it is the perfect time to start a side project. There’s quite a few things you can do. You can:

build the project you always dreamed of
write a blog post on a topic that brings you joy, or whatever your imagination comes up with
create a tool that will help you be more productive or make your life easier
make a game you always wanted to build

This project doesn’t have to be something you code either. Maybe you want to try a tutorial for a project you're always curious about, or simply tackle a chore you’ve been meaning to do at your home. That all counts too.

When we work on side projects, there is a vision of what the final result can be. This can include reaching a certain number of followers, earning a certain amount of money, meeting deadlines, and more. Don’t worry about these details for this project.

This side project is less about the final destination and more about the process. Think of it as a way to sit back and focus on the process. That means not worrying about the destination and just having fun doing the project.

The best kind of side projects you want to do are ones that are personal to you or have a special meaning. Maybe this project is based on something you have always been interested in or enjoy doing. Perhaps you are passionate about a certain cause and want to build something that will help achieve that mission.

Just make sure you schedule a little bit of time each week to do this activity. I’ve learned that if I don’t schedule time for side projects, they never happen. Set aside a certain amount of time each week for this activity you can responsibly do and make it as non-negotiable as possible.

Conclusion

Things might feel confusing, but this is a great opportunity for developers to get back to their coding roots. It is still great advice for developers to keep building things and constantly learning. However, all developers, regardless of where they are in tech right now, can still take time to rediscover the very things that got them back into coding in the first place.

How are you doing with everything that is happening in tech right now? Are you working on any side projects right now? Feel free to post any side project ideas and non-coding activities you are doing in the comments.

Introduction to Python Module Four Part Two: Indexing

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 18:32:40 +0000

Now that you are acquainted with lists, it is time to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s post is about indexing. You are going to learn more about how indexes work in lists and how to use them in code.

Indexing is a lot more than calling parts of a list you might need. Developers use indexing to double-check what value is at a specific index. This makes it very helpful when debugging lists.

Lists are mutable. Mutable means that any values inside a list can be changed after it has been made. At Coding with Kids, the values in the lists the students created throughout their projects would constantly change with certain values being added, removed, or changed.

How to Change a Value in a List

To change a value in a list, use the list name followed by the square brackets. Inside the square brackets put the number of the index you want to change. After the closing square bracket, put the equal sign followed by the value you are changing.

In the example below, I have a list called grocery_cart. When I want to replace the second value in the list, I use the index value of 1 because I’m counting the way the computer counts. I print this index value to the console to doble-check what value is at this index to see if things have changed.

grocery_cart = ["chicken", "ground beef", "salad mix", "blueberries", "tuna"]
grocery_cart[1] = "cheese"
print(grocery_cart[1]) # print cheese

If you have a bunch of variables in your code, you can move information stored in variables and put them inside a list. In the example below, I have different variables with various values assigned to them.

name = "Lucky"
age = 15
color = "orange"

If I want to turn these variables into a list, , I can create a new variable called cat. After the equal sign, I will assigned the values as list items inside the square brackets.

cat = ["Lucky", 15, "orange"]

Indexing with Strings

Developers use indexing to select specific characters in a string. Strings are similar to lists because they are sequences of items or characters. As you use indexing with strings, keep in mind that strings are a sequence of characters, so that includes punctuation and spaces along with individual letters.

For example, the code below has a variable called name with my name assigned as the value. My name is a string so I can use indexing to select characters in the string.

name = "Sarah"
print(name[1]) # print a
print(name[3]) # print a

Lists may be mutable, but strings aren’t. When developers are working with code that is immutable, they can’t change any of the characters in a string. If you try changing a character in a string, you will get an error message.

Introduction to Python Module Four Part One: Lists

Sarah Bartley — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:08:39 +0000

Today’s post returns to Sololearn’s Introduction to Python course with the next module. Module four is called “Working with Lists” and it covers everything new developers need to know about lists. Before you can explore everything you can do with lists, let’s start by basics you need to know about lists and how to create a list in Python.

Lists are very important in programming and you’ll be making a lot of lists regardless of what programming language you are using. Lists are an important programming concept because it enables developers to store multiple values to one variable instead of having multiple variables with different variables. Developers can just create one variable and have multiple values saved to that list.

When I was working at coding with kids, the students would use lists to store sprites and other items in as they were building their games. As you continue using lists, the items in your lists will not always be the same data type and can have as many values as you need to save to one variable.

Create a List in Python

The way you create a list is very similar to how developers create variables. When you create a variable in Python, you start by creating a variable. The same variable naming tips apply here so make sure you revisit those from previous modules. After the variable name, put an equal sign.

After the equal sign, you can start assigning values to a list. First, put an opening square bracket. This punctuation tells the computer this will be a list.

Next, put your first value. Before you create the next value, put a comma after the first value. Punctuation is important in programming and even more so in text based langauges like Python. If you don’t put a comma down, the computer will assume everything is one value instead of multiple values. Put a closing square bracket at the end of your list when you are done.

Here’s an example of a list of strings. I named this variable grocery_list using the variable naming conventions. After the equal sign, I have an opening square bracket followed by all the values I want in my list. When my list is done, it put a closing square bracket.

grocery_list = ["milk", "juice", "eggs", "cheese", "bread"]

Access items from a list

You won’t just be creating lists in Python. You’ll also need to access items from them. This is something you’ll do often in the projects you so you’ll be doing this often throughout your code.

To get items from a list, you will need the index number. Every item in a list has an index number. That index number is what the computer uses to locate it.

Computers count differently than we do and this impacts the way they assign index numbers in lists. This can get confusing for new developers because we have to learn to count by the computer. So make sure you count the way the computer counts when you are trying to get items from a list.

We count at the beginning of the list start at 1 then going got 2, 3, etc. Computers start counting at 0. So the first index for a computer will always be 0 then 1, 2, 3, etc. Accessing items with an index is similar to creating a list.

We start with a variable name then an opening square bracket. Put the index number of the list item you want. Put a closing square bracket at the end.

