Breaking into Front End Development

with panelists Melvin Nix, Zach Hall, Bryan Markham, Lucy Barber, and Sarah Hudson

Melvin NixDigital Artist, Video Producer, Designer, TTS Grad

v

Zach HallWeb Developer, TTS Teacher Assistant, TTS Grad

Backstory

• Boone, NC

• Computer programming classes in high school

• NC Teaching Fellow – Appalachian State

• Fresh start – Charlotte, NC

• A.A.S at CPCC

• Web Development Intern – Elevation Church

• Online Courses

– Codecademy, The Odin Project, Lynda, etc.

• Tech Talent South - CLT

Personal Projects

• Crown Town Soccer

• Teacher Assistant @ TTS

• TTS Full Time – Summer 2015

• Available for Hire!!!

http://www.vikingcodeschool.com/posts/why-learning-to-code-is-so-damn-hard

Advice

• Don’t get discouraged at the Cliff of Confusion

• Find a mentor

• Commit to it

– Toggl, SelfControl, StayFocusd

• Be willing to spend some money

Bryan MarkhamFront End Developer, UX DesignerAmerican City Business Journals

Maya Circa 2004

Late Nights | Css Mastery by Andy Budd

ACBJ | Patterns | Naming Conventions |

Functionality | Systems

$next => JavaScript

HAVE FUN!

Lucy BarberUX Designer, Front End Dev, Customer Support Aficionado

checkAppointments, mailVU, and TimeTap

Background

● English & Creative

Writing major in school

● Tons of odds & ends

jobs

● DealCloud (startup) in

misc. roles

Learning to code

● Got into html by editing email templates in

MailChimp

● Loved being able to quickly see progress in

my work

● Found it was easy to get in focused “flow”

state

Now & later

● Static site development

& html framework for

checkAppointments,

mailVU, TimeTap

● Getting more

comfortable with

Javascript

Advice

● Understand what part of web development

appeals to your personality

● Look for a starter job where they understand

you are growing

● Challenge yourself

Sarah HudsonFront End & Mobile Dev, Web Design Instructor, TTS Grad

checkAppointments, mailVU, TimeTap, & TTS

Background (B.C. - Before Coding)

● CPCCo Interior Design & Architectureo AAS in Web Technologies

● Interned as online marketer and blogger● Music journalism - Elevate Lifestyle & The

Sound Faction● Product Development @ Little Idea & Enventys

o Lead Graphic & Web Designero Art Director & an Assistant Editor of Inventor’s Digest

Journey to Coding

● 2009 - 2011: Took programming classes at CPCC

o Python

o PHP

● 2011 - 2013: As a web designer - edited HTML & CSS of Shopify & Wordpress templates, learned Bootstrap

● Spring 2013: Enjoyed design, but wanted to learn how to make web apps

● Summer 2013: studied PHP & Python, lectures on MIT’s open courseware

● October 2013: part time w/ Enventys, moved to ATL for 2 months of TTS bootcamp and RoR!

The Journey Continues

● Dec 2013: front end dev role @ checkAppointments and taught myself AngularJS

● Summer 2014: TA for TTS

● Dec 2014: 1 year (and 3 apps later), have learned JS, AngularJS, Hybrid HTML mobile apps, ins and outs of running a SaaS

● Nov 2014 through Feb 2015: TTS Grad Class

● Today: Weekly hack nights and peer review, involvement in community, teaching class for TTS

Advice

● Break it up into bite sized pieces: Don’t try to learn it all at once

● Partner up: Find a buddy to chat code with, go to hack nights

● Read, read read: Subscribe to newsletters, blogs, and magazines by well renowned devs in the community

● Take a break: Burn out? Take a walk or sleep on it - or work on something else

● Never stop practicing: Make it a goal to learn 1 new thing a week

● Participate in the community: Learn & share with others, grow your network for new projects and opportunities

● Get out of your comfort zone: Don’t let you be the one to hold you back. If it’s a challenge, you’ll grow a lot!

Open DiscussionAsk questions about front end development, web design,

learning how to code, or general career advice

Thank you!Melvin Nix:

creativityunleashedllc.com@melvinnix

Zach Hall:@zachhall_

Bryan Markham:@BryanJMarkham

Lucy Barber:@lucb202

Sarah Hudson:www.sarah-hudson.com

@sarahhudson2008