Ali Spittel
@ASpittel
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mom // dev stuff @aws // Python + JavaScript engineer // tweets my own
Joined March 2015
Things that don't mean you're insecure:. ✅ taking selfies.✅ posting about your successes.✅ being a perfectionist. Things that do mean you're insecure:. 🛑 submitting personal information over a http request.
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hot take. if __name__ == "__main__": . is one of the clunkiest lines of code tbh.
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When I teach people to code, I see a lot more people struggling with problem-solving than the code itself. The ability to break a problem into smaller ones and then solve all of those smaller problems takes a lot of practice.
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Me to other developers:. - You don't have to know everything.- Have work life balance.- you are awesome. Me to myself:. - You have to be an expert in all of the things.- People work less than 80hr weeks?.- at some point people are going to realize you actually suck at this. 🙃.
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Things that don't mean you're insecure:.✅ wearing makeup.✅ taking selfies.✅ dressing the way you like. Things that do mean you're insecure:. 🛑 storing passwords in plaintext.
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If you're goal is to learn how to code in 2020, here's a thread of advice for you 👇🏻.
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Hi, hello. I am recruiting for a senior C++ position. You must also know Rust, Kubernetes, JavaScript, PHP, and Brainfuck. We will give you $8 and 0 days off. But we have a ping pong table and also beer. Plz work 4 us after our 18 round interviews. Ur impressive.
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Dear Google Inbox,. I miss your material design. I miss your bundles of emails. I miss your done button. I miss your GitHub previews. I miss your highlighted emails. I miss your bundled trips. I miss snoozing emails. Please come back 💔.
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Stop using "he" as the pronoun for a generic programmer in your blog posts.
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Hi, hello. I am recruiting for a senior C++ position. You must also know Rust, Kubernetes, JavaScript, PHP, and Brainfuck. We will give you $1 and 0 days off. But we have a ping pong table and beer. Plz work 4 us after 18 rounds of whiteboarding. Ur impressive.
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Why would you ever spend a few minutes reading the documentation when you can spend a few hours randomly trying things?.
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if we're using Meta for Facebook then Google has to be Alphabet so the new acronym should really be:. MAAAN. pretty fitting tbh.
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Hey Friends,. Learning to code was hard for me. So I wrote an ebook about what I wish I knew before I started. You can download it for free: .
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I got my first mechanical keyboard this week, and I’m so excited!!!!. It matches my text editor perfectly 💅🏻
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Following non-coders is so confusing. Couple definitions for some words you may see pop up on your time line:. 📕 library: a place with books.📈 graph: a chart.🗺 map: used for navigation.🐍 python: snake.📚 heap: a pile of things.🌲 tree: a tall plant.🐞 bug: an insect.
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I don't really identify as a frontend or backend developer. I like code. I like writing really difficult code. I don't care where that falls on the spectrum. I just want to be challenged.
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|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|.| YOUR IMPOSTER'S |.| SYNDROME IS LYING |.| TO YOU |.| ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿| . (\_❀) ||. (•ㅅ•) ||. / づ.
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I quit programming during my junior year of college because I thought I wasn't good at it. If you're in a similar boat, try to learn in a different format or with different resources. CS classes didn't click for me. Self-learning using internet resources did.
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Flight attendant: Is there a doctor onboard?. Dad: that should've been you. Me: Not now Dad. Dad: Not asking for a Software Engineer to help, are they?. Me: Dad, there's a medical emergency happening right now. Dad: Go and see if “copying and pasting from Stack Overflow" helps.
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I have a joke about programming but I need to google it first.
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If you want to be 10x programmer you must:. ✅ write code all day inside and outside of work.✅ only use dark themes.✅ never *ever* talk to coworkers. Not even a hi. Communicate only in GitHub issues. ✅ only consume space food and soylent. Everything else is inefficient.
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I am so, so excited to announce that I have joined the @AWSAmplify team as a Senior Developer Advocate. I can't wait to learn and teach in this new role! 😀.
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I am so, so upset right now. Pleas don't ever do this to someone. You have no idea their background, what they've gone through, etc. This is the reason I struggle to make video content.
