Learning a Language: Elixir vs. JavaScript with Yohana Tesfazgi & Wes Bos

This week, the Elixir Wizards are joined by Yohana Tesfazgi and Wes Bos to compare notes on the experience of learning Elixir vs. JavaScript as your first programming language. Yohana recently completed an Elixir apprenticeship, and Wes Bos is a renowned JavaScript educator with popular courses for beginner software developers.

They discuss a variety of media and resources and how people with different learning styles benefit from video courses, articles, or more hands-on projects. They also discuss the current atmosphere for those looking to transition into an engineering career and how to stick out among the crowd when new to the scene.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• Pros and cons of learning Elixir as your first programming language
• Materials and resources for beginners to JavaScript and Elixir
• Projects and methods for learning Elixir with no prior knowledge
• Recommendations for sharpening and showcasing skills
• How to become a standout candidate for potential employers
• Soft skills like communication translate well from other careers to programming work
• Learning subsequent languages becomes more intuitive once you learn your first
• How to decide which library to use for a project
• How to build an online presence and why it’s important
• Open-source contributions are a way to learn from the community
• Ship early and often, just deploying a default Phoenix app teaches deployment skills
• Attend local meetups and conferences for mentoring and potential job opportunities

Links Mentioned

https://syntax.fm/
https://fly.io/
https://elixirschool.com/en
Syntax.fm: Supper Club × How To Get Your First Dev Job With Stuart Bloxham
Quinnwilton.com
https://github.com/pallets/flask
https://wesbos.com/courses
https://beginnerjavascript.com/
Free course: https://javascript30.com/
https://pragmaticstudio.com/
https://elixircasts.io/
https://grox.io/
LiveView Mastery YouTube Channel
Contact Yohana: yytesfazgi@gmail.com