The example below is accessing items from the grocery_list list from the example above. If I want to access just the “milk” value from the list, I use the variable name and put the index in parentheses. If I print this to the console, milk will be the only value displayed.

print(grocery_list[0]) # print milk

June 2026 Check In: A Progress Update on the Last 6 Months

Sarah Bartley — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 22:52:57 +0000

It is time to reflect on the first six months of 2026. 2026 has been less about specific goals and more about habits. I selected six areas in 2026 that I wanted to focus on and improve at. You can read all about the six areas in the post below.

Sarah Bartley

Jan 6

New Year, New Habits: My 2026 Plan

#watercooler #devjournal #motivation

5 min read

Today’s post is a progress check on how the first half of 2026 is going and reflects on the progress I’ve made in the six habits I picked back in January. This post will also outline the steps I’ll be taking in each area to improve in these areas for the rest of the year.

The next progress check will be in December. This will be an end-of-the-year summary of how 2026 has been and the last progress check for the year.

Coding

The only coding I have done was the projects I was working on with students before my contract ended. I have been using this time to work on updating my GitHub profile and sorting through all my repositories. I like to think of it as using the kon-mari method to tidy my GitHub by deciding which ones can go on my LinkedIn profile, what gets deleted, or what can be archived.

There have been more portfolio updates. The portfolio section and projects page got the most updates with my best projects on the page. The ones that didn’t make the cut have ended up on my LinkedIn profile.

I’ve been trying to learn how to use more tools these past six months and was able to use Claude. Right now I’m learning a lot about Figma and have been playing around with designs to get used to the workspace.

Plans for Coding

Continue with the GitHub updates and remove any that I no longer update, as well as select additional projects for my LinkedIn projects section.
Use AI to help with coding. I am planning on using old freecodecamp projects to try coding more with AI and see what it is capable of.
Trying out more AI features on Canva, Grammarly, and X.

Writing

One is a post I contributed to the annual WeCoded celebration. I have been using AI to help with the brainstorming on my posts. I used AI tools to help brainstorm my last post and make an outline before I began writing.

WeCoded 2026: Echoes of Experience 💜

Sarah Bartley

Mar 6

Advice I’d Send Back in Time: Technology in 2026 and Four Lessons for My High School Self

#wecoded

8 min read

Sarah Bartley

Apr 14

How Netflix Got It Done: 4 Strategies Web Developers Can Steal from the KPOP Demon Hunters Oscar Campaign Playbook

#webdev #community

9 min read

It isn’t perfect, but I’m glad it is published. I will revisit this post again in the future to do further revisions and edits.

I’ve been cutting back on the writing to put more time towards the job search, but I am trying to write a bit in the evenings to see how it goes. I was able to write 8 posts so far this year. Cuckoo began misbehaving when I was doing 25-minute sessions, so I haven’t used it in a while. I am using Focus Friend when I do Pomodoro sessions.

I have gotten back into journaling. I have been doing the following:

Fox Tale phone app. I use this daily to reflect on each day.
Day One phone app. I use this to write random notes about the job search, coding, and professional development ideas.
Hard-bound journals. I write in a journal all updates on projects I’ve done each day, plans for the next sprint, and notes about the current session.

Plans for Writing

Writing in the evening for 25 minutes if possible. I might not be able to write a post each day, but I would like to write a bit each day.
I deleted my Pinterest account, and I was only able to post one thing on the Future Forem community during the first half of the year. I’ll be spending most of my time on DEV and writing about series I’ve already started. I’ll be particularly finishing the Skillcrush Git & GitHub course and Sololearn Python. I would like to make 80% progress on one of these series by December.
Brainstorm ideas similar to the KPOP Demon Hunters post. I like the idea of combining a non-technical idea with a technical one.

Learning

I’ve earned a lot of certificates from Sololearn and LinkedIn Learning on AI and project management. After finishing the last AI certificate on Sololearn, I’ve been spending my time on LinkedIn Learning and exploring other concepts. Some concepts I might explore in the future and others didn’t feel like a right fit for me.

I’m still using Drops to learn Korean, but I started to use AirLearn with my husband. I’ve also been learning Korean from different Instagram accounts I follow and made flashcards for some of the words I’d like to learn.

Plan for Learning

Continue using Drops for 5 minutes a day and doing AirLearn in the evening. I will try doing small batches of flashcards each day to see if I can master some of the words and phrases I’ve seen on Instagram.
Learn GitHub Copilot. Some members in Virtual Coffee are recommending Cursor instead of Copilot so I might try out both to see which one I like better.
Explore a possible language or framework to learn next year. Ones I want to research a bit more are Typescript and Vue.js.

Professional Development

My contract ended with Coding with Kids in March, so I’ve been back on the job search. I’ve been putting more time into the job search as I can and looking at jobs that are the best fit for me. I’ve updated my resume, portfolio, and social media profiles to reflect this new change.

Networking still needs work, but I’m making some progress. I have been spending more time in the co-working room on the Virtual Coffee Slack and haven’t been using Discord very much since leaving Coding with Kids. I am also trying to get better with LinkedIn and have been posting something new each week.

The side hustle/side gig idea sounds better to me as every day passes. I’ve been looking into possible ideas and have been using AI to help brainstorm what I should do. Talking to other members in the Virtual Coffee community and other online communities helps me get a better idea but gives me more courage to step outside the box.

Plans for Professional Development

Network much more. Attend a Virtual Coffee chat once a month or bi-weekly as well as utilize the co-working room. I also need to visit the Slack communities I’m a member of and participate in them just as much as I do Virtual Coffee.
Start one side hustle idea from the brainstorming list I have created.
Apply for more jobs.

Adulting

I like to do “No Computer Sundays” each week. This is one day out of the whole week I don’t touch my computer at all. I use Sunday for cleaning around my home.

I’ve started sorting through a lot of things around my home and tidying up specific areas. Right now I’m working on sorting through my office to see what items can be saved, donated, or thrown away. I will revisit The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up to see how else I can keep the office organized.

Each month, I do a very big deep clean and get monthly cleaning tasks done. Lately I’ve been trying to split up deep cleaning days into two days over the weekend. I haven’t done much cooking except for my husband’s birthday dinner in April.

My husband’s birthday dinner was a homemade Chinese noodle dish that Alton Brown had made on an episode of Good Eats. It wasn’t perfect and didn’t quite match what Alton did, but my husband loved it. This recipe will be something I will make more of in the future.

