Post-MakerSquare, Week Two: Keeping your code sharp--and, oh yeah, about that job search

How do I not have just a plain jane "Coding" tag? Anyway, welcome to the tag family, "Coding"!

And I want a "Coding" tag here because I want to talk about a website that I have fallen in love with recently: exercism.io.

It is very much like those other websites where you get coding challenges, e.g., CodeWars, Project Euler, etc. (which I also like). That is, the goal of Exercism.io isn't to build any project (which I still maintain is the best way to really get into the nitty-gritty of a language), but merely to play around with a few challenges.

I especially like how Exercism.io keeps everything real clean and focused. Rather than running a test online (and oh, how online tests have given me heartache), you run the tests on your computer--as you would normally. Exercism.io also has a nice breakdown of various languages, so that you can try only the Ruby challenges or the Clojure challenges; and after you submit one solution, you can fetch the other. (The interface is not unlike Github, which is another reason I like it.)

And then, best of all, you get some commentary and feedback on your code. Because, sure, my DNA/RNA transcription agent worked, but the real benefit of using this is I have now discovered a new method--String#tr--that I never used before and wouldn't have used if I hadn't seen someone else use it.

So, if you want to practice a new language or keep an old language sharp, I recommend at least looking at Exercism.io

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And about that job search, I've been offered and accepted a junior developer position. So I'm off the market for now; and very excited about starting in early December. I will say more about the job and the company--after I reread my NDA and figure out what I can say.

For now, my new challenge--both for fun and for work--is to learn functional coding. Come on, O'Reilly books, don't fail me now!