A Question of Code

89: Top Tips review: pragmatic learning

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amaz...

88: Top Tips review: document what you learn

09 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amaz...

87: Top Tips review: enjoy what you do

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amaz...

86: Top Tips review: just get things done!

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amaz...

85: Top Tips review: why should you build your own website?

19 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've had some great guests on our podcast, and we've asked each of them for their "Three Top Tips" for new developers. All their advice has been amaz...

84: Why should you own a rubber duck?

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any developer in possession of a bug must be in need of a rubber duck to talk to.There are lots of ways to...

83: How do you get started with a new framework?

05 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're trying something new this week. Live-coding is famously risky when giving a talk or presentation, but we figured it might be fun to make things ...

82: What is semantic markup?

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we get deep into the weeds of HTML. What tags do we use (and are they the same as the tags we should use)? And who are we wring our markup ...

81: What is an API?

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Development (and web-dev in particular) is a field full of initialisms and acronyms. We often take them for granted without thinking too much about th...

80: What’s it like behind the scenes of a podcast?

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

To celebrate our eightieth full episode, we pull back the curtain to show you how the sausage gets made. When we were starting out, "meta" episodes li...

79: How important are CS fundamentals? (with Vaidehi Joshi)

07 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What's this? Another of our heroes joining us for a chat!? You betcha! This week we're joined by the immensely talented and infectiously friendly Vaid...

78: How can developers get better at design?

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you're a developer you should absolutely know a little bit about design. You don't need to be an expert, but knowing some of the fundamentals of go...

77: Should you use boilerplates?

24 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Boilerplate code is code that you import into your project to give you a scaffold to build on. It helps get you to the fun stuff faster. Or does it? T...

76: CSS Revisited (Rapid Fire)

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's another rapid-fire multi-question show this week. Ed has some more questions about CSS, and (hopefully) Tom has some answers. Join us as we dive ...

75: Why do you need a website of your own? (with Chris Coyier)

10 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's fan-boy o'clock again this week, as one of Tom's web-heroes joins us for a chat. CSS Trickster and ShopTalkin' podcaster Chris Coyier stopped by ...

74: How do you get started with testing? (with Brian Okken)

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined this week by testing expert (and long-time friend of the show) Brian Okken. Brian literally wrote the book on testing with Python (Python...

73: Why is Python a good starting point for learning to code? (with Michael Kennedy)

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by Python expert (and super-star podcaster) Michael Kennedy to talk about why Python is such a great language to get started co...

72: CSS Extravaganza!

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a tweak to the usual format, this week's show is a frontend-focused rapid-fire question bonanza. Ed's been doing some CSS work this week, and has a...

71: How should developers market themselves? (with Shawn Wang)

13 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by Shawn Wang, Senior Developer Advocate at AWS and author of the excellent Coding Career Handbook. Shawn is a career-switcher;...

70: Is "become a developer" still good advice?

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Down on your luck? Become a developer! Don't know what to do for a career? Become a developer! Want to earn the big bucks? "Simply" become a developer...

69: Why bother with side projects?

29 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Side projects (or "side hustles" if you're feeling more entrepreneurial) are a subject that comes up a lot with developers. It can seem like every pro...

68: Are bootcamps worth doing? (with Kirsty Simmonds)

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by Kirsty Simmonds, a developer who has successfully survived a coding bootcamp. We love hearing stories about people who have ...

67: How can developers help fight climate change? (with Natalia Waniczek)

15 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined for this episode by Natalia Waniczek. Natalia is a web developer building hybrid mobile apps and websites at Elixel. With a passion for e...

66: How do you get started in data science? (with Tom Sainsbury)

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We were joined for this episode by Tom Sainsbury, a neuroscientist who has a wealth of experience in using programming to deal with data. We discuss t...

65: Should new developers get involved in open source? (with Jeremy Walker)

01 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's an exciting show for Ed this week. If you've listened to almost any of our previous episodes, you'll have most likely already heard Ed spreading ...

64: How do you get started with Pandas? (with Boris Paskhaver)

25 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we were joined by Boris Paskhaver, a software developer, Agile consultant, online educator and author. Boris is based in New York City and h...

63: What is i18n? (with Eli Schutze)

18 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by internationalisation (i18n) expert Eli Schutze. Originally from Nicaragua, Eli is a London-based web engineer and speaker cu...

62: What is it like to have a mentor? (with Amber Wilson)

11 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we got to speak with Amber Wilson. Amber is a front end engineer with 3 years experience and an interest in lots of things to do with the we...

61: What questions should you ask in an interview?

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Let's set the scene. You've landed an interview for your dream job in tech. You've crushed it on the technical evaluation and wowed them at the whiteb...

60: What is a resilient website? (with Jeremy Keith)

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by Jeremy Keith, a web developer and author who's had a massive influence on at least one of our hosts. Jeremy introduces us to...

59: How do you prepare to give a presentation?

20 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Even though all current in-person have been cancelled, some tech events are still happening. Many conferences are transitioning to being fully-online,...

58: How do you run a remote conference?

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've talked about organising conferences before (in episode #46). And we've talked about pivoting before as well (way back in episode #31). This week...

