DEV Community: Tom Reifenberg

Dabbling in Development - Learning Resources

Tom Reifenberg — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 20:14:21 +0000

Over the past few months, I've had more friends and former colleagues reach out about switching to tech from their current careers; this is so thrilling, I've decided to collect a few resources that have been invaluable in my learning path as a software developer!

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100 Days of Code Web Dev

To kick things off, this isn't a course I've utilized, but it collects so many key elements of web development for an absurdly low price (if it's not on sale for $10 - $12, check back the next day). The team at Academind makes some top notch courses, this just gathers up some of the greatest hits.

The course, formatted to follow a handy "100 days of code" timeline, will give you a well-rounded look at the building blocks of web development. This would be a great starting point to see which aspects of development appeal to you for deeper learning, or whether you want to reconsider the career move itself!

Academind has a mountain of courses that dive deeply into specific frameworks (I love the course on Angular) and their catalog provides some of the best bang for your buck. In addition, they have a free Discord server to join where you can get feedback and encouragement from fellow students, or advice from the instructors.

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Scrimba is a great platform, since the lessons/projects you work on all happen in an interactive screencast. Unlike Udemy or Youtube, this makes pivoting between looking at a lesson and working through your own coding exercises seamless.

These courses are free and deal with Javascript and a popular library for Javascript called React.

I’d avoid jumping into it before giving a more generalized web dev course a shot, though; Javascript is definitely trickier to learn than other pieces, like HTML and CSS.

If the free courses and learning style on Scrimba click for you, they also have a full front end developer career path that's a great value. You can also skip right past that, use tons of their free courses, and join the excellent Discord community to keep growing your skills and network.

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Codecademy is also a high quality platform. There’s a little quiz on the landing page that can help you see what languages and career paths could be interesting (or, just as important, whether it all sounds terrible to you!)

While it doesn't have interactive screencasts like Scrimba, Codecademy has lots of helpful written explanations and short videos built into the learning process. There are also hints and tricks to help unblock you during exercises.

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Freecodecamp is a real behemoth in the learning space! I'll keep this section vague, but I’m adding it just in case what gets covered in the web dev course sparks an interest in a specific area of software development. At that point, Freecodecamp would be a great resource for deeper learning in specific topics.

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With so many learning platforms and learning styles, figuring out where to get started in learning to code can be a daunting task; if you start feeling analysis paralysis, my best advice would be to get started on any of these platforms;

Hacktoberfest 2021 - Growing With Pull Requests

Tom Reifenberg — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 16:36:31 +0000

Background

I got my start with open source with last year's Hacktoberfest; that was certainly a wild year, but it was a great time to get started on collaborating with folks outside of my bootcamp at the time.

Progress

Knocked out all of my open pull requests the other week, so I'm done with those contributions for the season!

Contributions

It was a pretty straightforward roundup this year; worked on some starter kits for the event, then helped fix up some issues on Javascript games that were tagged for Hacktoberfest, but not getting much attention.

Reflections

This was an even better year than 2020's for me! I had just finished a coding bootcamp when it started back then, so it's been great to have something to benchmark how my skills have advanced over the course of a year. I'm looking forward to Hacktoberfest 2022 already!

From Site Design to Website Design — The Landscape Architecture to Tech Pivot

Tom Reifenberg — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 20:16:52 +0000

Making the career switch from architecture to tech can be daunting, but it’s worth discussing all the benefits and drawbacks to the change.

If you love slapping stickers on your work machines, have I got a career for you! Photo by Oskar Yildiz on Unsplash

Last year, I chronicled my journey from the field of landscape architecture through a coding bootcamp in the midst of the pandemic. At the time, my main focus was showcasing an excellent government program that helps anyone hone new skills to enter stronger markets. If you missed that and are curious about the details, feel free to take a look below!

Free Coding Bootcamps: A Practice in Patience

Some peers from my architecture/engineering network have reached out to hear more about this career move, so it’s high time to talk about how it may work for you! We’re seeing massive shifts as the Great Resignation chugs along; many folks are reassessing their chosen fields, the ways they’ve been treated during the pandemic, and how to secure more stable work with a better work-life balance.

After completing the career switch and started work with a client, I have a better grasp on the parallels, significant benefits, and occasional downsides of doing so. While we won’t discuss every facet, I aim to provide some insights for my friends in the broader field of architecture considering the move.

Note: I’ll jump between talking about architecture as a broader field where applicable, and landscape architecture when those points are more specific to my experience in that subsection of the industry.