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I have a big announcement! 🎉. New programmers tend to struggle with putting together the pieces of the puzzle when creating bigger projects. So, I'm creating a multimedia series on problem solving, breaking down problems, debugging and more.
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Did you know you can use {}s in Bash/Zsh to create multiple files at once?. $ touch Button.{js,css,stories.js,test.js}. This will create 4 files all named Button, one with a .js extension, one with .css, one with .stories.js, and one with .test.js! ✨.
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So, I've interviewed a bunch of software engineers, done some interviews myself, and teach my students about interviewing. Here's a thread of advice 👇🏻.
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My biggest advice to career changers:. Don't discount your previous experiences. All of the things you've done before still benefit your future career even if it's very different from your last one. And, if you can merge both careers you're really set up to excel.
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I dropped out of CS in college after two classes. I taught myself web development. I have taught at a bootcamp for the past 3 years. There is no singular way to learn code. You are not disposable if you don't have a CS degree.
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Ignore the gatekeepers, coding is for everyone. 👩🏽💻👨🏼💻👨🏿💻👩🏻💻👩🏼💻.
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Therapist: And what do we do when we feel stressed. Me: rm -rf .git. Therapist: No.
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Programming changed my life and career trajectory. I code almost every day and have had taught a lot of other people how to as well. But learning how can be really hard. So, I wrote 33 pages all about on my advice for getting started.
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|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|.| YOU DON'T NEED |.| TO KNOW |.| EVERYTHING |.| ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿| . (\_❀) ||. (•ㅅ•) ||. / づ.
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The honest answer to pretty much every technical question is "it depends".
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idk who needs to hear this but double check what's on your desktop before you share your screen.
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A lot of developer content is free to consume. No developer content is free to create.
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Can we talk about the dueling pressures of being a woman in a tech?. Be smart enough to be taken seriously but not smart enough to be intimidating. Don't be a "bitch" but also don't be too nice. Don't look too attractive or too unattractive. There are so many others.
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Teaching is *way* harder than a lot of people think. I have to balance:. - live coding.- answering super tough questions.- multiple learning styles.- computer windows.- students of different levels.- technical difficulties. But, it's my favorite thing in the world to do ❤️.
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Would you be interested in a “backend for frontend developers” series on things like data modeling, distributed systems, types of databases, api design, etc?.
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I've been programming for ~7 years, have a senior title, and I'm struggling so much with a bug right now. No matter how long you're in this field, there are still so many new challenges. 🐛🪲🐞.
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I've written code almost every day for the last five years, and I think I get more addicted to it every day. I just really love building things.
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Even if nobody reads your content, someone still benefitted from it: you.
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Reminder to folks who are trying to learn something new this year!
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Hi. I didn't understand linked lists in college. Now my blog post is on the front page of google when you search for them. Blogging is cool.
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New programmers: on almost every project you won't be starting from zero. Working with and navigating a large codebase is a really important skill to have. Try to either contribute to an open source project or get a group of friends to build an app with.
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Therapist: and what do we do when we feel sad?. Me: buy 8 new domain names. Therapist: no.
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I hope that the tech industry moves to a point where people can admit to not being geniuses, ninjas, or rockstars and have that be a positive. I hope that people can acknowledge that there is more to learn, and love that, rather than trying to one-up each other.
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So, I start a whole new life tomorrow. I just donated almost everything I own to charity -- I'm sleeping on the floor tonight. Me and Blair are going to travel for a while. Lots of tears and panic attacks today. DC, and DC friends, I love you, and I'll be back ❤️.
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What's your favorite programming language and why?. I personally love Python. The syntax is straight forward and friendly, and it is so multipurpose.
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i took . just a. D. N. A. T e s t. t u r n z o u t. i'm. 1. 0. 0. %.not fixing this bug in my code.
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Some quick reminders:. ❤️ You don't need to know everything.💚 You have incredibly valuable knowledge and experiences.💜 You don't need to be anyone other than you.🧡 Don't compare yourself to anyone else.💙 You are awesome.