Plans for Adulting

Continue organizing and tidying the office.
Bake chocolate thumbprint cookies. This is a recipe I tried making over the holidays, but the cookies didn’t look like the ones in the recipe. I will try making this again to see if the second time is better or if it is just the recipe that is the problem.

Self-Care

The one area I haven’t made any progress on is crafting. I kept putting the tree skirt to the side, but I did try using Focus Friend and podcasts when I was last working on the skirt, so this approach worked. I will try scheduling time each week for crafting so I get a break from job searching.

I have been reading a chapter from a book every day, so I read a book every month. I have been posting a picture of each book when I finish each book. I finished reading all the books I received over the holidays and have started reading the books I got for my birthday.

I’ve also been using Hoopla through my local library and reading e-books here. I have been listening to audiobooks on two different apps in the evening or when I am doing a cleaning sprint.

Plans for Self-Care

Try crafting once a week for a while. I will schedule a day each week to work either on the tree skirt or one of the Woobles kits.
Continue reading a chapter in a book per day.

How Netflix Got It Done: 4 Strategies Web Developers Can Steal from the KPOP Demon Hunters Oscar Campaign Playbook

Sarah Bartley — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:58:42 +0000

The 98th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 2026. One Battle After Another may have walked away with the biggest prize of the night, but the true star of the night was KPOP Demon Hunters. KPOP Demon Hunters dominated the conversation throughout the night and won both categories in which it was nominated (Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song).

KPOP Demon Hunters has become a surprise hit ever since it was released on Netflix on June 20, 2025. All eyes have been on this movie throughout the award season, and the journey the movie has taken to get to the Academy Awards is an amazing story itself. People didn’t really start thinking of the KPOP Demon Hunters as an Oscar contender until Netflix announced they planned to put the movie and the song “Golden” up for Oscar consideration a month after the release.

Now that the 2026 award season has ended, people will be analyzing and studying the KPOP Demon Hunters Oscar campaign closely to identify everything that worked and what they can use to get the same type of results. Luck and money might be two reasons why this campaign was so successful, but on a deeper level, it was a much more. It was a tactical plan, carefully constructed and refined as it drew closer to the Academy Awards.

It was going to take everything Netflix could do to get KPOP Demon Hunters to the Academy Awards. The path KPOP Demon Hunters took to get to the Academy Awards is similar to the path developers take in tech. We set a destination we want to get to (i.e., finding a job, getting a freelance client, building a dream project, etc.), then we use a system to help us get there.

Is there anything we as developers can learn from this campaign? Today’s post is going to take a look at the Oscar playbook Netflix used to get KPOP Demon Hunters to the Academy Awards. I will share 4 strategies Netflix used and how you can apply them throughout your tech journey.

1. Staying Relevant = Constant Promotion

KPOP Demon Hunters were everywhere throughout the award show season. The singing voices of Huntrix were performing “Golden” live anywhere there was a live performance. As the Academy Awards approached, it was all hands on deck as the voice actors joined the promotional campaign and discussed the movie.

Netflix’s goal might look like it was trying to keep KPOP Demon Hunters in people’s minds forever, but it actually wasn’t the end goal. All their efforts during this campaign were aimed at keeping the movie top of mind and relevant. This meant keeping the movie in the conversation throughout award season.

Netflix’s approach is similar to building a fire in a fireplace or a campfire. They didn’t just have to build the momentum, but the hardest part was actually keeping it going. Every little action built or sustained the momentum they needed to get the Academy Awards, so the promotion was consistent and carefully timed.

Developers might not have access to a marketing team like Netflix does, but they are consistent with their online presence on the web. They aren’t posting every single day, but they are active. This means can be posting once a week on LinkedIn, committing code to GitHub, or networking in communities they are a part of.

You don’t need to post something every day because that’s a quick way to burn yourself out. You just don’t want to disappear completely from the web. So start small by sharing some of those small wins as well as the big victories every week, posting something on LinkedIn, or joining a conversation on a Slack channel.

Little actions like these do add up, and you’ll learn more about what you’re able to commit to. Think of it like working out. Constant promotion works best when you make time for it. It is less about having a set schedule you have to follow each week, but making room for it in your schedule in a way that works best for you.

2. Targeted Visibility = Showing Up Where It Counts

Visibility isn’t about being seen everywhere - it is about being seen by the right people. Streaming platforms like Netflix are experts on this because their job is to engineer visibility. Netflix used this skill throughout the KPOP Demon Hunters Oscars campaign to make sure their target audience saw this movie and heard “Golden”.

Movie studios don’t target the fans during the award show season. They concentrate on the Academy Awards voters, critics, and the media. KPOP Demon Hunters was already a hit with the fans, and the media was already talking about the movie, so Netflix’s attention was on the Academy Awards voters.

Many of the things Netflix did during this campaign did double duty by pleasing the fans and putting the movie in the eyes of the Academy Awards voters. The Huntrix girls made appearances at events where lots of people were watching, such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Snoop Dogg’s halftime show on Christmas Day. They also appeared at places Academy Awards voters would be at, like Time’s “A Year in Time” or other award shows.

Developers need to think about their target audience and find ways to build a connection to that audience. It doesn’t matter if it is a potential client or a hiring manager. Understanding your target audience and who they are is going to help you find and relate to them.

Every developer needs to have a basic understanding of UX design. Just knowing a little bit about UX will help you better put yourself into the perspective of any audience you want to reach. It won’t help you learn about your audience. It will help you keep your focus on this audience as you work towards the goal you want to reach.

After you get to know your audience, use this information to help bridge a connection with them. Developers do this by spending time in places their audience would be. You don’t need to be there every hour of every day, but you need to be active in these communities and provide value in these groups to build rapport with them.

3. Social Proof and Credibility = Building Trust

Popularity wasn’t enough to secure an Oscar nomination. People trust what others validate, depending on the proof used to support it. KPOP Demon Hunters was (and currently is at the time this post is published) the most-watched movie on Netflix during the 2026 award season, but that wasn’t enough proof to be seen as a legitimate movie.

Movie studios like to build legitimacy with reviews from well-known critics, media, and celebrities. When The King’s Speech was battling for the Best Picture category during the 2011 award season, the movie’s legitimacy received a big endorsement from the late Queen Elizabeth II. Various reports confirmed she watched the movie, and her comments about it appeared shortly before the Academy Awards that year.

