Chance the Developer Podcast

In this episode, I speak with Domitrius Clark about his experience supporting online communities in gaming to building a successful local community of web developers in his home town of Philadelphia. We discuss the benefits of having a strong local community, how to deal with the challenges and logistics of running meetups, and much more.Topics:Domitrius’ career The importance of boot camps.Why Domitrius started his own business.The successes of dev communities.Being cooperative and a good listener.Responding to hateOne thing Domitrius has learned this weekQuotes:“I took one of the three month immersive bootcamps. I came out of that and started moving onto actually creating a startup.”"Not everyone has the luxury to feel safe or confident that [interactions at our meetup] might go well. Facilitating a place where they do feel safe at all moments, when people tell me how comfortable our environment is, how they feel like it's a safe space for them ... those are the interactions that stick with me."“When you are a meetup organizer or any type of community organizer and you find yourself dealing with some type of hate, you have to just address it immediately…”Resources:Learn more about Domitrius’ MeetupFollow Domitrius on Twitter“Intent does not erase impact.” -@TatianaTMacLook into Tatiana Mac’s Systems of Systems Presentation

Jessica Bell is a frontend engineer at the New York Times where she works on Wirecutter. She is located in...well, it depends on when you ask her!Jessica has been traveling full time, living and working out of a suitcase since 2018, but that doesn't stop her from building and supporting tech communities along the way. She has taken her experience working with groups in the US—including Women Who Code and Black Code Collective—and gone international, serving a chair on the Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Speakers Committee where she works to ensure more equitable representation at tech conferences around the world.We talk about her life on the road, lessons learned working for a large publisher, and her experiences as an advocate for underrepresented folks in tech communities.Learn more about Jessica and her work 👉 http://sirjessthebrave.com/Follow Jessica on Twitter 👉 https://twitter.com/SirJesstheBraveSign up for the Wirecutter Deals Newsletter 👉 https://thewirecutter.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe

Michelle Schulp is an independent UX designer and web developer based in Minneapolis. She is also a household name in the WordPress community, and she's given dozens of great talks on a wide range of topics at tech conferences over the years.Traveling for conferences is not cheap, and preparing for talks takes a lot of time and energy that takes you off of paid work. In this episode, Michelle talks about why she makes speaking a priority and how she manages the demands of both public speaking and client work as an independent contractor.Follow Michelle on Twitter 👉 https://twitter.com/marktimemediaRead more about Michelle 👉 https://marktimemedia.comSee Michelle's workshop at WordCamp US in St. Louis 👉 https://2019.us.wordcamp.org/session/templates-plugins-blocksHey, we're finally into double digit episodes! -- thank you all for your support and feedback!

In this episode, I chat with Laurie Barth and dig in to her journey from working with abstract mathematical concepts to a career in software development. We discuss common misconceptions about math in code, embracing community, and a lot more. Follow Laurie on Twitter 👉 https://twitter.com/laurieontechRead more about Laurie 👉 https://laurieontech.com

In this episode I sit down with my friend Paul Hickey, CEO of Data Driven Design, to talk about what it's like working in a start-up -- the challenges developers face vs. working for a large company, and the opportunities that present themselves when you help build something from the ground up.Mentioned in this episode:Vue.jsReact Context API

Matthew and Eamon, co-founders of Readybase, sit down to talk about what they've learned about working as contractors and what you can do to make working for yourself a success.00:46: WHAT I’M WORKING ON THIS WEEK 🔨 Well, recording this podcast (twice) for starters — still finishing my kitchen reno and finishing my new website built using React and Next.js02:50: #100DaysOfBlogging challenge -- you can follow along and read my daily blog at chancestrickland.com05:30: My guests today are Matthew Wallace and Eamon Baghernejad, co-founders of ReadyBase, a contract web development service provider06:00: Matthew and Eamon’s early experiences with self-employment14:15: Eamon talks about leaving his own business for a traditional agency job, and then going back again17:30: Matthew’s first clients as a freelance developer and a path to growth22:45: Reasons why you maybe SHOULDN’T be a contractor (myth vs. reality)Remote work — it requires a lot of discipline and can cause lonelinessLess work — you have to be ready to work more than 40 hours consistentlyYou don’t want a boss — when you work for yourself, your get more bosses, not less. Your clients are your boss and you need to be ready to deal with them as such.27:30: Why is it worth all of the trouble? For Eamon, it’s getting to build something from scratch, help serve other people, and make your own financial decisions30:30: Why Readybase? What do you provide for contractors? (Spoiler 🙈 they let developers build things and not worry about the rat race)33:20: Why Matthew wants to help developers find their real value through other important skills37:00: The most important skill for a contractor — building trust45:00: Matthew admits what we all knew all along…45:30: Why being a good programmer is far less important than being transparent knowing how to solve the client’s core problem51:30: So you want to go out on your own? Start by asking yourself “why”, building a network and creating a plan55:25: Eamon suggests starting by joining an agency — especially a smaller one — where you’ll gain a lot of the same experiences and skills you’ll need on your own56:40: Stop worrying and just build stuff. You don’t need to get a job or a contract to help people build tools. Worry less about the contract at first and invest time in building the relationship and building things that make you better60:00: Take the time to enjoy success when it comes (and a beer). It might be harder than you think62:30: WHAT I’VE LEARNED THIS WEEK 💡 A lot about building a simple React application using the Next.js framework, and the (high-level dummy version) difference between imperative and declarative programming (in the context of routing). Good metaphor and overview can be found here.Follow me on all the things @chancethedev. twitter.com/chancethedev instagram.com/chancethedev and chancethedev.com KTHX.

