The Scrimba Podcast Alex Booker

Meet Ryan Talbert 🇺🇸! Ryan studied entrepreneurship and had an idea for an app. To build it, he hired a developer who scammed him and used his server for phishing! But that was also the best thing that could've happened: Today, Ryan is a developer, passionate about JavaScript, and helping other career switchers break into tech. Oh, and he wrote a book!
In this episode, Ryan shares his story and many things he's learned along the way. Ryan will teach you how to break the process of applying and interviewing for a job into smaller steps and improve them one by one - and some of his strategies are pretty novel, even after more than 160 episodes of our podcast! Ryan's approach divides the interview process into four stages. This way, you can pinpoint the exact part of it where you fail, and work on it without distractions.
You will also learn how to make learning to code more manageable and rewarding for yourself - because the more you win, the more you will win. Ryan also describes how he got his first coding job: he told the hiring manager the company wasn't right for him, but they wanted to hire him anyway, and he eventually agreed - because he had a good reason to do so.
🔗 Connect with Ryan
👨‍💼 Linkedin⏰ Timestamps
You can come into tech from any career (01:36)Ryan studied entrepreneurship and wanted to build an app (03:56)How Ryan lost all his savings and got a cease and desist letter from the country of Germany (05:46)Getting scammed was a good thing, in the end (08:57)Community Break with Jan the Producer (10:13)How Ryan learned to code (11:40)Becoming a coder instead of entrepreneur (14:41)Job hunt in 2017 vs job hunt in 2024 (20:33)Linear progression of a job interview (22:22)Write a good resume (or pay somebody to do that), and get it in front of humans (23:37)What to do when they ask you to tell them abour yourself? (25:39)Practice coding problems (26:49)Climbing the interview hill (27:32)We're bad at multitasking (28:56)Anything is a skill! (30:42)You need to keep winning and build momentum (35:15)Set achievable goals (40:01)🧰 Resources Mentioned
Ryan's book: 101 Tips: TypeScript, React, and JavaScriptThe Companies Expert on YouTubeEdabit⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.

Meet Dev Agrawal 🇮🇳🇺🇸! Dev is a software developer, developer advocate, content creator, and A React expert deeply ingrained in the React community. The last time he was on the show, we tried to find an answer to the question of whether we should still be learning React in 2024 - the community was divided! Today, we’re talking about React 19.
React 19 is the latest version of React, introducing some amazing new features! Key features include the new React Compiler, which automates performance optimization; Server Components, which allow rendering components on the server for faster initial page loads and improved data handling; Actions; and some new hooks! In this episode, you’ll learn what these features are, how to use them, which ones are the most important, and why we are getting them in the first place. Understanding the context and history behind these new features, as well as the needs of developers who have been using React in their work, will help us use them more effectively.
React 19 is expected to be released by the end of 2024 and is set to enhance both performance and developer experience. In the meantime, you can try the release candidate!
🔗 Connect with Dev
👨‍💼 Linkedin🌐 Website🐦 Twitter⏰ Timestamps
Can we use React 19 already? (01:24)Is React Canary the same as React 19 RC? (02:14)When does React 19 come out? (03:04)React Compiler is the biggest feature of React 19. What does it do? (04:18)There is a performance cost associated with memoizing (08:23How does the React compiler help with memoization? (11:13)Could you manually accomplish what the Compiler does automatically? (12:59)How do you use the React Compiler? (15:41)You need to abide by the React rules for the Compiler to work properly (16:48)Is React a library or a language? (17:04)Transpilers vs compilers (19:44)What are Actions? (23:41)What are React Transitions? (24:37)Server Actions vs Client Actions (31:39)New hoks: useFormState, useFormStatus (33:29)New features are a big departure from how we use React today (35:45)Where to learn more about React 19 (37:29)⏰ Resources Mentioned
React.devSam Selikoff: Roadmap to React 19Scrimba Podcast with Rachel Nabors⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.

