[Launch School] Community Update - June 19th, 2023

Hi everyone, it's Clare. I'm back! I'm still recovering from my last CU, which spawned a whole new Slack channel dedicated to the merits of competing versions of "The Office." Furthermore, the US version is the only thing I have watched on TV since the last CU*. I'm now on Season 6, and my heartfelt thanks go to Idris for helping me get over the slump at the end of Season 5 and "Hello, Kathy Bates. It's great you've joined the party!". As you may have noticed, I am not one to shy away from controversy, but even though I am a little nervous about wading into this, here goes nothing. Naya started a great [thread]( asking for advice on applications to use for note-taking. There were many valuable suggestions, but the one I embraced after this post was Notion. I've tried using it before, but it was too intimidating. However, this Launch School Tech Talk [video](, signposted by Alican, was a revelation, and I highly recommended it (not only due to the beautiful British accent). It showed me that I can keep things simple and notes in Notion don't have to be all bells and whistles. Don't worry, Typora, I haven't forgotten you (and I haven't yet figured out the shortcuts in Notion). As for OneNote, I wish I had never got involved. [notion] Now some LS news (are you still with me, Google?). *I lie. As a special treat for our 16th wedding anniversary, my husband and I watched the first episode of the British version. Oh, Gareth, I miss you. --------------------------------------------------------------- Important Updates Ruby Core Updated to Ruby 3.2/Rubocop 1.51.0 All the course materials have been updated to be compatible with Ruby 3.2 and Rubocop 1.51.0. For now, it's OK to continue using the previously recommended versions. However, if you run into trouble, you may wish to upgrade. For more info, please see [the announcement](. New TypeScript course - coming soon! We have been working hard behind the scenes to bring you all a brand new course on TypeScript. The new course, TS240, will be added to the end of the Core courses on June 26th. This valuable addition reflects our dedication to ensuring Launch School remains aligned with industry trends. Check out this [post]( for more details. [Typewriter] New Presentation Assessments for JS189/RB189 - coming soon! Starting June 26th, the RB189 and JS189 interview assessments will be changed to presentation assessments! Instead of a question and answer interview as we presently have, students will be asked to give a 15-20 minute presentation of their RB189/JS189 project. The details of what your presentation will cover will be described when we give you the requirements for your project. See [the complete announcement]( for more details. --------------------------------------------------------------- Routine Updates Women's Group We had our regular Launch School Women's Group last Sunday. This was a general meetup, and we had some indispensable conversations. I find this group immensely valuable. Being able to share thoughts, ideas, and concerns with like-minded people, all in the same boat, is incredibly reassuring. However, this meeting was tinged with a bit of sadness as Leeya stepped down as one of the leads to focus on Capstone prep. Leeya has done a fantastic job of helping the group go from strength to strength and has been a mainstay the entire time I have attended meetings. Leeya will be sorely missed, but I hope she will continue to pop in and check in on us. On a brighter note, Amy has stepped up and will join Wendy as co-lead, so there is no need to fear. This group isn't going away; it is in good hands. Lookout for the next one, coming up on Sunday, July 2nd, at 2pm EST (link [here](). This one is "Game Day." We've had a couple of game sessions before, all in gather town, and they have been entertaining and a chance to build bonds. So if you're free, come and join in! Meetups Weirdly, there doesn't seem to have been a New York meetup. What's going on? Thankfully, Dallas & Fort Worth, and Chicago have kept the torch burning (there is also a rumor of a Seattle meetup, but they were camera-shy): [june_meetups] As much as I love the Chicago gang, Dallas & Fort Worth win the prize for best-ever meetup photo - this may start a trend! (At least, I hope so.) Over in Europe, a meetup in Vienna, Austria, on June 24th at 12:30pm is planned. Check out the [#europe-africa-timezones]( slack channel for more info. This is the closest meetup to me for some time, so I'm gutted that I can't join you (a trip to Vienna feels too indulgent) - have fun, and remember to take lots of photos (or Photoshop them later). Browse through the slack channels to find a region near you, or start one up if you see a gap in the market. If you plan a gathering, consider adding it to our [events calendar]( to advertise to a broader audience. Programming Essentials Workshops We've held some great new workshops over the last month. Trevor demystified the Internet and CSS, Brenno took us through overcoming setbacks, Brandi shared the keys to acing interviews, JD explored note-taking strategies, and, finally, I used cat photos to demonstrate HTML and flow charts for Git. Don't worry if you missed out this time. I'm sure these will come around again - they've been very popular. Coming up, I'm holding two workshops on GitHub and more Git: - [A Beginner's Guide to Version Control using Git]( - [From Local to Global: Discovering the World of Github]( - [The Art of Git Branching and Staging for Beginners]( And also Trevor with a workshop on [The Science and Practice of Studying](. Student Articles Continuing the tradition of great writing from our students, Patrick wrote a medium [article]( about his experience of de-isolating his learning. For anyone that feels a little intimidated about reaching out to complete strangers in a search for study partners, Patrick has shared some great ideas on how to do this in an approachable manner. This took me a while to embrace, and I wish I had had Patrick's tips when I started my Launch School journey. Another beauty this month has been George's [article]( on preparing for the RB119/RB109d interview. This is a tough one. Coding in front of others, especially Launch School TAs, can be scary (we don't bite, although we can be a little sensitive regarding the correct way to eat scones). Here, George has broken down his process, including detailed notes on implementing the powerful PEDAC process. Finally, Sofia linked to an [article]( that she found useful "[f]or the days that you're reading the same bit of code over and over again wondering why it's taking so long to click." This article has a lot of insight - it's a great find Sofia. [articles] --------------------------------------------------------------- On the Lowdown There have been some interesting discussions over the last month on our ever-busy Slack channels: Introductions Patrick's post to his medium article (see above) has inspired many people to introduce themselves to the Launch School community. Please give a warm welcome to [Terry](, [Miten](, [Gabriel](, [PJ](, [Jordan]( and [Josh](. It's great to hear about newbies joining us and wonderful to see the diversity of backgrounds we attract. ChatGPT Daniel started a great [thread]( asking what people use this tool for. The result was lots of practical tips, as well as some warnings! I'm sure there's an article waiting to be written about this, Daniel, maybe using ChatGPT itself (hint, hint). [chatgpt] Pete's Pearls of Perception (I really struggled with the alliteration here!) Pete has a wealth of knowledge and experience that he is always very generous in sharing. This month's notable nuggets: - [Firstly](, an ever-ready excuse for below-par assessment performance: "I have omitted a number of things that might have made it clearer, but I did this intentionally and would not have done it otherwise." - René Descartes - [Never try to write code that deals with dates and time zones.]( - [Lastly](, is it game over for JavaScript? Patrick made a great point about this: "There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses" -Bjarne Stroustrup --------------------------------------------------------------- And Finally Quick shoutout to myself for passing JS211. I began JS210 in July 2022. Then I became a TA, and Pete kept giving me exciting things to do (I've learned so much from working with you, Pete; you're the best). Thankfully, Rona came along and got me back on the straight and narrow. Rona, you have been incredibly patient with me, asking the same questions repeatedly, in not very imaginatively different ways. Thanks to Mai and Nhan, who have also helped me with my studies and kept me sane. Lastly, here is a small update on my career. I am currently awaiting a call from Google. Mitch informed me that they were reading my newsletters (which can only mean one thing), evidenced by their [google doodle]( from June 10th. [scones] Wish me luck! --------------------------------------------------------------- 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](