AMA
Official ask-me-anything conversations with notable guests
Cassidy Williams

I'm Cassidy, I teach coding and create fun videos on the internet. AMA 👇

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Hi there! My name is Cassidy and I'm the Director of Developer Experience at Netlify. Previously, I worked at React Training, CodePen, Amazon, and Venmo. I run a weekly newsletter and often make silly videos on the internet, love teaching, help people become better coders! You might have seen me in Glamour Magazine or the Big Dream documentary a few years back, or more recently you might have seen my Scrabble keyboard project in a couple of dozen different publications! Happy to answer any questions on topics around front-end web dev, developer relations, jokes, social media, running a newsletter, or live streaming. AMA 👇
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Vivian Vosu
Hi Cassidy, Have you ever developed a game?
Cassidy Williams
@vivian_vosu I haven't but I would LOVE to. Truly a dream that I just haven't made time for yet!
Li Gri
Hi Cassidy - what do you think is an under used but super effective method of connecting with developer communities? Liam, DevRel @ Shopify
Cassidy Williams
@li_gri Thank you notes, hands down. If you're ever at a meetup, or conference, or Twitter Space, or async chat, or even a simple voice chat, sending thank you notes are SUCH POWERFUL TOOLS that so few people use! It can start a connection that can turn into a really great relationship. Some of my closest friends and mentorship relationships have started with a simple thank you note.
Li Gri
@cassidoo Thanks! That's really great advice!!
Dev
Can students learn programming by understanding source code of popular open source projects? [LINKS] I have this thought that I'd like to share with you. IMHO programming can be taught more efficiently if the instructor takes a popular open source project from GitHub (something like the Telegram app), sets it up with an IDE and explains the source code in a sequential fashion. It gives a real-world touch to the whole learning process, it makes it more fun, engaging and keeps the student motivated. The journey can start with simpler projects and slowly take up complex apps. For the fundamentals, tools like codecademy can be referred to. https://opensource.builders/ Projects can be selected from the above collection. In a way it can be termed as project based learning by understanding source code. Or such an approach can be developed into a plugin or a standalone tool, something like this (keeping learners in mind) - https://github.com/CoatiSoftware... or https://www.codesee.io/ Some examples that come close:
Your thoughts, suggestions are most welcome.
Cassidy Williams
@idev I agree with that completely! That's actually how I first learned coding. It was yeeeears ago before online classes were a thing (literally before YouTube, showing my age here), and viewing the source of websites was how I first learned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Learning how to read source code is so helpful both for learning code, but also learning how projects/frameworks/etc work. I know I learned a lot about React by reading some of the source code under the hood, too.
Sharath Kuruganty
Hey Cassidy! Thanks for doing this AMA. I'm curious what's your process is like when you make videos that are funny and informational at the same time?
Cassidy Williams
@5harath Hey! Honestly I don't have much of a process. I really just... play with ideas a lot. I sometimes come up with video ideas based on music, and sometimes have an idea and search for ways to communicate it. Some of my "most popular" videos are ones that I worked about 10 seconds on, and some are ones where I've really put effort in. Some videos take me months to refine the idea, and some just pop up as a concept *after* I've filmed it, hahaha!
Tochukwu Ojinaka
In the spirit of halloween 😂. What language or framework scares you the most.
Cassidy Williams
@tobecci C++ hands down, I pray I never have to write in that ever again.
Tochukwu Ojinaka
@cassidoo thanks for the response, i have to honest it's not what i was expecting
Cassidy Williams
@tobecci Hahaha, that language was NOT a fun time for me to learn and build with! I deeply respect the people who enjoy it!
Thrister Mas
Hi Cassidy. I will take a look at your videos, I'm very interested :) Thanks
Atul Ghorpade
Hi Cassidy, any hiring going on in Netlify?
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