Ask Grasshopper Anything Session 1 (8/20/2020)

Ask Grasshopper Anything!
88

Hi @Himanshu_Sharma,

You’re off to a great start!! I didn’t learn how to code until I was 28 :slight_smile:

I’d say keep doing what you’re doing - finding resources & opportunities to continue learning. After that, I’d encourage you to start building your own projects - they’re a great way to solidify your knowledge and showcase your skills!

Hope this helps! Best of luck on your coding journey!

Natalie

89

@Hannah_Strong

Hey there, great question!

While you can apply programming skills to just about any job, I like to recommend web development. It’s a gigantic field that is both very diverse in the technologies one can work with, and pretty friendly to newer programmers. Building simple websites is where I started my own foray into programming.

Jobs in React development seem to be the most in-demand in 2020, so I think that’s a safe area to focus on, however the field evolves all the time. One resource you might find helpful is roadmap.sh, which provides some useful recommendations that can help make the pathway to working professionally a bit more clear. Just keep in mind, these are recommendations, not requirements. You don’t need to know everything before you start applying.

Other software development areas include working on mobile apps (iOS and Android), embedded systems, QA engineering (responsible for testing products), Technical Writing, and loads more.

Good luck on your journey! Let me know if you have any follow up questions.
Ben

90

Hi @Flavio_Recchia,

I’m so happy to hear that Grasshopper has been a handy learning tool for you! Right now, we don’t have plans to expand into other programming languages, but I’ll be sure to pass this idea along to the team.

:slight_smile: Natalie

1 Like
91

@Neil_Maharaj

Hey there,

While I surely don’t speak for all web developers everywhere, I wouldn’t really consider code obfuscation to be part of the job. If there’s a bit of code you don’t want visitors to your website to see (such as that dealing with security and authorization), then you’d run that code server-side, and not in the browser. Additionally, code is protected by intellectual property laws, which prevents others from using it without your permission.

If you’re wondering why javascript files look much less readable than you’d expect when you look at them in your browser’s dev tools, this is because they are often “minified”, which is a process that transforms a block of code into the bare minimum number of characters required to run it. Spaces and linebreaks are removed, variables are renamed, etc. This reduces the size of the javascript file, which makes a website load faster.

Hope this answers your question! Let me know if you have any others.
Ben

92

Hi @Ayomide_Akerele,

I’m a bit biased :slight_smile: but I think Grasshopper would be a great place for you to start! You don’t need any coding experience, and lessons can be completed in just 5 minutes. You’ll start off learning the basics of JavaScript, and then choose which direction you’d like your learning to go (ie: create a webpage, learn automation, make animations, or prepare for job interviews).

As for advice, I’d say don’t give up! Learning a new skill takes time - there will be moments when you feel triumphant and optimistic, and others when you feel overwhelmed and defeated. But remember that it’s all a part of the learning process, and you can do it!

Natalie

93

Hi @Warren,

Thanks for the question :slight_smile: I recommend checking out this post: Super-charge your coding skills! It’s all about different steps you can take after completing Grasshopper.

Best of luck with your coding journey!

Natalie

94

Although there are no specific numbers on what the odds are given your case, I know that computer science is something that is global, and as such accomplishing your goal should be well within your reach!

95

Hey @Frederick_Kalu,

Functions aren’t the easiest concept to grasp — so don’t stress too much on it being confusing. Hopefully this helps:

A function is a block, or section, of code that can be run at any time, and can run multiple times. To run a function, you ‘call the function’.

Functions are all around us! For example, when you use your microwave and hit ‘start’ that is calling a function that turns on the microwave. The same block of code runs each time you hit start, and you can hit that button (i.e. call that function) as many times as you want.

Or, when you turn off your alarm in the morning, you’re tapping a button that calls a function, and that function is a block of code that switches off the alarm.

Or, when you unlock your car, you click a button that calls a function, runs a block of code and unlocks your car.

In Grasshopper, we introduce you to a lot of concepts related to functions all at once (like recursion and callbacks) which is probably adding to the confusion. But the core concept of a function is used throughout the world, and very likely you interact with functions every day.

I hope this helps!
H :slight_smile:

96

Grasshopper is the beginning of your coding journey and allows for you to take the next step on your path. I would say there are multiple paths that you could take such as building something yourself, joining a coding bootcamp, or even going to school! @Oluwatosin_Ajayi

97

After learning Java script what next should we do

98

Hey @N_Habona,

This question:

I don’t know if it really counts, but SQL has a special place in my heart.
2nd place would be JavaScript/TypeScript.
And 3rd — which also might not count as a ‘programming language’ — would be vim. Not cos I like it, but I don’t know a product or feature I’ve launched without using it (note: vim cheat sheet here, but mostly I just remember ‘:wq’ or ‘:q’ to be able to exit vim)

1 Like
99

@Patrick_Brijraj

Hey Pat! Glad you’re enjoying the app.

