Ladybug Podcast
84 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 161 ratingsWe're Emma Bostian, Sidney Buckner, Kelly Vaughn, and Ali Spittel - four seasoned software developers working in different sectors. Since there's a major lack of technical podcasts out there, we've decided to start one. Just kidding -- there's already a ton! But, we wanted to add our voices to the space and share our experiences and advice. We'll have great discussions around how to start coding, the hot technologies right now, how to get your first developer job, and more!
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Episodes
Behavioral Interviews
March 09, 2020 06:00 - 49 minutes - 34.4 MBShow notes 1:43 - What is the flow of the technical interview process 6:50 - The salary conversation 15:25 - Behavioral questions 27:32 - Interview prep strategies 34:17 - Red flags 45:17 - Shoutouts Resources Star technique Data structures & algorithms episode Frontend interview episode The Culture Map Levels.fyi Thread on Negotiating Radical Candor Adam Grant podcast Andrew Certain Brotopia Bad Blood Society 6 Transcript We provide transcripts for all of our episodes. ...
Engineering Management
March 02, 2020 07:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBIn one of our previous episodes, we talked about different jobs within tech, one of which is engineering management. Today we’re joined by the wonderful Amal Hussein, engineering manager at NPM and we’re going to chat more in-depth about her career path. 1:27 - Tell us about yourself 3:10 - Last fall you transitioned into a new role as an Engineering Manager at NPM. How did you make that leap? 5:38 - What does your day to day schedule look like? 8:32 - What’s the hardest thing about bei...
Invisible Women
February 26, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBImagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognized or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you're a woman. This month for the Ladybug Podcast book club we read Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez. In this episode w...
Frontend Interviews
February 24, 2020 07:00 - 51 minutes - 35.7 MBProgramming interviews are terrifying. There’s so much to learn and nobody enjoys answering technical questions in front of a complete stranger. In this episode, we’ll dive into the frontend technical interview and give some tips and tricks for nailing it. 2:06 - Our experiences with technical interviews 3:36 - The interview process 14:15 - Phone screens 20:32 - Take home challenges 34:43 - In-person interviews 46:08 - Resources to get better at interviewing 49:00 - Shoutouts
Building a Resume
February 17, 2020 12:02 - 40 minutes - 28.4 MBWhether you’re seeking your first developer job or you’re looking to move to a new company, your resume is the first thing employers will see. Having a strong resume is what sets you apart from the competition. In this week’s episode we’re discussing all things resume-building, including what’s important to include, what can be skipped, and best practices for creating your resume. 1:24 - What do our resumes look like? 3:40 - CVs vs. Resumes 12:20 - Resume design 17:09 - What if I don’t h...
Game Development
February 10, 2020 07:00 - 28 minutes - 20.1 MBThis week we’re talking all things game development! Joining us today is Arianna Rudawski, a software engineer with a super cool job. We’ll be discussing what a career in game development is like, the skills needed to become a game developer, and advice for getting into game development.
Data Structures and Algorithms
February 03, 2020 07:00 - 53 minutes - 37.1 MBComputer science concepts like data structures and algorithms can be super intimidating, especially if you’re cramming the night before an interview. In this episode, we’ll discuss common algorithms and data structures and give you some tips for your next whiteboarding challenge. 01:44 - Our experience with data structures and algorithms 05:00 - What are algorithms? 06:17 - What is Big O notation? 13:57 - Sorting algorithms 17:55 - Graph traversal 19:20 - Searching algorithms 20:04 -...
Book Club: Atomic Habits
January 29, 2020 07:00 - 32 minutes - 23.7 MBWe're so excited for the first-ever Ladybug Podcast book club episode! This is a bonus episode which will occur at the end of each month. This month we’re discussing Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you want to follow along you can check out our Goodreads group and ladybug.dev/books. 0:36 - Our thoughts on the book 04:15 - The importance of habits 06:16 - Systems vs. Goals 08:01 - Layers of behavioral change 09:58 - Stages of habit formation 13:43 - Steps of breaking a bad habit 15:5...
Personal Branding
January 27, 2020 07:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBEvery day we see companies market to us with a specific brand voice, and we can recognize the differences from one brand to the next. But what about personal brands? You as a person are a brand - it’s how you portray yourself on the internet and how others perceive you. I’m a brand, Emma’s a brand, Ali’s a brand. We’re all our own unique representations of ourselves. This week we’re discussing what it means to have your own personal brand and everything you need to know about building and ma...