Meet Kevin Tanzyl! Originally from New Zealand, Kevin moved to Japan to become an English teacher. But after a while, he felt like he hit a plateau. Kevin then tried coding, and after a sting in the infamous tutorial hell, he discovered Scrimba. While learning to code, he made a React app for English teachers, which is still used in Japanese schools! This game-changing portfolio project for Kevin caught the eye of employers and recruiters alike.
Within a couple of months, Kevin got his first developer job, but several months later, he realized that it wasn't a good fit after all. In this episode, you'll find out all about Kevin's career change, learning path, and hurdles along the way. You'll learn how to pick your portfolio projects and why you should focus on basic programming principles while maintaining a technology-agnostic approach. Kevin also shares his approach to dealing with stubborn bugs, why "no pain, no gain" applies to coding, and how learning to code compares to learning a new language. Plus, how's the work culture in Japan different from the Western one?
🔗 Connect with Kevin
👨‍💼 LinkedIn👨‍🚀 GitHub🌐 Website⏰ Timestamps
"Software development involves a lot of math, so I avoided that" (01:13)How Kevin started teaching English in Japan (02:51)Why Kevin wanted a career change from teaching: the tech world doesn't stop! (03:51)How did learning programming compare to learning languages? (04:56)Why Kevin struggled to learn to code - and how he solved that (05:43)Do you need to go to university to become a software developer? (07:25)What are the differences between a software developer and a web developer? (08:06)Community break with Jan the Producer (09:37)Kevin learned on Udemy, freeCodeCamp, and,  ultimately, Scrimba (12:17)Tutorial hell (14:02)The path of least resistance is not the right one for coding (14:57)How to fix very stubborn bugs (15:53)How Kevin made his number one portfolio app (16:44)Picking a portfolio app: ask your friends and family and solve a real problem they have! (18:56)Killing three birds with one stone (I mean, feeding three birds with one scone!) (21:05)How Kevin landed his first dev job... and didn't like it (23:20)How Kevin landed his second dev job (24:24)"They just wanted to see the willingness to learn" (26:05)Quick-fire questions! (26:43)Did Kevin have a tech interview? (28:13)Your portfolio helps an interviewer help you (28:50)"What are the things you think are lacking?" (30:01)The working culture in Japan (33:13)🧰 Resources Mentioned
Learn React FOR FREE with Bob Ziroll!Alex Kallaway, the creator of #100DaysOfCodeFireship on YouTube⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.

Meet Monica Fidalgo 🇵🇹! Monica is a front-end product engineer at Cloudflare, an advocate for new developers and women in tech, as well as a teacher, mentor, and resume reviewer. Her path to tech wasn’t straightforward: she originally studied marine biology and was a licensed scuba diver!
Monica's life took a dramatic turn when she was involved in a serious car accident that temporarily left her unable to walk. After months of recovery, she was even able to run again! However, her recovery made finding a job in her already competitive field even more challenging. In 2018, she began exploring other interests and remembered her love for customizing her Blogger and Tumblr templates. So, she decided to learn web design!
In this episode, you’ll learn a thing or two about motivation. You'll also discover a fantastic technique you should be using when applying for jobs, and learn everything about Monica's inspiring career change. You'll also find out when to switch companies, how to evaluate coding schools before you sign up, and how Monica's car accident changed her outlook on life.
🔗 Connect with Monica
👩‍💼 LinkedIn
⏰ Timestamps
Monica studied marine biology and thought IT was just for men (01:31)How Monica's car accident changed her outlook on life (04:29)Feeling sorry for yourself won't take you anywhere (08:53)Community break with Jan the Producer (09:27)How Monica learned to code (11:02)Monica coded during the day and worked at night - but also took up sports (13:57)"It's difficult, but it won't last forever" (15:24)Monica's family wasn't always supportive (16:36)You can't count on luck (18:38)Monica had a checklist of companies she wanted to work for (19:10)How to apply to a company without open job ads (20:35)Quick-fire questions (21:07)How Monica found her first job in tech (23:09)Getting ahead of the curve: why you should be sending your CV to HRs on LinkedIn (23:27)Why - and how - Monica changes jobs (25:57)How Monica got a job at Cloudflare (29:37)Monica's first counter-proposal and why women should negotiate their salaries (32:51)"You already have a NO. Try getting a YES"Sometimes you feel bad - and that's okay (39:19)Boxing! (40:45)🧰 Resources Mentioned
Lisi LinhartFrom Pathologic Anatomy to QA Lead⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.

