[Launch School] Community Update - November 16, 2022

Hello everyone! It's Clare with my first Community Update for Launch School. I just got back to a routine of studying after taking a break to get to grips with my role as a TA (I've been saying I'm about halfway through the Ruby track for months!). I really appreciate the changes recently made to the JavaScript Book (more on this later) as I am in JS210 and have gone right back to the beginning of the course, starting with this book. [JavaScript book cover] Having had a break, I am thoroughly enjoying getting stuck back toinJavaScript. I'm finding it very different from Ruby. Still, the fundamentals are the same, making learning a second language less painful than the first (even if the second is JavaScript 😉). Enough about my learning journey. Let's see what else has been going on! --------------------------------------------------------------- Important Updates Thanksgiving Break This is all a bit mysterious to me, living in the UK my whole life. Apparently, a small annual celebration is coming up in the US. 😉 [Turkey] [Source]( Things will be relatively quiet at Launch School from Wednesday, November 23rd, to Sunday, November 27th. TAs will still be around, but we may not get back to you as quickly as we usually would. Please see this [post]( for more information. JavaScript Book Updates Good news! We're happy to announce some recent changes to our [Introduction to Programming with JavaScript book](! The updated content is in the Functions, Objects, and More Stuff chapters. The material covers topics such as how JavaScript handles missing and excess arguments, that functions are objects, and variables as pointers. Note that the updated content does not cover any new concepts; it does not affect the JS109 and JS211 assessments. However, it might help you prepare better. These updates are certainly helping me understand some of the more complex JS concepts! New LS216 Practice Problems We've also added several practice problems for the LS216 interview assessment. These new problems should help you wrap your head around the problems you're solving. This is a huge part of coding interviews; don't solve the wrong problem because you didn't ask questions! Check out this [announcement]( for more detail. --------------------------------------------------------------- Routine Updates Student articles We have a long tradition of students creating fantastic articles on all sorts of programming and studying concepts. Chris (not that Chris!) wrote about his experience of running out of time taking the RB109 written assessment. It is a fantastic article. Humorously written, it is a dream to read, but it is also packed with useful tips we can all learn from. Check it out [here](. I'm looking forward to Chris's next article already - hint, hint! 😉 Coincidentally, Haider wrote about a similar issue in preparing for Launch School's written assessments and managing your time during the exams. His fascinating article even manages to find the positives in procrastination, which is definitely something that I struggle with sometimes. This article has many practical tips that make it worth reading; you can find it [here](haider.codes23/how-to-prepare-for-written-assessments-and-manage-your-time-while-taking-them-495ff01c37ca). Lastly, Zane wrote of his experiences learning how to learn. We are all going through this course at different paces, and Zane articulates thoughts that I suspect many of us have about our rate of progress. Again, this article has a lot to learn, so be sure to give it a read [here](kcstills17/learning-how-to-learn-the-very-beginning-on-the-path-to-software-engineer-ba515edb7af3). Meet-ups There have been a few in-person meet-ups this month: - On November 14th, there was a fun meet-up in Calgary, Canada (thank you for the photo Sagar!): [Calgary meetup] - We had a small meet-up of Central Texas Launch Schoolers in Austin on November 5th. [Texas meetup] There is also a New York meeting in the pipeline: - The [#new-york]( channel is meeting up at a bar called [As Is NYC]( on Saturday, November 19th at 1:30pm. It's located at 734 10th Avenue in Manhattan. The food looks yummy! [As Is NYC] And probably more! Make sure to search through the (many) Slack channels to see if there's a regional channel for you. If there isn't, feel free to start one up! Workshops We are continuing our amazing series of free learn to program workshops. The first series went so well that we're running them all over, so not to worry if you missed out last time. These sessions are ideal for beginner programmers and cover language-specific fundamental concepts, study tips, Git, the Command Line, and more! I am having a lot of fun running my sessions. I have been overwhelmed with how enthusiastically everyone has joined in with the quizzes. Students have also asked some great questions to explore the concepts we cover, which keeps me on my toes! The workshops are free, and anyone can attend. You don't even have to be a registered Launch School student! For more information, including how to RSVP and sign up, you can find the workshops listed on the all-new [Programming Essentials Workshop List]( page. As of now, there are 8 workshops you can sign up for, with more coming in the new year. Women's Group Our regular Launch School Women's Group Virtual meeting is coming up. The next one occurs on Sunday, November 20th, at 2pm EDT. This one will be on Gather Town, so we can get to know each other by hanging out and playing games. The last time we did this, it was a lot of fun, and it would be great to see some new faces there. For more information, including how to sign up, check out [this forum post](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Fun stuff Advent of Code Last year, Julia created a Slack group and leaderboard for LS students to join in with all the fun that can be had with [Advent of Code](. I have gained Julia's blessing to continue the tradition this year. If you would like to join in, please join the new Slack group [Advent of Code](. [Winter trees] [Source]( For anyone new to Advent of Code, it is an Advent calendar of small programming puzzles that can be completed in any programming language. This is just for fun (it's free to sign up) and is not affiliated with LS. Last year, I got to day 14 before realizing I had to choose between LS and AoC, and LS won! Let's see how far I get this year and how long I use it to practice JavaScript before returning to my old friend Ruby!!! --------------------------------------------------------------- Before I go, I wanted to pass on some words of wisdom from Jaime. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with balancing studying, TA-ing, and life in general, and this fits me: ​ Remember, you can't make everyone happy; you are not a bunny... [Rabbit] For more photos of pets (including Jaime), check out the [gratuitous_pet_photos]( Slack channel - it's the best! That's all for the community update. Keep up the hard work! --------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, you can use the one-click link below to unsubscribe. [Unsubscribe From All Email]( [Unsubscribe From Weekly Summaries](