KPOP Demon Hunters needed to build proof and credibility fast after Netflix announced their Oscar plans. Movie studios often do this by using all the accolades and awards the movie won throughout award season, and Netflix did the same thing for KPOP Demon Hunters. Netflix had tags on the movie indicating what movies it was nominated for or what award it recently won.

This didn’t happen on the Netflix platform either. The movie was introduced by the nominations it received, the records it broke on the music charts, and other accomplishments it achieved. The social proof and credibility also came from other celebrities (i.e., James Cameron) and the K-pop industry.

The K-pop industry could make or break this movie, so support from the genre was important for credibility. It helped that the writers and producers that were behind the music were already established in the genre, with several of the members on the music team behind big-name K-pop talents people know today. The other support came from K-pop artists who sang covers or copied the dances on their social media feeds. The most famous came from BTS when they referenced the movie in their first appearance together since 2022 to announce they were back in the studio recording ARIRANG.

Social proof and credibility help developers build trust with their target audience. People trust what others approve. Think of social proof and good credibility as extra evidence of your skills. Examples of proof and credibility for developers look like:

testimonials from previous clients if your freelance
endorsements from previous co-workers
recommendations from other developers

The secret to having social proof and credibility is real-world use. Your target audience wants to see how everything you do works outside of the web. Any proof you have will reassure your audience that you can do everything you are saying.

Numbers are going to be your best friend for this strategy. Developers include any kind of metrics in any place they share anything, such as their resume, LinkedIn, and portfolio. Some numbers that grab attention are things like traffic and engagement, so include these in descriptions if you are able to.

Even if you don’t have a lot of numbers, you can still show proof and credibility with what you post. Show live projects on your portfolio or LinkedIn. Developers like to show the live project as well as the code behind the project. Open-source and collaborating with others help build this, too since you can begin building recognition with other developers.

4. Personal Branding = Controlling the Narrative

Netflix wanted KPOP Demon Hunters to be nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Song. These two categories were full of a lot of strong contenders. Best Song contenders had contenders like Sinners and Wicked: For Good looking for nominations while the Best Animated Feature Film always has big competition coming from Disney and Pixar. KPOP Demon Hunters was unique, and this was an asset Netflix used to create the personal branding and help it stand out.

While the Huntrix girls and the voice actors were busy promoting the movie, the team behind KPOP Demon Hunters made their rounds to help create the branding for the movie. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were leading the way by helping Netflix form the narrative for the movie. They did several interviews throughout the award season by sharing behind-the-scenes information of making the movie and what decisions led to certain moments the audience saw on screen.

Maggie and Chris were soon joined by the team behind “Golden”. They began talking about how they made the song. EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick talked about the process it took to create “Golden” and how everyone contributed to the version fans love and sing today.

These interviews gave Academy voters a chance to understand what made this movie unique and innovative enough to be considered for an Oscar. The branding for KPOP Demon Hunters was consistent because the creative team and the actors both repeated the personal connection the team had with the movie and what it meant for them to be a part of this movie. These stories became part of the branding and gave it a personal vibe.

The branding was making a statement that it was more than entertainment. It was a movement that deeply connected with people. Good branding is clear up front about what it is.

It defines what it is in its own words. If a developer doesn’t define their brand, others will do it for you. This is a gamble since it might not be done well.

Frame yourself clearly. Let your target audience know immediately what your brand is. This isn’t just a title on your resume or LinkedIn. Some examples are:

frontend specialist focused on performance
UX-driven full-stack developer

Branding is tough, and it might be hard knowing where to start. Thinking of your branding as telling your story. What are the key parts and what should your target audience get from your brand?

Once you know these items, you want to highlight them throughout your online presence. Don’t just list projects or talk about what it does. Instead, highlight why the work you do matters. This keeps you in control of your brand and makes sure it reflects everything that you want your target audience to see.

Conclusion

Getting KPOP Demon Hunters to the Oscars wasn’t relying on luck. Netflix created and used a system to make their Oscar plans a reality. Being a web developer in tech uses a similar system to navigate the way to the destination one wants to be at. As tech evolves, developers treat themselves like a product and can’t rely just on skills alone.

It doesn’t matter if you are a newbie getting started in tech or an experienced developer. It is important to have a good system in place that combines your skills with what you know about your target audience and a narrative that keeps the attention on what your target audience should see. Take a few minutes to see what system you are using right now in tech towards a goal you are working for. Are there ways to improve it?

If you need help creating a system to help you reach a specific goal, don't hesitate to reach out for help in the comments. I encourage all developers to share what system they set up for themselves to help inspire others on what works for you.

Acknowledgements

ABC for the Oscars video image. This one is from the Movie Base YouTube channel. ABC made the original video private at the end of April so I found a better link.
ChatGPT for helping me create the outline and brainstorm for this post
Google for all the fact-checking I had to do.
KPOP Demon Hunters creative team (directors, music, Sony Pictures, Netflix)

Advice I’d Send Back in Time: Technology in 2026 and Four Lessons for My High School Self

Sarah Bartley — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:35:14 +0000

*Author context: This WeCoded 2026 post is a twist on a writing challenge Future did last year. This letter is written to myself back in 2000-2001 (I was a freshman in high school at the time).

Dear Sarah,
Congratulations! You are officially a high school student. You are almost finished with your freshman year.

I bet you are thinking that one year is in the bag and you have three more years left to go. That’s how I felt when I was in your spot many years ago. Have you started looking at all the college flyers that are coming in the mail?

Don’t worry if you haven’t gotten any yet. You’ll be getting plenty of those for the next couple of years as you start thinking about the future ahead. You won’t start doing college applications for 3 more years, so you’ve got plenty of time to think about each of these for now.

Here’s how things are going in 2026. I turned 40 last month (I’m middle-aged now, and let me tell you it isn’t as scary as people make it seem). I am still in tech am coding. Now I am starting to diversify my skills in data analytics, AI, and project management.

I did follow the traditional path after high school by going to college and graduate school. After 6 years in school, I spent a few years out subbing and teaching once I finished with school. By 2015, I was ready for a change, and that’s when I discovered coding.

2015 was a life-changing moment in my life because the decision to learn how to code transformed my life.