Lil’ Recap

We’ll run through my backstory for context (and so you can avoid reading the previous article); I was laid off from my work in landscape architecture right as the pandemic was kicking off last year. After seeing my partner successfully switch from a career in the arts to tech, I’d been mulling over the change and decided to go all-in during the lockdown, putting an end to 5 years in my field.

I registered for a coding bootcamp and self-studied through the fall. As winter began, I entered an internship with Cognizant, learning so much over the course of the season that they’ve since hired me on as a full stack engineer. Now, let’s get back to comparing fields!

Industry Parallels

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Problem Solving

I bet this will come as a shock to very few folks, but one of the strongest connections between tech and architecture is the ability to solve unconventional, untested, and unique problems. Every day brings along a host of new challenges and curveballs in both fields, so being able to think on your feet and create strong solutions quickly is invaluable.

Design Thinking

Whether you’re brainstorming ideas for a building, an urban design for a campus, or ways to restructure an application for new use cases, a well-honed focus on design is key. Applications have a complicated architecture all their own that can frequently change and evolve along with client needs. Being able to visualize these interconnected systems is another key space where your skills come into play.

I’ve always enjoyed connecting design systems while creating new landscape designs; creating harmonious balances between the uses of pedestrians, vehicles, the flow of water, local wildlife, and so much more is such a gratifying challenge. This feeling comes through in tech as well, where you’re focusing on the interplay between end users, the logic built on the back-end to make their experiences function, and the databases/authorizations that store and secure the data making our world spin; a strong contender for my favorite area of overlap.

Presentations

I’d argue the art of presentation is crucial in any profession; you may not be hobnobbing with clients directly in either role, but you’re still putting this skill to use every day. Defending your design decisions for a planting palette with your team, discussing the strengths of different database structures with tech leads, or drafting up emails to project managers about potential roadblocks all require the knack for conveying your ideas clearly and persuasively.

Technical Prowess

Though odds are slim you’re working with code in your current role, there is plenty of use for your technical skills in the tech industry! Learning how to calculate effective grading for site designs, digging into details to build safe retaining walls, or drafting up construction documents and 3D models have all built up your abilities to create effective digital documents.

Bailing Has Perks!

A tough section to illustrate, here’s someone working remotely? Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Even with so many transferable skills, switching careers is no small feat; the stars need to align with a layoff/unemployment benefits and government bootcamps/scholarships, or perhaps putting in the hours after an unreasonably long day of work to teach yourself incrementally. It’s a sizable step to take any way you approach it, so here are a few of the strongest advantages of this switch that I’ve enjoyed:

Salary

An obvious one up top, and a strong motivator for many, the starting salary difference is mind-boggling. My starting salary as a full stack engineer was double what I started out with in landscape architecture. Even after 5 years in that field, with modest pay raises each year, the junior developer pay rate has significantly improved my financial situation, putting it above even senior designers in my old field. I’m pointing all of this out, not as a flex, but to let you know that the change is met with a financial payoff!

Work/Life Balance

I entered the architecture field thinking that working overtime constantly, jumping through hoops for project leads, and giving up my time on the weekends to projects was just the name of the game in the corporate world. Surprisingly, though, a great deal of companies for software development are invested in a healthy balance for their employees instead of burning them out.

Developers are in high demand and incredibly tough to replace, so I’ve heard many anecdotes of managers actively discouraging their devs from working outside of agreed upon schedules. (There are also plenty of companies with imbalances in tech, to be fair, but it’s much less prevalent than architecture.) This has been one of the largest quality of life improvements for me, freeing up so much time to explore my hobbies, see family and friends, and simply take good long rests to stay refreshed.

Job Security

This will vary region to region, but holds out as a constant anywhere you live; go on to your industry-agnostic job board of choice (Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster(are they still around?) and look up available roles for landscape architects/designers and web developers in your area.

Last I checked, Chicago had around a dozen roles at any given time in landscape architecture, while the number rockets into the thousands for devs. You’d think the discrepancy would be less severe in America’s third largest city, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that you’ll always have plenty of opportunities wherever you live. There are thousands of roles going unfilled in tech every day, and you’ll have dozens of recruiters reaching out constantly with competitive offers.

Benefits

Another point that could change depending upon your employer, but I’ve seen a significant boost in the quality of benefits offered in the tech sector; better healthcare plans with competitive rates, more generous 401(k) matching, stock options/discounts from your company, and a whole host of wellness options are available.

