About this Notebook
This "notebook" is where I take extensive notes over developer topics I'm interested in. Each section is scoped to a specific language, framework, tool, or concept. Its like a "reader's digest" docs reference for myself, and whoever else wants to read it.
What's it for?
Learning to be a developer is hard. I've chosen to start this notebook to help me organize what I've learned, come back and reference it whenever I get fuzzy, and also give public access to anybody else that wants to use it.
Most Courses Suck
Either that or they are boring and difficult.. or both. I'm also a bad student. I learn better by aggressively diving in to a subject... Unfortunately, I'm also kinda stupid. So its always a painful process for me to learn new stuff.
Docs Probs
When you're a total rookie, you usually can't learn from docs alone.
- Docs are typically an exhaustive body of information on a subject, and therefore include a lot of info which is overwhelming for beginners.
- Docs are typically written to target people with pre-existing foundational knowledge.
- Docs often avoid describing opinionated ways of doing things. But when you're getting started, you need something to copy. You need to see how other people are doing it.
What's in this notebook?
In the first paragraph I mentioned that this notebook is broken into sections that cover one language, framework, tool, or concept.
A section could be over anything... Node, TypeScript, Figma, interview skills... anything.
What's in a section?
When writing a section, I do the following:
- read official documentation in depth
- follow a few guides, tutorials, or courses
- note the stuff a beginner needs to know to get a clear mental map
- rewrite docs concepts in my own words
- provide my own examples
- note best-practices, common defaults, and other things most people usually do
A section should provide a total lay of the land. Then to get our hands dirty with some real-life projects, I'll try to complement the section with accompanying recipes in the cookbook.
TIP
Since sections are just my own well-organized notes on a topic, they are inherently living documents, always up for change and improvement as my understanding improves.
Why do this?
This is an exercise for my own personal growth. Right now, I'm a software technical writer, but over time I want to grow into a world-class software engineer.
My hope with DevTalk.fun is that it will help me:
- actually reach that goal
- make the process easier for others
- make friends and have fun!