Technology might sound like a strange choice since most of the technology you have been around so far is the family computer and typing lessons you took in school. However, you’ll reconnect with technology on a deeper level at this time when you write your first line of code. My first line of code was not the fanciest line of code ever written, but it gave me a lot of clarity and set me on a path to connecting with the person I always wanted to be.

Remember this feeling because being in tech isn’t easy. Being a developer in 2026 is hard to put into words because technology is always changing. It might not seem quite obvious at first, but it is always evolving. You will see things like phones, VCRs, and CD players turn into new devices and software over the next few years.

Yet there are no signs of it slowing down. There is new stuff waiting on the horizon that will change the way people live and connect each day. If you can think of it, chances are technology will play a part in making it a reality.

As technology changes, developers are behind the scenes making sure everything works smoothly. Developers don’t just write code and create amazing things. They read a lot and keep an eye out for potential errors in their code.

AI is a big topic in 2026, and it has disrupted every industry. AI has shown why developers are still. It may make code easier to write, but human eyes are still needed to help double-check everything AI creates and spot errors that even AI might not realize it is making.

Debugging and refactoring will be vital skills in this new AI world, as well as understanding the syntax in every programming language and framework. When I started learning how to code in 2015, Avi Flombaum used to talk about how reading code is just as important as writing code. This will be very important as AI continues to learn and be used in every industry.

There’s a lot of exciting stuff that is coming your way.

I don’t want to spoil everything that is coming for you. However, I want to share four pieces of advice I’ve learned over the past 40 years that can help you where you are now. This will help you get started on the path to where I am now, much quicker and make the most of this time of your life.

Advice One: Take those career assessments seriously!

I know. These tests are very annoying and take so much time to complete because there are so many questions. You would rather do anything else than take a very long test.

It is very tempting to randomly bubble in answers so you can get done quickly and move through the rest of your day. DON’T DO THIS! Take your time and most importantly, answer as honestly as you can.

Those answers will give you a picture of not just the careers that are the best fits for you, but what your personality is like when it comes to different careers. You are going to have a lot of people telling you what careers you should go into and what will land you a job. That is a lot of noise that will distract and make it hard to hear what your gut is trying to tell you.

The answers you put on these tests aren’t going to be judged by anyone, and no one is certainly grading you on what career best fit for you. However, these assessments provide information on what is the best fit for you based on your personality, interests, and the way you work. That information is powerful as you get older because it will form a picture of what you are and what works for you.

You might want to check out the book What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles when you get a chance. This book includes some creative exercises that will help you even further figure out what you want to do. Take the information from the career assessments you take throughout high school and use them to really look at what you want and what you know best.

Advice Two: Start networking.

Word of warning: the job search is going to change as you get older. The way people find jobs is going to be heavily impacted by technology. The advice people will give you in high school and college won’t work by 2026.

Networking becomes much more powerful in the changing job market, and even in the most difficult job climates. Start building your network now. This is the perfect place to do it because you are in school. Your classmates are your first connections.

I am not saying you need to be best friends with every person you meet and hang out with them every weekend. Instead, you need to do things that keep you “top of mind”. That means saying “hello” to people and providing value to them.

The secret to networking is answering questions or asking them about things they know about. Specific questions work great here. You’ll learn that people like talking about themselves, so use that to help break the ice.

You will hear about a platform called LinkedIn when you are in college. Create this account immediately and start filling out your profile. Then send out connection requests to everyone you know ASAP.

Use this time as a way to practice networking. It will be tough because I know you are an introvert, but put yourself out there by going to events and talking to people in your classes. The key thing is to start now, and you’ll thank yourself later down the road.

Advice Three: Try different things to see what skills you like and what you don’t.

You will have a lot of stuff you are learning about right now, and chances are you have a lot of homework. So the thought of learning more things outside of school sounds like a crazy thing to do. However, you will thank yourself in the long run if you start learning more about things that interest you or just try out different skills.

The goal here isn’t to learn everything you can get your hands on. You want to use this time to learn and try different things to see how you feel doing them. Each time you learn a new skill, take a three-five weeks doing this skill and see how you feel after that.

That will help you see if it is a good fit for you. Some skills will sound scary and intimidating. You will immediately be less likely to try them and will immediately assume you will be terrible at doing it.

However, you won’t actually know if you until you try it yourself. It won’t hurt if you take a little time to try it for yourself. This way, you’ll know, and that information will give you lots of confidence.

This is the time to try that hobby you've always wanted to do or learn about something that makes you curious. You are in the right place to learn new things and might know people who are doing the things you are curious about.

Advice Four: Compare yourself to your past self.

Comparing yourself to others is the worst thing you can do. Trust me. It won’t make you feel better and will only make you feel worse.

I spent years doing this as a way to check how I was measuring up against other people my age. It made me feel horrible. I learned later that it makes no sense to do this, too.

Every person’s path is different, so you can’t compare things that aren’t the same. You’ll be tempted to compare yourself to others a lot, so you need to pay close attention when you start feeling that way. This way, you can catch yourself when you start going down that path and get yourself to stop.

When you do feel like you have made no progress, don’t look at others. Instead, look at your past self. These will be the previous versions of yourself.

What has changed?
What are you able to do now that you weren’t able to do then?

That’s going to be a much better way to see progress because you will see growth in each version. It doesn’t matter what size that growth is. All accomplishments, no matter the size, show progress.

While people get excited about reaching the big goals at the end, the small ones are the ones that keep you motivated in the long run and keep you going. We are our own worst critics, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself in those moments and look for the lessons you can learn from that experience. Remember, Rome (and Beyonce) weren’t built in a day.

That sounds like a lot right now, but these are things that if you do them now, you’ll be setting a good foundation to help you in the future.

Underrepresented groups work twice as hard to get where they want to be in tech. However, each person is proof that it is possible to be in tech. If they are able to do it, then you can absolutely do it as well.

The journey through tech is an S-curve with lots of ups and downs. You might find yourself in a curve longer than you anticipated. That’s 100% ok because everyone’s path is unique.

Being a developer in tech is less about the final destination and more about the journey to getting there. That is the exciting part and what makes the story. Each curve along the path will teach you a lot about yourself and will make you stronger as you accomplish every task along your way.