I have ADHD too, so I understand the struggle. I use a few accessibility tools myself for things like reading big blocks of text, staying focused, prioritizing tasks, time management, etc.

Thank you for letting us know about the issue with using a screen reader. I’ll pass this along to our engineering team. If there’s any place in the app (or website) where the screen reader is failing, please don’t hesitate to report it as a bug.

Having a knowledge of accessibility tools is such a huge asset to a web developer, as it demonstrates a thoughtfulness for design and an empathy for the user. There’s a great blog/newsletter I discovered recently called A11y with Lindsey that you might be interested in. It’s a great resource for learning more about accessibility and web development.

Hope this helps!
Ben

2 Likes
100

Hi @Fernando_Joaquim_Tom,

Awesome goals!

To create websites, I’d recommend first learning about HTML and CSS, and how they interact with JavaScript. You can check out the Grasshopper Intro to Webpages course on learn.grasshopper.app to get started!

For building apps, like phone applications, it’s a little trickier. So I’d recommend completing some more content on Grasshopper (like Intro to Interview, which covers how to solve problems using code), and then you might want to look at some resources like this one that detail how you create your first app in Android. If you’re interested in really diving into building apps, you might want to investigate the React Native framework (which is used to help create Grasshopper!)

H :slight_smile:

101

As far as what my path was to Google, I started by getting a degree in CS from Georgia Tech, but wanted to explore something new after graduating. That being the case, I did a year of corporate consulting before realizing that I wanted to be close to technology again. That led me to taking a software engineering role at a company in California, while starting a company in my free time. From there I was recruited to come to Google and have been here for the last 4 months!

As far as creating offline apps, I would suggest learning a backend language. This will allow you to have an understanding of how to move data, introduce you to server side technologies and put you on the path to your goal.

102

A post was split to a new topic: Reporting Discobot bug

103

Hi! To find out what I can do, say @discobot display help.

1 Like
104

Grasshopper will teach you the fundamentals of coding, and after that there are multiple different directions that you can go! This includes building something yourself, going to a bootcamp, or even attending a university or college.

105

I LOVE your enthusiasm!

On to your questions :smiley:

  1. It’s possible, and certainly more likely right now (most Google offices are remote due to the pandemic), but in ‘normal times’ Google has very few remote roles and generally is limited to people who have already been at Google for a long time. Don’t let this discourage you though — there are a lot of great tech companies that are ‘fully’ remote, and I suspect that will increase over time.
  2. We have a few different ways we learn how our students are going post-Grasshopper, but we don’t do any scaled tracking right now. We’re working on improving the post-Grasshopper experience so students are better prepared for their next steps, so watch this space!
  3. It definitely matters to us! Our goal is to open up access to coding education, so that those who wouldn’t have otherwise can become tech creators.
  4. No case studies, but like I said we don’t track people post-Grasshopper right now. We know of lots of students that have landed awesome jobs at variety of tech companies though.
  5. We don’t have a formal program like that yet, but I like that idea a lot!
  6. Not remote jobs specifically, but help students along their pathway to tech careers, yes. Watch this space :slight_smile:
106

@Meg_G

Good question! Ruby is a very popular language for developing website backends (meaning the non-user-facing side of a website like the server, application, and data manipulation). There are still loads of companies using it, and so jobs working with Ruby are pretty common.

Ruby’s popularity has been shrinking over the last 5 years or so, however, as technologies like Node (a Javascript environment), languages like Go, and Django (a Python framework) have become more common in backend web development.

Swift is a language developed by Apple, and is mostly used to develop apps for iOS. It’s a very useful skill to have if you want to work in mobile app development.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Ben

1 Like
107

@Franklin_Karanja

That’s awesome! I love Intro to Interviewing - it’s one of my favorite courses! :slight_smile:

In terms of what to do next, if you’d like to keep preparing for interviews I recommend checking out Hardvard’s CS50 Introduction to Computer Science course. There’s a paid and free option. I recommend auditing the course for free. It introduces data structures and algorithms - some big topics that come up in the interviewing world.

If you’re interested in expanding your coding skills more generally, I recommend checking out this post: Super-charge your coding skills!

Best of luck on your coding journey!
Natalie

1 Like