topic: SUPER IMPORTANT STUFF: How to not fail
| Tags | skill/starting_umuzi_basics |
We want to help you to be successful here. There are a few things that you NEED to get right.
We’ve already mentioned some of this stuff, but it’s really super important so it’s worth repeating.
Don’t copy! That’s cheating and we don’t accept cheaters
We expect you to WRITE YOUR OWN CODE! If we catch you copy-pasting then we wont be able to accept you!
Why?
A real coder aims to understand stuff. If you want to be a professional and all you know how to do is copy-paste other people’s hard work, you won’t make it. You’ll get fired from your first job in your first week. If you even get a job.
Take your success seriously by taking your understanding seriously
Help each other intelligently
If someone gets stuck, help them understand. Don’t just give them code to copy.
If you give someone else code to copy then we’ll be forced to reject both you and the person you “helped”.
Follow instructions carefully and completely
- If we ask you to fill in a form: Do it carefully and correctly.
- If we give you a project to do: Do the whole thing and make sure you follow the instructions. For example, if we say “write a function that returns 5” and instead you print “five” to the screen we won’t be very impressed.
Be precise. Be intentional about the code you write. Don’t guess!
If we give you something to read then read it
There are important details in the things we send you. You need to focus.
You also need to go through any listed pre-requisites. You’ll often see those at the top of a content page. Like this:
DON’T COPY CODE!!!!
Yes, it’s being repeated. If we catch people copying then those people have lost their opportunity. It’s always sad when we have to tell people to leave. Please take this very seriously.
The final test
If you are applying for one of Umuzi’s main programmes then your understanding of your code will be tested. A staff member will have a one on one conversation with you and they will write code and you will be expected to answer questions about it.
If you understand all the code you wrote during this bootcamp then you will do fine.
If you just wrote a bunch of random stuff until your code worked, copied code from someone else, or just tried to memorize big blocks of code then you will fail this final test.
Make sure you 100% understand every single code statement. Every individual line of code needs to make sense to you. We will take the concepts you have already covered and we will combine those concepts in new and interesting ways.
Be curious and learn to assess your own understanding before we assess you!
Check your understanding!
- What is the main message of this topic?
- Why is it important to write your own code?
- What should you do if someone asks for help with their code?
- Why is it important to follow instructions carefully and completely?
- What will happen if you copy code?
- How will your understanding of code be tested in Umuzi’s main programmes?
- What is the importance of reading through any listed pre-requisites before starting a content page?