At the end of the day, you will be the one who has to live with the decisions you make. You know yourself better than anyone, so start thinking about what you value, like, and don’t like. There are no right and wrong answers, but you need to listen to what your gut is telling you and what feels right for you.

Most of all, don’t be afraid to start before you feel ready. Confidence comes from doing the work, not waiting for the perfect moment. Keep going. The effort you put in now will shape opportunities you can’t even see yet.

Love,
Sarah

Advice I’d Send Back in Time: Technology in 2026 and Four Lessons for My High School Self

Sarah Bartley — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:35:08 +0000

*Author context: This WeCoded 2026 post is a twist on a writing challenge Future did last year. This letter is written to myself back in 2000-2001 (I was a freshman in high school at the time).

Dear Sarah,
Congratulations! You are officially a high school student. You are almost finished with your freshman year.

2015 was a life-changing moment in my life because the decision to learn how to code transformed my life.

AI is a big topic in 2026, and it has disrupted every industry. AI has shown why developers are still important. It may make code easier to write, but human eyes are still needed to help double-check everything AI creates and spot errors that even AI might not realize it is making.

There’s a lot of exciting stuff that is coming your way.

Advice One: Take those career assessments seriously!

I know. These tests are very annoying and take so much time to complete because there are so many questions. You would rather do anything else than take a very long test.

Advice Two: Start networking.

Advice Three: Try different things to see what skills you like and what you don’t.

Advice Four: Compare yourself to your past self.

Comparing yourself to others is the worst thing you can do. Trust me. It won’t make you feel better and will only make you feel worse.

I spent years doing this as a way to check how I was measuring up against other people my age. It made me feel horrible. I learned later that it makes no sense to do this, too.

When you do feel like you have made no progress, don’t look at others. Instead, look at your past self. These will be the previous versions of yourself.

What has changed?
What are you able to do now that you weren’t able to do then?

That sounds like a lot right now, but these are things that if you do them now, you’ll be setting a good foundation to help you in the future.

The journey through tech is an S-curve with lots of ups and downs. You might find yourself in a curve longer than you anticipated. That’s 100% ok because everyone’s path is unique.

Love,
Sarah

Connecting Your Computer with GitHub - Part Five

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 18:43:03 +0000

Today’s post is the last post for the Connecting Your Computer with GitHub lesson. The last thing in this lesson is another lesson challenge. This is where students combine every concept they learned in this lesson together.

This challenge will focus on forking, cloning, and pushing to a repository. Skillcrush students use a repository to practice these skills. This repository is at github.com/skillcrush/105-project.

You can also do this challenge with another repository if you like. Just take time to find one you can use for this challenge. Before everyone starts this challenge, double-check you are on GitHub and have your command line open.

Step One: Once you have found a repository, look for the fork button and click it (hint: look at the top right corner).A pop-up window should appear. Look at all the options and make sure the “copy the main branch only” is checked. Click the button that says Create Fork when you are ready.

Note: Some repositories might show a message after you click the Create Fork button that asks where you want the forked repository to go. If you get this message, make sure you pick the option with your username.

Step Two: When your forked repository is copied into your GitHub account, make sure you are on the repository copy you just made. Click the green Code button when you are ready for the next step. You’ll get a pop-up window with the local and codespace tabs inside to appear.

Make sure you are on the local tab, then look for the SSH address. Click the clipboard icon to copy this address. This will start with git@github.com followed by your username

If you aren’t seeing the ssh address, double-check that the SSH link is checked. Once you’ved copied the link, we’re ready to move to the command line open.

Step Three: Go to your home directory in the command line. Use the cd and pwd commands to help you find the right one. Type git clone, then paste the SSH address you just copied from GitHub.

Press Enter when you are ready. I get asked for a passphrase on my computer often, so if you get this message, just type in your passphrase. Press Enter again, and the command line will show updates as the computer clones the repository.

The clone is completed when you get a message saying “Receiving objects: 100%” on the command line. Double-check using the ls command if you aren’t sure if it is in your directory.

Step Four: Go into the project directory. Skillcrush students would move into the 105-project directory. Use the cd command to move into the right directory. Don’t forget to use the pwd command if you aren’t sure where you are.

When you are in the right directory, open the directory. Your computer has different commands you can use to open a directory. Use the one that best fits your computer.

PC: explorer . or start .
Mac: open .

Step Five: When your directory is open, make changes to a file. Skillcrush students would right-click or control-click the index.html file that is inside to preview it in the web browser. If you are using a different repository file, you will want to see a preview of that project’s site with its index.html, if there is one.

After you look at the preview, go and make changes to the index.html file. Skillcrush students would open the 105-project folder in the text editor and make changes to the index.html file. These changes could be changing a headline, tagline, or images.

When you are done making changes, save your code. Make sure you refresh your browser window to see the changes you made and that were saved.

Step Six: Go back to the command line. Run the git status command. You will see it is under version control since the project is cloned directly from GitHub.

Once you see that the changes are ready to be added to staging, run the git add command on the file you made changes to. Don’t be afraid to run the git status command again to make sure the changes have been added.

Step Seven: Next, commit those changes. Use the git commit command and write a commit message. Keep this message clear and concise as you can.

Step Eight: Push your changes to the remote repository on GitHub. Use the git push command to move your changes. If you get asked for your passphrase, type the one you made and press Enter.

Go to GitHub and find the repository you are using for this challenge. Click the commits section. This section will have your latest commit now.

You can click on the commit message. The commit message will break down all the changes you have made.

Conclusion

This post marks the end of the Connect Your Computer with GitHub lesson. Now you have your computer connected to GitHub. You have also learned how to fork, clone, and push repositories on GitHub.

The next lesson in Skillcrush 105 is The Branding Workflow. This lesson is about how branches work in repositories and what git commands you need to create one. At the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to create your first branch on a repository.

Connecting Your Computer with GitHub - Part Five

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:08:36 +0000

Today’s post is wrapping up the Connecting Your Computer with GitHub lesson with the final Skillcrush. At the end of this lesson, Skillcrush challenges students to take what they have learned and apply all of it together. In this challenge, you will use forking, cloning, and pushing on another repository on GitHub.