57: Why is time so hard to work with?

06 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode is another deep-dive into a niche coding topic. This time, we're dealing with time. In short, writing code that deals with times a...

56: How can you make code habitable?

30 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It is easy to think that when you are writing code your target audience is a computer. But almost all code is more than a simple list of instructions ...

55: Any tips and tricks for effective home working?

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lots of people are working from home now, and for many it's their first experience of being a remote worker. Ed is in this boat too - it's very new fo...

54: Why do people write "bad" code?

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's a sad fact of the world that bad code exists. But is this just developers doing their best impression of builders? "Who put this in, mate? It's a...

53: What are some good things to build?

09 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We think that the best way to learn *is* by doing (it works for us, but your milage may vary). So when you are learning to code, what should you be do...

52: What gear do you use?

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've talked before about the essential equipment you need when learning to code, but this week we take a look at all the tech and tools that we use e...

51: What is a Minimum Viable Product?

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Creating an MPV (Minimum Viable Product) is a big deal in "startup land". But what are they, exactly? How do they differ from a normal proof-of-concep...

50: What's so special about the command line?

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What is a CLI, and what is a GUI? What are the key differences? And why would you choose one over the other? Are there tasks that cannot be accomplish...

49: What is a build pipeline?

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

At some point you're going to want to put the code you've written onto the internet. In the "bad old days" you should FTP your files onto a server and...

48: Agency or product?

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What are the differences between working at an agency and working "in house" for a single company or product? How much does team size factor into the ...

47: How do you build a blog?

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We think that every developer should have a blog of some sort. But they shouldn't be hard to create. In this episode we dive into the mechanics of bui...

46: How do you apply to speak at a conference? (with Tony Edwards)

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

AQoC takes on a new flavour this week with the addition of our first ever guest: the magnificent Tony Edwards, organiser of the Future Sync tech confe...

45: Should you take a bootcamp?

13 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When you're pivoting to a career in tech, software bootcamps can seem very attractive. The idea that you can learn to code in three months, and have a...

44: What is the difference between a framework and a library?

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When coding, we often make use of external tools and snippets to make our life easier. Importing existing code into your codebase is a common occurren...

43: Yearly Themes: 2020

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout 2019 Tom and Ed have both been applying a "Yearly Theme" to their lives. We've talked a lot about the concept of Yearly Themes before, but ...

42: What does a developer do all day?

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Every developer's average work day will be different, but there are habits and patterns that crop up all the time. If you're a developer, the chances ...

41: How long does it take to get a job in tech?

09 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When you've decided you want to get a job as a professional programmer, it can be hard to know how long to expect the learning process to take. We onl...

40: Can you trust recruiters?

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week we finally get into a thorny issue that's raised it's head in several previous episodes. What do our hosts think of tech recruiters?What do ...

39: Do you have impostor syndrome?

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

There comes a point in every developer's career when they're afraid of being caught out. Afraid their colleagues will discover that they're a fraud. A...

38: If it's not broken should you fix it?

18 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Every developers wants to refactor all the things all the time. But is it always a sensible decision? How should you deal with "not invented here" syn...

⚡️ Help us, listeners. You're our only hope

14 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're hoping to do a "how long does it take to learn to code?" episode, but need more data points than just our own. With that in mind, we're inviting...

37: When are you ready for a coding job?

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An oft-heard bit of advice is "apply as soon as you can, before you think you're ready". It's good advice, and it's advice we ourselves have given ma...

36: How do you keep track of your knowledge?

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When learning to code, you need to remember an awful lot of new information. In fact, this is true for every stage of your career. Storing and recalli...

35: Do you git it? (What is version control?)

23 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ed's been finding something unusual is taking up most of his time at his new job. This week Tom and Ed discuss why you should be using version control...

34: How do you learn a new programming language?

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Having started his new job, Ed has discovered he'll need to learn C#. He's already learned a few different languages, notably Python, and has dipped h...

33: How much tooling is too much tooling?

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Now that Ed is a "professional" programmer, he needs to think seriously about his "tooling". And by that, we mean all the supporting technology that c...

32: How do you prepare for a new job?

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

So you've accepted an offer for your dream coding job. You start next week; what should you do between now and then to make sure you're as prepared as...

31: Should you pivot?

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week Ed has some news that puts the future of this podcast in jeopardy (spoilers: not really). We talk about that, as well as the concept of "piv...

⚡️ How much time do you spending coding in a coding job?

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this lightning question Tom and Ed discuss the work:non-work ratio of coding for a living. When writing code is your job, how much time do you spen...

⚡️ How long should you spend on a take home coding challenge?

12 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this lightning question Tom and Ed discuss take-home coding tests, and how much time you should budget for them. Most tech companies will set a cha...

⚡️ Tabs or spaces?

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this lightning question Tom and Ed discuss whether or not you should use spaces or tabs in your code. Spoiler alert: "spaces" is the only correct a...

30: What do you get from going to a tech meetup?

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We often recommend that developers should attend tech meetups. But what does this involve, and is it useful for everyone? Should your level of profess...