Tech companies are all competing to bring in talent with quality of life improvements, a tactic that is nonexistent in architecture at large. A firm I worked at did pretend to put serious effort into enhancing benefits, creating multiple meetings, surveys, and committees to see what we’d all like. Months later, with many employees said they’d want better healthcare, more parental leave, and other perks, the final result was “nothing will fundamentally change, but thanks for your input :)”. That’s just my anecdote, of course, but not uncommon to hear about in that field.

A Few Drawbacks, In Fairness

What can I say, it’s cool to help shape the spaces people use! Photo by Luiza Giannelli on Unsplash

As much as I’ve felt fortunate to switch careers, with most everything being an upgrade, there are a few elements missing from tech that I’d be remiss to leave out. They can certainly carry quite a bit of weight when making such a big change:

Ephemeral Projects

A sizable, obvious difference here; when designing landscapes, buildings, or anything like that, you’re putting in so much work for a project that will (hopefully) be constructed within a few years. After all the design meetings, construction documents, chaotic deadlines, and compromises made through value engineering, being able to see what you’ve drafted made real by skilled folks on the construction site is incredible.

Building applications and getting them into the hands of customers over a matter of weeks or months is also thrilling, but doesn’t have the same force or longevity.

Design Tools

Both fields deal with design thinking, but architecture (especially in the early stages) happens with sketches, models, and rough drafts done by hand. It’s not a perfect switch over to tech, where you can be roughly building out flowcharts of how your applications will come together.

The Plants!

My favorite part of the profession (that always ended up being about 5% of the work, sadly enough) was getting to create planting designs for the landscape itself; researching native, drought-tolerant, habitat-boosting plants for different regions all over the world is incredibly rewarding, rooting the profession in unique climates around the world.

The ecosystems you’ll get in tech revolve around how your applications will work with Apple’s or Google’s products.

Conclusions

Ultimately, it’s a tough choice to figure out whether you’ll pivot at any point in your career. I certainly didn’t come to the conclusion overnight; it took quite a bit of exposure to tech, and people working in it, to realize that I’d be able to thrive. The industry always seemed inaccessible, built for digital wizards and computer science folks far more tech savvy than I could ever be! My hope is to show how you can apply skills, strengths, and thought processes from your industry to tech, creating a new career path full of incredible perks and engaging projects.

While I wrote this to address questions specific to my friends in landscape/architecture at large, I’m more than happy to discuss the career move with anyone considering tech.

There’s a place for everyone here and I’m always down to talk through logistics, finer details, or simply to be a hype-man!

Hacktoberfest: So Much More Than a Free T-Shirt & Planting Trees

Tom Reifenberg — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 23:01:01 +0000

An Introduction

I'm Tom Reifenberg, a recent coding bootcamp graduate shifting careers to software development from landscape architecture. Joining Hacktoberfest has been an excellent opportunity to hone my new skills, search Github for cool projects, and lend a hand with some code tweaks to make everything run a bit smoother.

Progress

I'm thrilled to say I've accomplished the four pull requests needed to succeed, look at that victorious picture of a grooving parrot, and eagerly await the arrival of a slick looking shirt celebrating the event!

I have a few bonus pulls (and quite a few that fell outside of the Hacktoberfest tags), but I'm still planning on getting a few more bonus contributions to have more fun with the open source community.

Contributions

There were some nifty projects to help improve; a few were basic, like an introductory project where everyone contributes inspiring codes to a database, but others dive a bit deeper; for example, I'm in the process of helping build a stock price checker that links up to NASDAQ's database.

Reflections

Hacktoberfest has been a blast! I saw in the first few days that there was a rush toward spammy contributions, but it's so great to see how the event organizers reshaped the fest around project maintainers; instead of having thousands of people spamming every open source project, it's so smart to have maintainers tag repos in support of Hacktoberfest.

I'm looking forward to participating again next year! It will be interested to see how much my coding skills have grown between now and then, plus I hope to have a few projects available for everyone to enhance.

Free Coding Bootcamps: A Practice in Patience

Tom Reifenberg — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 22:39:38 +0000

With countless platforms selling knowledge, make use of government programs to reskill and reenter the market without financial constraints.

There are some incredible public support systems in place to help you shift into a new career. Photo by Maxim Melnikov on Unsplash

(Note: This article was originally published on Medium; it's likely most folks on DEV are already familiar with coding and bootcamps, but I've decided to share on this platform as well in case anyone is curious about entering bootcamps through free, public options.)