Skillcrush has a repository students can use to practice forking, cloning, and pushing. You can find this project at github.com/skillcrush/105-project. However, you can use a different repository if you like.

Step One: Always make sure you are on GitHub and are logged in. Take time to find the repository you want to use if you don’t want to use the Skillcrush one. Once you have found a repository, look for the fork button and click it (hint: look at the top right corner).

The pop up window should appear. Look at all the options and make sure the “copy the main branch only” is checked. Click the button that says Create Fork when you are ready.

Note: Some repositories will give a message after you click the Create Fork button that asks where you want the forked repository to go. If you get this message, make sure you pick the option with your username.

Make sure you are on the local tab, then look for the SSH address. Click the clipboard icon to copy this address. This will start with git@github.com followed by your username

If you aren’t seeing the ssh address, double-check the SSH link is checked. Once you’ved copied the link, we’re ready to move to the command line open.

Step Three: Go to your home directory in the command line. Use the cd and pwd commands to help you find the right one. Type git clone then paste the SSH address you just copied from GitHub.

The clone is completed when you get a message saying “Receiving objects: 100%” on the command line. Double-check using the ls command if you aren’t sure if it is in your directory.

Step Four: Go into the project directory. Skillcrush students would move into the 105-project directory. Use the cd command to move into the right directory.

Don’t forget to use the pwd command if you aren’t sure where you are. When you are in the right directory, open the directory. Your computer has different commands you can use to open a directory. Use the one that best fits your computer.

PC: explorer . or start .
Mac: open .

When you are done making changes, save your code. Make sure you refresh your browser window to see the changes you made and were saved.

Step Six: Go back to the command line. Run the git status command. You will see it is under version control since the project is cloned directly from GitHub.

Step Seven: Next, commit those changes. Use the git commit command and write a commit message. Keep this message as clear and concise as much as you can.

Step Eight: Push your changes to the remote repository on GitHub. Use the git push command to move your changes. If you get asked for your passphrase, type the one you made and press Enter.

Go to GitHub and find the repository you are using for this challenge. Click the commits section. This section will have your latest commit now.

You can click on the commit message. The commit message will break down all the changes you have made.

Conclusion

This post marks the end of the Connect Your Computer with GitHub lesson. Now you have your computer connected to GitHub. You have also learned how to fork, clone, and push repositories on GitHub.

Connecting Your Computer with GitHub-Part Four

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:55:25 +0000

There is one concept left to learn in the Connect Your Computer with GitHub lesson. Today’s post will focus on pushing repositories to GitHub. Skillcrush students learn why developers push repositories to GitHub and how to push a repository to GitHub.

What does it mean when developers push a repository to GitHub?

Pushing repositories to GitHub happens every time you use Git and GitHub. You will use the git push command regularly when working with a repository. When a developer pushes a repository, the changes they have made to the local repository are sent to GitHub.

Consistency is crucial in programming, especially when collaborating with other developers on GitHub. The git push command helps make this possible, so everyone is on the same page. This command moves all the commits developers made to a local repository on their computers and sends them to the remote repo on GitHub.

Skillcrush instructs students to consider any changes they have made to the repository on their computers, as these changes are saved locally. That means this version is different from the original project saved on GitHub. You will need to use the git push command to make sure both the local version and the GitHub version are current.

The git push command takes the commits you make from the local repository and move them to the remote repository on GitHub. To push code from the main branch of the local repo, type git push origin [branch name].

git push origin main

The origin keyword means the repository the clone was copied from. Skillcrush says this is a forked repo on the GitHub account. The main keyword in this example refers to the branch you are adding your commits to.

You just need to check which branch you are sending your commits to. When I started learning how to code in 2015, GitHub used master instead of main, so some repositories could still use master instead of main. It never hurts to double-check everything when it comes to working with Git and GitHub.

Git Pull

After you type the git push command like the example, Git will take the main branch of your local repo on your computer and push any commits you’ve made to GitHub. GitHub will check the log of commits in the local repo with the commits on GitHub. If the commits aren’t on the local repo, Git will let you know by sending a message and telling you that you need to get these commits from GitHub.

A command that will help in these situations is the git pull command. The git pull command will pull commits from the GitHub repo for you. Type git pull followed by the remote repository name.

git pull example

Once you get these commits, merge them into your local repo. After you do this, you can push anything to GitHub. Type the git push command just like the example near the top of this post.

When you press Enter, Git will send commits to the main branch of that remote repository that the “origin” is going to. Remember, the only changes that have been added to staging and are committed will be moved to GitHub when you use the git push command. Make sure to run the git status command to check that everything you want to send to GitHub is committed.

When your code hasn’t been saved, added, or committed yet, the computer might send a message to let you know that the repository is up to date. All that is left to do is push your code to GitHub.

How to Push Your First Repo to GitHub

Ready to push the repository you have been working on to GitHub. Here’s a step-by-step guide to move your commits to GitHub.

Step One: Start on the command line (Git Bash or Terminal, depending on what type of computer you are using). Go to the repository you want to push. If you don’t have a repository yet, please revisit the post Create the First Repo in this series.

Sarah Bartley

Aug 25 '25

Creating Your First Repo

#git

6 min read

Don’t forget to use the pwd command to make sure you are in the right directory. Look for the repository name listed at the end of the file path. It might look like this:

/Jane/Documents/my-first-repo

The file path in this example is saying my-first-repo is going to be inside the Documents folder. The document folder is in Jane’s home folder. When you read a file path, start at the end and read to the left to find the right directory.

Step Two: Make sure you are also logged into GitHub and are on the GitHub dashboard. Look for a green button on the left sidebar next to the “Top Repositories”. Click this button.

When I create a new repository at the time this post is being published (2026), I am on the overview tab underneath my username. I switch to the repositories tab and click the “New” green button at the top of GitHub. It is next to the type, language, and sort dropdown menus.

Name your new repository. Skillcrush recommends using the same name as the repository you are trying to push. You can add a description if you like, but it isn’t required.

Keep the repository set to public and leave the default settings. Make sure the README checkbox is unchecked. Click the green “Create Repository” button when you are ready.

Step Three: GitHub will provide several different options for what you can do on this new page for creating repositories. Before exploring these options, ensure that you are using the SSH setup. Skillcrush has students push repositories from the command line so look at the headings for one that says “or to push an existing repository from the command line”.