29: What's wrong with developer culture?

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In general, developers are awesome people. Both our hosts have been helped and supported by some fantastically friendly and generous engineers. But th...

28: How do you stay motivated?

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

July is a good time to revisit our yearly goals and motivational tactics. Hey, we're nerds; it's always a good time to talk about organisational syste...

27: How do you deal with crazy bugs?

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Boy, oh boy; bugs can be frustrating. A tricky bug can often make feel like a bad programmer, but fear not. Bugs happen to everybody. They're an unavo...

26: What is functional programming?

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tom is absolutely nuts about Functional Programming. He goes on about it all the time (mentioning it in almost every episode so far!) but Ed doesn't r...

25: Do you need to be good at maths to become a programmer?

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's a common assumption that all programmers are maths wünderkinds. But is that necessarily the case? Many coders do come have a strong mathematical...

24: Should you write about what you've learnt?

17 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An oft-heard piece of advice is to "write about what you learn". But what does that actually mean? And who are you supposed to be writing for; just yo...

23: How do you write a good CV?

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A good CV is an important part of finding a job in any industry. But are there specific things you should do to improve your chances in the tech indus...

22: Why should you write tests?

03 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ed doesn't have much experience with automated testing for his code. This week he asks Tom about the principles behind testing, and some of the benefi...

⚡️ What does it mean to be a full stack developer?

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this lightning question Tom and Ed discuss the term 'full-stack'. What does it mean and is it even possible for one person to do all the things?

⚡️ How closely should you match a job description before applying?

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this lightning question Tom and Ed give you a quick overview of how many of your skills need to match a job description before you apply.

21: How do you get started with open source?

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ed has found the world of open source software both intimidating and intriguing. Did Tom feel the same when he started out? What even is open source, ...

20: What's it like to attend a tech conference? (Live at Future Sync)

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In a new venture for the aQoC team, we took our show on the road. Future Sync is a tech conference keeping you in-sync with the latest digital trends....

19: What's it like being a remote developer?

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week Tom tells Ed what it's like to be a remote developer. They talk about accountability and motivation, as well as the importance of Gifs to a ...

18: What's the interview process for a tech job?

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode Tom describes his most recent round of interviewing. What tasks and challenges did he find? How many rounds did he have to go through?...

17: How do you find a mentor?

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Coding Coach - https://codingcoach.io/Exercism - https://exercism.io/Future Sync - https://futuresync.co.uk/

16: When should you specialise?

08 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When should you specialise in your career? Is specialising even necessary at all? The week Tom lays down some hard-earned wisdom (which Ed is smart en...

15: What happens in a kick off meeting?

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Notion: https://www.notion.so/Postman App: https://www.getpostman.com/Our Notion board

14: How do you learn?

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anki flashcard system: ankiweb.netExact Instructions Challenge - Dad makes his children write instructions for making a peanut butter and jam sandwich...

13: Project Introduction

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

GIT: https://git-scm.com/GitHub: https://github.comNotion: https://www.notion.soTrello: https://trello.com/enBasecamp: https://basecamp.com/

12: Should you get a CS degree?

11 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Code, by Charles PetzoldWhere Wizards Stay Up Late, by Katie Hafner & John LyonSyntax podcast"Must Have" CS fundamentalsA Baseline for Front-End D...

11: When should you change to your second language?

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Learn You The Noder/learnprogramming here be dragons!DjangoWagtail CMS.dev TLDsCS50's Web Programming

10: Is coding less fun when it’s your job?

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Halt and Catch Fire TV show: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/16/farewell-to-halt-and-catch-fire-the-best-show-that-nobody-watched S...

9: Where do you find jobs?

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Indeed: https://www.indeed.co.uk/StackOverflow Job Board: https://stackoverflow.com/jobsJoel Test: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-...

8: When should you quit your job?

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Picobel audio wrapper: https://github.com/tomhazledine/picobel @aQoCode@edPython@thomashazledine

7: Where do you learn?

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Refactoring UI, by Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger: https://refactoringui.com/book/Automate the Boring Stuff, by Al Sweigart: https://automatetheborin...

6: What tools do you need?

28 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/PyCharm: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ iTerm 2: https://www.iterm2.com/Prettier: https://prettier.io/Vim:...

5: Which language should you learn first?

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Import antigravity https://www.xkcd.com/353/ ‘it just works’Node_modules meme: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/6s0wov/heaviest_o...

4: How do you manage your time?

14 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cortex podcast: https://www.relay.fm/cortex Toggl time tracker: https://toggl.com/ #100DaysOfCode: https://www.100daysofcode.com/Todoist: https://to...

3: Freelance or full-time?

07 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week Tom and Ed get to grips with freelancing and working full time. What are the pros and cons of each? Which is the best way to start a career?...

2: Frontend or Backend?

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bootstrap - https://getbootstrap.comWeb developer roadmap: https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap 

1: Why are you learning to code?

24 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tom on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thomashazledine Ed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/edPythonA Question of Code on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aQo...

Trailer: A Question of Code

24 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Why should you listen to our podcast? Check out our trailer with Tom and Ed!