Coding with knives (part 2)
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Adrienne Lowe
@adriennefriend
learning to code, teaching to cook

- perspectives from a new coder
- from Atlanta, help run PyLadies Atlanta
- new to coding, but not to cooking - did that for ages
- started blog - http://codingwithkniv.es

Lesson 1: On tutorials
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- source learning materials from a wide variety of resources and styles
- don't worry if one particular tutorial doesn't work for you - it's not you, try something else, "get another cookbook"

  - Hello Web App book recommended

Lesson 2: Reach Out
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- didn't want to seem like they don't know what they are doing
- don't want to ask basic "stupid" questions - "I should already know the answer"
- but answering helps the answerer as well as the asker

Lesson 3: Let your goal guide you
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- having a project you want to do really helps to keep you motivated
- can be easy to walk away if things are too hard

You can help out
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- Really helpful friendly community
- eg on cookery sites - ask "how to make macaroons without eggs?"

  - people answer - try this, try that
  - also an ethos in this community - collegiality, sharing knowledge
  - but often not the first experience, learning by themselves, not knowing about the community

Suggestions
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- attitude, posture
- bring your full authentic self when helping
- don't accept lionisation of new people
- we're just people who have practised this for a while
- this conference has had many examples - owning our own insecurities, sharing with others
- new programmers view experienced ones as on a pedestal, and to shy away from talking to them
- talking to people at dinner, really interesting stories, but resisted wanting to talk on stage
 
  - lots of people
  - terrified
  - feel the conference is full of accomplished people, can't talk to them

- Jacob Kaplan - keynote "I am (also) a mediocre programmer" - don't lionise us
- when teaching cooking - it's a skill you can learn "a collection of acquired tools/skills" - and coding is the same
- you're not born with the ability
- thought experiment - go up to person you're most terrified of, say "I'm thinking about giving a lightning talk, but I'm scared you'll be disappointed, what do you think?" - the likely response is "go for it"

Carry on being awesome!