When you find this heading, you can see all the commands you’ll use to push the code. You can type each of these lines in the command line, but GitHub provides an icon button that will copy everything for you so you can paste it in the command line.

These lines will do three things:

a.) Add the remote origin (GitHub) repository to your local repository.
b.) Change the brand name to main (if needed).
c.) Push the main branch to GitHub and set it as the default branch.

Step Four: Go back to the command line. Paste the lines you copied from step three and paste them in the command line. Press Enter when you are done. Let the command line process everything.

When it stops running, go back to GitHub and refresh your page. Your repository should appear now with all the files inside.

Are you not able to push to your GitHub repository?

You might get a message that says you don’t have permission to push any commits to GitHub. If you receive this message, you will need to run 'git remote -v'. When you use this command, it will display the remote origin repository associated with the directory.

When the computer displays this information, check the username. Is it set to yours or something different? If it is set to a different username, you will need to rename it. Use this example below to set the url.

git remote set-url origin the-url-you-just-copied

Press Enter when you are ready, and the computer will replace the username with your username in the url. Type git remote -v again to double-check everything has been changed. Next, try pushing your commits to GitHub again.

Connecting Your Computer with GitHub-Part Three

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:41:51 +0000

You know how to fork a repo, so it is time to talk about cloning. Cloning is often used with the fork command, so you will be using both of these commands together as you continue to work with Git and GitHub. Today’s post continues the “Connecting Your Computer with GitHub” lesson by talking about cloning.

This post will explain what cloning is and why developers want to clone a repo. Skillcrush students then practice cloning a repository with the forked repository they made from the last post.

What is cloning?

A clone on GitHub is a copy of the GitHub repo on your computer. This makes the clone command very important. Developers clone repos when they want to make edits to repos they have saved on their computers.

Before you start cloning repositories, remember that a cloned repository can be changed on the command line. However, clone repositories can’t be changed on GitHub. If you want to make changes to your cloned repositories, those changes need to be added back to the original repository.

Cloning often involves forking, so you’ll often see them being used together when you are working on GitHub. First, developers fork the repo they want to clone. Next, they clone the repo.

What should you do if you don’t need the connection back to the original repo? Skillcrush tells students they can just clone it without forking the original. It means you can make a copy and make changes without those edits going back to the original.

How to Clone a Repo

Step One: Always double-check where you are. Are you on GitHub? Go to GitHub and login into your account.

When you are logged in, find the repo you forked in the last post and double-check you are on this repo. If you haven’t forked a repo, go back to the last post and follow the steps to fork a repo. You can check if you are on the forked repository by looking at the username in the top left corner.

Step Two: Look for a green button that has Code printed on it. Click this button. A pop-up window will appear with different tabs.

Select the SSH key option. Click the icon with two squares overlayed on top of each other next to it. This will copy the URL.

Do you need to make sure that you are copying the right URL? The URL you need will start with git@github.com followed by the owner’s repo name and the name of the GitHub repository.

Step Three: Go to your command line. Next, navigate to where the cloned directory will be going. Skillcrush recommends students put their repositories in Documents or Desktop folders, but you can use whatever works for you.

Type git clone into the command line. Paste the SSH address you copied in the last step. Press Enter when you are done.

git clone git@github.com:redrambles/seasons

Step Four: You are ready to start making edits to the cloned repository you just made. Use the cd command to move into the new cloned repository. Make sure you use the pwd command to help you see what directory you are in.

cd seasons
pwd

Once you are in the right directory, start making updates. Open a file and make changes to your code. Edit this file as much as you like before moving to the last step.

Step Five: When you are finished with your updates, run git status. Type git add to add your changes. Type git commit to create a commit message.

git status
git add holiday.html
git commit -m "Added new holiday page"

Press Enter when youare done. Now you cloned your first repo. You can take time to find more repositories on GitHub and clone them for your GitHub account.

Connecting Your Computer with GitHub-Part Two

Sarah Bartley — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:25:31 +0000

Now that you are connected to GitHub, the rest of this Skillcrush 105 lesson talks about everything you can do with this new connection you just created. This means you can work with any repository you find on GitHub. You can now add repositories to your new account.

This lesson talks about a few different commands, such as forking, cloning, and modifying repos. These actions are what developers use to add repos. This means that at the end of this lesson, Skillcrush students push their first repo to GitHub.

Today's post is part two and will focus on forking. Skillcrush students learn what forking is and how developers might use it when they are on GitHub. They walk students through the steps for forking their first repo.

What is forking?

Forking might sound a little bit strange. It did to me when I first heard about this command. When you are working in Git, forking is how developers connect computers to GitHub.

A fork on GitHub means that developers are connecting their computers to GitHub. When people make copies of a paper, a copy machine will make a copy of that paper. This is similar to how a fork works on GitHub.

The computer can make a copy of the GitHub user’s repo. Unlike real-life copy machines, computers can take that copy and replicate it to the GitHub account. That replicated repo will remain connected to the original one that the computer made.

Skillcrush explains this better than I can. They tell students to imagine they are helping a friend with their code. Chances are, when you help a friend, you will create a copy for yourself.

This way, you can make changes without impacting the original. That also means avoiding confusion as well as less stress and work in the future. That is why developers fork a repo.

Before you start to fork repos on GitHub, there is one thing you need to remember. You can only fork repos on GitHub. It will not work if you are trying to do this on the command line.

Therefore, double-check that you are on GitHub when you want to fork a repo. You will use the command line later, but always check where you are starting when you are working with Git and Github.

How to fork a repository on GitHub

Step One: Always double-check where you are. Are you on GitHub? If not, go to GitHub and make sure you are logged in.

Once you are logged in, find a repo you want to copy. Use the search bar at the top to find any repository you want.

Step Two: Now that you have a repo you'd like to copy, go to the top right corner of GitHub. Find a button called fork.

Step Three: When you press the fork button, GitHub will ask you if you want to copy all the branches or just your main branch. This will depend on what you want.

If you just want the main branch, check the option “Copy the main branch only”.
If you want to copy all the branches, remove the check.

Step Four: When you are ready, click the button that says Create Fork. GitHub will create a copy of the repository. That copy can be found on your GitHub account.