As the title reveals, I’m entering the world of software development from the increasingly popular pipeline of bootcamp graduates. While these range wildly in terms of price, quality, and attendee reviews, there is an underutilized government resource that won’t financially gouge you in an already challenging time. Though this path isn’t ideal for every situation, I’ve outlined the benefits and drawbacks below.

On the razor’s edge of the pandemic outbreak in the United States, I was laid off from my job in landscape architecture. It’s a career path I’ve enjoyed and learned so much from, but this seemed like a natural time to reassess my life goals and pursue a career with more invigorating possibilities that still combined technical prowess with creative problem solving; software development is a natural fit, so I began learning the ropes on Codecademyand freeCodeCamp.

While I mulled over my next steps and studied JavaScript in the spring, my partner pointed out the possibility of attending a bootcamp at no cost through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). This program helps successful applicants refine their skills, either for a new career path or to gain knowledge in their current field. Additionally (and unlike other bootcamps), WIOA will work with the unemployment system; this allows you to receive payments while in training, an invaluable buffer while you focus on learning so many new skills!

Many of the courses (in Chicago, at least) don’t relate to software engineering or are quick sessions to learn a single skill. In Chicago, Microtrain offers a 12 week Agile Full Stack Web and Hybrid Mobile App Development Bootcamp, which covers a broad range of skills over a few short months. Getting accepted into the program and completing my bootcamp with Microtrain was an excellent experience, but there are a few variables to consider if you’re interested in this route.

Patience will be your greatest strength in the application process. Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash.

Do you have time to wait for acceptance into WIOA’s program?

One of the biggest drawbacks to this path is the time needed to apply, wait, and start the program. I started the application process in March a day before they closed down the offices, retooled everything to be remote, and were busy in that process until May. I didn’t get fully accepted into WIOA until June, with the bootcamp itself starting a few weeks later.

Perhaps it will be faster for you, since they’ve adapted to the reality of online applications, but this still involves taking tests, submitting a mighty number of forms, interviewing with career coaches, and sitting in on training courses. This will take time, but is crucial to prove your commitment to using the training voucher’s investment responsibly. Being able to attend training for free was absolutely worth the wait, but I’m fully aware not everyone has the ability to be in limbo for so long.

Do you have the time to train each week, study outside of class, and fully commit to the course?

If you’re entering software development from any other career, I won’t pretend it’s going to be easy. Even with a background in engineering, math, and science in general, it took quite some time for core concepts of development to fully click.

Some classmates entered with a whole wealth of skills in JavaScript, Java, Angular, and all sorts of experience that let them breeze through earlier lessons; for the rest of us, it took a great deal of dedication outside of class, finding study materials that suited our methods of thinking to supplement knowledge gained in the swift speed of classes. Learning will be a full-time job during the bootcamp, so it’s best to brace for that impact on your schedule any way possible.

Do you have a genuine interest in development? Will you spend time before the bootcamp kicks off studying, discovering what role will make you the happiest?

I took time before classes kicked off to study JavaScript intensely, supplementing with smaller tutorials and projects revolving around HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and other front-end elements. Knowing we would work in Linux (which is now my favorite operating system!) while coming from a background in Windows, I started practicing with the command line, learning how to operate version control with git and navigating files through the terminal.

This practice paid off when the bootcamp started at a swift pace, letting me reinforce the basics during class while studying more complex applications afterward . This isn’t to say you need to enter a bootcamp with a rock solid understanding of every language, framework, or database you’ll cover. Rather, it will prime you for the nomenclature and broad use of each element in the tech stack you’ll learn. Once it comes up in the course you won’t feel like the instructor is talking in circles around you.

These may be tough questions to answer, especially with so much uncertainty in life these days. If you’re able to endure a lengthy application process, dedicate plenty of time outside of class to learning, and discover some interests before the bootcamp begins, I’m confident looking into WIOA’s offerings will be worthwhile.

Bonus Tip: Having multiple screens will be a massive boost to developing and testing your applications. Photo by Tarn Nguyen on Unsplash

At the bootcamp’s end you’ll have covered such a dizzying number of tools, but I have no doubt a few will grab your interest; as my session wrapped up earlier this month, I became deeply intrigued by React and am now taking an excellent course on Udemy to really dig into this library while building fun projects.(If a course you want is full price, just wait until they offer a discount; most will drop down to $10 — $15 every other week.)

I’m proud of the work I’ve done, the portfolio I’m improving every day, and the network of amazing people I’ve connected with on LinkedIn and Twitter. If there are any finer details you’re curious about when it comes to this underutilized pathway into tech, please feel free to reach out any time on any platform!