SmartCoding (SC): Why have you decided to become a developer and to join our course?

Jasmine (J): From the beginning, I wasn’t actually thinking about becoming a developer, but my sambo is a developer and when I compared his work to my work I could see that it was much more fast-moving and things were happening in a dynamic, constantly-changing and exciting way and I felt like I am missing some of that in my field. Therefore I got a little bit more interested and did a few Udemy courses and I felt like this is actually kind of fun and I took the next step to become a developer with SmartCoding.

SC: Why SmartCoding?

J: I felt like I needed to work at another platform and real-life project, like the one that we did with Banki. Also, to have an opportunity to be more collaborative with other people.

SC: Have you ever used any tools that you could recommend for beginners?

J: Definitely Udemy courses. It’s a very good site because you can literally just search what you want to learn and then do it, whatever it is, and it’s like a big playground for the developers. Also, some tutorials are good. Medium is a good page to read articles and follow what’s new. I also like the book called “Clean Coding” which was recommended to me by one of SmartCoding’s graduates. It taught me how the code is supposed to look like.

SC: How would you describe the course? Did it meet your expectations?

J: There are things that I’d still like to practice, but there are also things that I am very happy about. During the course, I tried programming in Python for the first time – building the entire project with Django framework was really cool. I also didn’t know any React but now I am able to use it. 

SC: During the course, you’d been working on a real-life project with Banki. How was that as an experience?

J: That was really fun. At the beginning, I was thinking “No way we can do this!”, but then, in the end, I felt more and more confident. It’s been challenging, but very helpful for all of us.

SC: Anything in particular that you’ve learned during the course except for the things mentioned before?

J: Mostly – how everything is connected. How is my feature connected to a person’s A feature, how and why is this code connected to that and why is this happening. I was able to understand much more. I learned how to fix things that were broken and that was also really valuable. 

SC: Did SmartCoding course help you to discover what you want to do?

J: I realized that I want to continue with programming, but I can’t say specifically if it’s front-end or back-end. That’s a good part of the course – it prepares you to be a full-stack developer and doesn’t narrow the area of your expertise.

SC: Why are you an asset to your future team?

J: Programming-wise I learn easier and easier and I am getting more and more used to the languages and the way of working. When it comes to soft skills, I don’t give up quickly when it gets harder and I love being at the team where I can learn and ask questions.

SC: Where would you like to work after the course?

J: A company that allows me to grow and take on responsibility. If I would develop my own product, I’d like to create something that actually helps people, both in a small and large scale. Now I am working as an urban planner, so maybe something that could help with traffic somehow.

Jasmine