0:30 - 3:30: What I’m working on currently — Digging into Laravel on Laracasts - definitely recommend those tutorials. Also…working on renovating my fixer-upper house. 🙃3:35: Introducing Stephen Smith: Canadian web dev / general programmer extraordinaire and nerd-rock enthusiast.4:55: Programming as a tool for your passion vs. programming as a passion.6:25: Steve’s start as a middle-school text-based video game programmer.8:15: Hello, world.9:15: Programming as a fallback. Music is the main 10:25: How programming fed Steve’s main passion for music. And how he coded his own nerd-rock “band”, Regdar and the Fighters, a hacked Dance-Dance Revolution pad powered by Sonic Pi.Watch a video of Steve and Regdar in action here.13:00: How Steve stays on top of new trends and tech after 15+ years on the job. Spoiler: 🔥 pay less attention to the specific codebase/tools you learn and more to the theory and problem-solving skills.17:05: Top three skills I decided to learn to get my foundations in order as a webdev: Bash, SQL and JavaScript.17:30: Steve’s learning through side-projects related to music rather than just tutorials.20:55: Steve’s take on his traditional education as a programmer.23:20: How to learn foundations of CS theory when you don’t have a traditional education. Steve suggests reading the right textbooks (Learn Python the Hard Way) and learn to automate your own job.27:00: Steve’s career plans for the next several years.29:45: WHAT I’VE LEARNED THIS WEEK 💡 The basics of using Vim, the best-worst text editor you’ll ever be forced to use more than you’d like! Here is a decent YouTube tutorial.List by @cassido of the the most important skills she’s learned to advanced her career here.Follow me on all the things @chancethedev. twitter.com/chancethedev instagram.com/chancethedev and chancethedev.com KTHX.

Today we're talking about how to get better at thinking about accessibility, and some of the quick and easy ways you can make your websites more accessible for more people without spending a jillion extra hours of work.2:00: Don’t let the details overwhelm you. WCAG standards are important but think about the small things you can change to do better.7:05: Screenreaders! Try out some browser extensions that simulate the experience to get a high-level understanding of how some of them work and what your site’s UX is like for screenreader users. Extensions for Chrome: ChromeVox and ReadAloud. Extensions for Firefox: HaTeMiLe, Fangs Screen Reader Emulator and Claws8:40 🔥 TIP: Check the output of your DOM and make sure the content is logical when read from top to bottom.10:10: Color blindness -- check out this #prettycool tool contrast ratio checker by Lea Verou, as well as the Toptal Color Blind Filter.12:30: Avoid too much white text on a dark background.13:20: Captions are key. Check your video/audio captions. If they are automated, you probably need to double check them and add additional context to make them as descriptive as possible. Content-relevent non-verbal audio especially.15:25: Non-mouse users — tabbing! Check your source ordering (peep this oldie-but-goodie overview by Adrian Roselli), and pay attention to tabindex values for certain types of elements.17:05: PLEASE Don’t kill focus element styles. Restyle them carefully, or device-selectively using a utility like What Input.21:13 🔥 TIP: Preview your website without the stylesheets loaded. This will give you a quick, close visual representation of what a screenreader experience might feel like, and you can see quickly if the content is logically ordered, lists and headings are properly nested, etc.23:20: Please for the love of all that is holy, use the correct headings for the content, not for the styles. If you aren’t sure how, take a few minutes and learn. You can peep my heading sass mixin to quickly restyle headings at GitHub.Follow me on all the things @chancethedev. Twitter, Instagram, and chancethedev.com KTHX.