Meet Shaundai Person 🇺🇸! Shaundai is a senior software engineer at Netflix, but she hasn't always been a coder. She studied entrepreneurship and had a long, successful career in sales. After a decade in sales and running her own business, Shaundai discovered coding through customizing her business's Shopify website.
Shaundai realized she was ready for a career change to something she felt more passionate about. She also learned that you don't have to go back to school to become a software engineer and that much of engineering isn't NASA-level stuff. In fact, it's about listening to customers' needs and offering them solutions—just like in sales!
In this episode, you'll learn how Shaundai transitioned into the tech team of the company she was already working at. She leveraged her extensive sales experience and her passion for coding to create a personal brand within the company, building a reputation that preceded her. The key to a successful sale is believing in your product, and if you're learning to sell yourself, you are the product! Shaundai will teach you how to do just that while remembering that you're still human. Shaundai and Alex also discuss the often non-linear path to career change and why coding skills are nowadays a commodity (so you need to find a different way to stand out).
🔗 Connect with Shaundai
👩‍💼 LinkedIn🌐 Website⏰ Timestamps
How Shaundai chose to study entrepreneurship (01:53)"I had never been in a position where I loved the thing that I was doing" (04:41)Selling software made Shaundai fascinated with software engineering (05:49)How Shaundai eventually taught herself to code on Codecademy (10:17)How Shaundai organized her studying... and went overtime (12:58)"I could make money AND be happy with that I'm doing" (13:25)"In this case, I'm selling myself!" (14:36)There are always more decision-makers involved in hiring, and here's what to do about them (16:57)Shaundai's strategy to win over her company's engineering team (18:31)You're always in a more powerful position when people think that something was their idea (20:07)Never start conversations with what YOU need (20:54)Shaundai started submitting projects to the engineering team's personal development form... and getting challenges (23:50)Put yourself in the shoes of the customer (26:02)Managers can't go through every single line of code of everybody who's applied. Here's how to tackle that! (26:21)Your coding skills are a commodity! Provide value instead. (27:31)What's a commodity? (28:16)If you're a career changer, you're a superset of a developer! (29:18)How Shaundai eventually got to switch teams (30:19)Shaundai started interviewing with Netflix less than a year into her new career, and it all started with a podcast (32:01)"In order to stand out, I need to show that I'm a human" (36:27)How to be human (38:10)How to get outside of the goal (while still keeping the goal in sight) (38:55)Sometimes we pick the more tangible thing, but ultimately you don't know what can help you in the long run (42:04)How to cultivate self-belief? (45:07)🧰 Resources mentioned 
Front End Happy Hour⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.

Meet  Alex Kallaway 🇷🇺🇨🇦! Alex is a Lead Full-Stack Developer, but he hasn't always been a coder. First, he was a violinist; then, he was interested in having a business; he worked in product management and digital marketing. At one point, he was determined to become a developer and was looking for a way to accelerate his learning, and he thought of a coding challenge you might have heard of. Believe it or not, Alex created #100DaysOfCode just for himself - he never thought it would become something that other people would want to do. But then Quincy Larson of freeCodeCamp got an idea...
You can also find Alex at https://www.discomfortacademy.com/, or read his newsletter.
In this interview, you'll learn about the origin story of #100DaysOfCode and Alex's career path. You will also hear everything about the challenge's rules and best practices. What do you do if you can't code for an hour every day? What should you do if you skip a day? How do you set goals? Can you do #100DaysOfCode more than once? How should you measure success?
Alex and Alex also discuss habits, procrastination, and "manifestations of resistance," as well as ways and tactics for overcoming discomfort and reaching goals. Does something really become a habit after a set number of days? Why is mindfulness important, and how do you define consistency? All this, and more, in today's episode.
🔗 Connect with Alex
👨‍💼 LinkedIn🌐 Website✉️ Discomfort Academy📹 Youtube⏰ Timestamps
How Alex like coding but became a violin player (02:01)Alex moved to Canada via Japan (05:18)"Codecademy is like Duolingo" (06:59)How a product role turned into a marketing role, and that marketing role lead Alex back into coding (07:59)Breaking out of tutorial hell with freeCodeCamp (11:37)Community break with Jan The Producer (13:25)You have to be frustrated to motivate yourself (15:02)How #100DaysOfCode was born (16:55)The basic rules of #100DaysOfCode (19:50)Alex Booker's GitHub activity streak (20:39)Procrastination, rationalization, and manifestations of resistance (21:32)We are a little bit too addicted to comfort (24:44)There's no quick way to break your own resistance and discomfort (25:45)How to maintain your momentum (27:05)What happens if you break the streak of #100DaysOfCode? (29:22)If in the course of 120 days you've coded for 100 days, it's better than if you gave up on day 30 (30:51)Amateur vs professional mindset (31:50)Top tips for making it to the end of #100DaysOfCode (35:28)How to plan your coding challenge (36:21)Following rules blindly is not the answer (37:29)Create a positive feedback loop (39:24)Tutorials should have to include mistakes (40:09)Managing your willpower: there is no plan B (40:53)What is Discomfort Academy? (45:49)Next week on the show, Shaundai Person! (47:32)⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.