Newsletter 3

Hi there,

I'm currently writing this from a friend's home in Luxembourg. I am heading to Prague next week for EuroPython (more on that later), so I'm hanging here for a while beforehand.

I've been blown away by the place. First of all, the investment in public infrastructure is amazing. It's a city built for people. There is a network of free busses and trams that go basically everywhere, massive outdoor elevators to get people up and down the cliffs that the city straddles, and even free wifi, provided by the city.

Pretty cool.

On top of that, there is a lot of natural beauty. I've spent many an evening exploring winding paths through huge, old forests and along rivers.

My home is in Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm looking forward to being back there for a lot of reasons. It's quite different from here.

Without further ado, let me tell you what brings me to this side of the world.

EuroPython

EuroPython is happening in Prague next week. I am going to be presenting a shortened version of a keynote I gave at PyCon Namibia. The talk is about learning to code in the age of AI.

The TLDR is that I still 100% believe it is worthwhile for people to learn to code. And I 100% believe that a lot of new coders are using LLMs as footguns and hindering their own growth and progress.

One thing I have spoken about before is how people can hit unexpected glass ceilings while trying to build a career as a coder. LLMs increase people's chances of hitting those ceilings.

Recent articles

Here are my latest articles in case you missed them:

• The learning styles myth: There are a lot of humans wasting their time and potential by trying to apply learning mechanisms that are not evidence based. Learning styles are one pervasive myth we should try to get over
• Writing strategy - if it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly: The stuff I write here is very much a work in progress, it's all something I will likely iterate on. I've accepted the imperfection of it all
• The anatomy of a web app: This is some curriculum content I wrote for Umuzi a while back. I've gotten a lot of feedback to say it has been useful. I'll release the rest of this in the near-term future
• An HTMX success story: This article got a surprising amount of attention. I ported a React app to HTMX with the intention of making a dev team more productive. It worked really well. I'm super excited about HTMX, I think it's going to shift the web dev ecosystem in big ways. I'm planning to talk about this more in the future. Stay tuned.

And a throwback:

This article got quite a bit of attention early on. It's short and sweet and talks a bit about what I'm doing here. Enjoy:

Why I write

What's next

Next up, I'll be keynoting at DjangoCon US! I'm very excited about this. I'll be talking about ways to help people learn to code.

Software development is a learning profession. It's hard to argue against that. So knowing a bit about the science of learning is hella powerful for your own growth.

Software development is also a profession with a big emphasis on things that are very much like teaching: Devs and engineers onboard new team members onto projects, try to explain themselves to non-technical folk, teach each other about different technologies and techniques that they have discovered or created, take part in mentorship systems...

There is a science to learning and teaching, and an art. I'll be talking about that.

Love and peace, Sheena