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it's wild to me how guys with 'learning how to code' in their bio get treated like experts and i get python 101 resources sent to me lol.
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Every programmer can teach. Some things you can do:. - Answer people's questions on social media.- Write a blog post.- TA or teach a community workshop.- Give a talk at a meetup or conference.- Mentor someone.- Create YouTube videos. Doing any of these will benefit you too!.
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following non-tech people is so confusing. couple definitions for those of you who also follow non-tech people:. - library: a place that has books you can borrow.- queue: a line for something.- pandas: fuzzy bears.- graph: a chart.- python: snake.- heap: a pile of things.
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Experienced dev twitter, I know a lot of newbies are struggling to learn frontend development. Can we use a thread to reassure them that it was hard for all of us at first too?.
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If you have different levels of engineers at your company like "senior", "junior", "lead", or "mid" be explicit about what they mean, how much they pay, and how to move from one to another. The mystery behind titles and salary leads to inequality and unfairness.
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I feel so lucky. So lucky that I learned how to code. So lucky that I ended up in a software engineering job. So lucky I took a teaching job. So lucky that I started a blog. So lucky that I've met so many friends along the way. Thank you all so much 💕.
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Just heard that MacOS is moving to zsh. I've been using it for a long time and absolutely love it. Here's my setup if you're looking to switch early! 👩🏼💻.
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Nothing has thickened my skin or tested my patience like being a woman software engineer who posts stuff on the internet lol.
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People who have been in the tech industry for more than a few years: when we give career advice to new developers we need to realize that getting your first job has changed dramatically. It's much, much more difficult for them than it was for many of us.
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Don't repeat yourself too much, but also don't abstract your code to an extent that it is not understandable.
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Hey tech influencers, let's be really careful about being honest with our audiences. Less hustle porn, selling dreams, and "if I did it you can too". Please.
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I just published a mega blog post about teaching code. I think this will be especially helpful for anyone who:. - mentors developers.- teaches workshops.- teaches at a bootcamp. 👩🏫👩🏫👩🏫.
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Following non-tech people on twitter is so confusing. couple definitions for those of you who also follow non-tech people:. 📚 library: a place that has books you can borrow.👯♀️ queue: a line for something. 🐍 python: a snake.💩 heap: a pile of things.🦟 bug: an insect.
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tell me you're a frontend developer without telling me you're a frontend developer.
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The whole "take a break and come back to it" isn't just fluff. It's brain science. It allows your brain to go into diffuse mode, which allows you to connect different ideas and let your thoughts wander. Spacing out learning is also best way to memorize concepts.
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imagine being told you're just biologically and socially not suited for the thing you've built your career around over and over and over again. also, imagine that there's no real evidence for this, it's just debunked and outdated studies used to bolster pre-existing bias.
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Some ✨news✨ I'm now managing the @AWSAmplify Developer Advocacy team!. I'm so excited to get to foster other people in a job that I love. In related news, we're hiring three Senior Developer Advocates! 🧵.
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You know what the coolest thing about being a programmer is? We pretty much get to play adult legos all day everyday and get paid well for it.
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omg thx internet man for explaining what an array is to me!!! v helpful!.
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a random guy hit on me today by telling me he wished i wasnt wearing a mask so he could see my smile and is this the 2021 version of telling a woman to smile more?.
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so I guess I'm verified????. I never even thought I was verifiable tbh, but so many amazing women in tech still need to be too!.
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The most important skill to have as a programmer is the ability to teach yourself new things effectively and efficiently. You're going to be constantly growing and picking up new technologies. The ability to do that is more important than any individual tool or technology.
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Things that contribute to being a great programmer:. ✅ communicating effectively.✅ being able to learn efficiently.✅ building things with the user in mind. Things that don’t mean you’re a bad programmer:. 🛑 using light themes.🛑 enjoying communication.🛑 googling things.
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please cancel me if i ever start branding myself with ex-amazon or ex-faang thx.
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Why would you ever spend a few minutes reading the documentation when you can spend a few hours randomly copying and pasting lines of code from Stack Overflow?.
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