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

The core concepts of computer science can be intimidating and hard to learn. When, how, and why should you learn them?

Show Notes

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 Vaidehi Joshi. You'll know Vaidehi from her work on the Base.cs blog series and podcast (a must-listen show; it's awesome).

How did Vaidehi get into the world of computer science in the first place? And is it something she thinks everyone else should do, too? Are technical interviews that lean heavily on core CS skills useful in a world where most developers don't use them in their day-to-day work? (Spoiler alert: the system needs some improvements) And where can you go to improve your CS knowledge? Find out all this and more in this week's CS-friendly instalment of A Question of Code.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Vaidehi on Twitter @vaidehijoshi
• Base.cs blog posts
• Base.cs Podcast
• Forem
• dev.to
• Edsger Djikstra and his famous algorithm
• Finding The Shortest Path, With A Little Help From Dijkstra
• MIT Courseware videos

What is A Question of Code?

A newbie coder and a seasoned veteran discuss the questions that always come up when someone begins learning to code.

Ed is looking at getting a career in programming and has been learning to code for just over a year. During this time he’s been building up a stack of questions that keep coming up from other newbie coders. Luckily, he’s got someone he can ask for help: Tom. Tom’s a seasoned coder, having worked in the industry for a few years now and has all the answers Ed needs, or does he?