0:30 My guest today: web developer and ACTIVE CODING BOOTCAMP student, Laura Pinell. Talkin bout bootcamps and what you need to know if you’re thinking about starting down that path. Peep all of Laura's work at her GitHub and Instagram.2:00 What I’m working on currently — still plugging away at the same project at work, but I JUST launched my podcast site — chancethedev.com — and am working on enhancing it and making changes to it as we speak. Just started building out a React frontend for it. Project will be in my Github for those who want to follow along.3:35 #prettycool3:40 Laura talks about what software bootcamp is like (and why her brain is fried)4:45 Why bootcamp when you were already working as a web dev?8:32 What personality types are well-suited for bootcamps, and why some people might NOT be the right fit. The key is passion and drive.11:30 The most important thing Laura has learned so far at bootcamp — people skills. Coding is great, but you gotta work with the people. 14:45 How Laura uses UX personas to target potential employers16:30 How working another job before coding can actually help you be a better employee as a coder.17:00 Remote work — sorry homies, you still have to work with people and hone those people skills.18:40 Laura’s advice for people considering bootcamp? Understand that this is a BOOT CAMP. It’s fast, it’s hardcore, get ready and don’t complain about it. Dedicate yourself wholly for a few months and you’ll succeed.21:20 This week I learned some cool command line stuff from Ahmad Awais, a Pakistan-based developer and AMAZING open-source software contributor. If you don’t follow him, DO IT NOW. Get all of his social links and peep his blog on his website23:00 This week Ahmad taught me how to write a few basic helpful bash scripts to make my command life a little bit easier. Check out his posts on LinkedIn here, here and here. And check out my script to quickly CD into working WP theme directory here.25:30 Next episode will be a mini-episode including a recorded talk I gave at a recent event on accessibility in web design. CAN’T WAIT.Follow me on all the things @chancethedev. twitter.com/chancethedev instagram.com/chancethedev and chancethedev.com KTHX.

In this episode I talk to Phil Bennet, a 15-year veteran web dev, and Tristan Gordon, Phil's one-time understudy, who ended up teaching Phil how to build apps in Angular. 1:00 What I’m working on currently — a YUGE website for a healthcare company at work. A website for this podcast at home (coming very soon!). A few throw-away React apps to test my chops.3:12 #prettycool3:25 CSS Grid. Like it. Learn it. Love it. CSSv4 will be here soon. A Complete Guide to Grid | CSS-Tricks4:10 Introducing my guests — Tristan Gordon and Phil Bennet, Angular developers at BCI Nashville6:40 Phil’s path to web dev’vin (spoiler alert, he played MMORG games and coded emails)’8:40 Tristan’s path (Hack 7 started it all)11:40 Tristan takes off the training wheels and goes hard into Angular13:16 Student becomes teacher - Phil talks about what it’s like to have Tristan teach him new tricks deep into his career.15:40 New tech? Nah dawg. Angular deep. 20:10 What do you guys think about the growth of our industry? 21:00 Unpaid ad for Twin Kegs, the best worst bar in Nashville, the source of Tristan’s inspiration.23:20 Hi grandma!23:22 Resources for new devs25:30 What does it take to go to the next level? Tristan and Phil agree — time and hard work. One day at a time.26:30 Phil says: know how to Google. 27:25 The importance of having a mentor.29:55 Closing thoughts, banter, Snarky Puppy, and Darkest Hour (not the movie)31:30 PRETTY COOL STUFF: This week I try to learn the how and why of asynchronous JavaScript. Promises are pretty cool and really help in understanding the core concept. Learn how and why you use them if you haven’t already. Promise - JavaScript | MDNConnect with Phil on LinkedInConnect with Tristan on LinkedInFOLLOW ME! On Twitter and Instagram @chancethedev. PHOTO CREDIT: The sexy silhouette of Phil that was used for approximately one-half of this episode's thumbnail before being heavily manipulated in Photoshop was taken skillfully and offered generously by the amazing, incredible, the one and only, Frank "wangsack from hamhole" Otero.

In my second episode I chat with the President of Nashville agency SnapShot Interactive, Mr. Ben Rigsby. Ben is my boss and has grown a two-man startup into a full-service team of 45 with offices in two cities (and a third coming in the next year!). Ben talks about his passion, what led him as an artist and developer to start his own business, and the variety of paths available to developers with an entrepreneurial itch. THIS WEEK I LEARNED: The Number. prototype.toLocaleString method takes a number and formats it to a specific "locale" -- great for turning data into formatted currency, percentages, and much more.FOLLOW ME: @chancethedev on Twitter, @chancethedev on Instagram

Not a lot to say about the first episode, other than ... hi! I'm Chance, a junior web developer and extra junior podcaster. I truly don't know what I'm doing here, but my hope is to share what I've learned about this exciting and amazingly fun career of mine, and in the process I hope to learn a ton from you and the folks I encounter along the journey. If I ever hit 10 listeners, this will be the biggest success of my life.