Design for Developers
January 20, 2020 07:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBDesign for Developers One of the biggest things that developers struggle with is design. It’s easy to look at an application and know that it looks terrible, but hard to explain why. This episode we’re joined by Steve Schoger, co-author of the hugely popular Refactoring UI. We’ll learn some design tips and dive into the story behind the book as well as his other projects Hero Patterns and Hero Icons. Show notes 1:40 - Who are you? Tell us a bit more about your coding/design journey. 10:...
20 Tips for Developers in 2020
January 13, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 46.3 MBTo kick off our new season and a new year, this week we’ll be discussing 20 tips to start off strong in 2020. From mentorship to debugging to strategizing your learning, we'll give you all the advice you need for starting the year off right! 0:32 - 1. Challenge yourself to do something new. 04:30 - 2. Do a little bit each day. 07:03 - 3. Track your wins. 09:30 - 4. Get comfortable with failure. 12:08 - 5. Don't compare yourself to others. 16:28 - 6. Find a community. 19:24 - 7. People...
Speaking At Conferences
November 25, 2019 09:00 - 49 minutes - 67.3 MBHave you ever watched or attended a conference and been in awe of the speakers? How do they know so much information? How do they prepare a talk? How do they even get the courage to speak in the first place and what is that process like? In this episode we’ll delve into all things conference talks. This is a very special episode because it’s our last episode this season. We’ve decided to release our podcast in seasons, which gives us more time to plan out our episodes and schedule guests ah...
Web Performance
November 18, 2019 09:00 - 32 minutes - 45.2 MBToday we’re talking about web performance. Did you know that 40% of users abandon sites that take more than 3s to load? Turns out making your sites fast is pretty important! In this episode we’ll talk about what web performance is, why we should care, and we’ll give you tips for optimizing performance and measuring it. Show Notes What is web performance? - 1:18 Why should I care about performance? - 3:48 The cost of JavaScript - 6:59 What should I be measuring? - 14:02 Performance tool...
Debugging 101
November 11, 2019 09:00 - 27 minutes - 38.1 MBHow often have you encountered a problem and struggled to figure out where to start? Or maybe you aren’t super familiar with the browser tools available to debug your JavaScript code. So today we’ve brought on a special guest, Rebecca Hill, to help us learn about the world of debugging. Show Notes Who are you? - 1:12 How did you learn so much about debugging? - 2:00 Basic debugging steps - 3:12 Is debugging language agnostic? - 6:21 Why don't we teach debugging? - 9:36 Differe...
Working Remotely
November 04, 2019 09:00 - 38 minutes - 53 MBIn recent years, working remotely has become a more popular office perk not only among startups but enterprise businesses as well. Some companies even ONLY work remotely. In this week's episode, we'll discuss our experiences working remotely, the pros and cons from an employer and employee standpoint, and provide some advice on whether or not working remotely is a good fit for you. Show Notes What does it mean to work remotely? - 1:36 What is our experience working remotely? - 2:34 Pros ...
Shopify & E-Commerce
October 28, 2019 06:00 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBIf you’ve ever seen Kelly’s Twitter account then you’ve probably heard of Shopify, an E-commerce platform that gives you everything you need to sell online. This week we’re talking to JML, CTO at Shopify, and we’re giving you all the details. Show notes Who are you and what is your role at Shopify? - 1:05 What does a typical day at Shopify look like? - 1:41 What was your path in tech? - 3:36 What is Shopify & e-commerce in general? - 7:44 What makes Shopify different from competitors? -...
All About Technical Portfolios
October 21, 2019 12:00 - 31 minutes - 43.3 MBThis week we're talking all things portfolios. What can a portfolio do for you? How can you build one? Do you even need a portfolio to be successful? This week we'll delve into the world of portfolios. Show Notes What is a technical portfolio? - 1:16 Do we have portfolios? - 8:13 Why would you want a portfolio? - 8:21 How do you build a portfolio as a backend developer? - 17:06 What can you put in your portfolio? - 18:11 What if I'm bad at design? - 20:26 What should developers focus...
React, Vue, && Anglular, OH MY!
October 14, 2019 10:35 - 51 minutes - 70.1 MBYou've probably heard about some of the JavaScript frameworks that dominate the front end ecosystem. And this week's podcast we'll be discussing the pros and cons of JavaScript frameworks, go into detail about React, Vue, and Angular, and discuss tools and resources for how you can get started with these frameworks. Difference between a library & a framework - 1:04 Do we even need a framework? - 4:37 Pros & cons of using frameworks - 13:25 Popularity of different frameworks - 16:54 React - ...
React, Vue, && Angular, OH MY!
October 14, 2019 10:35 - 51 minutes - 70.1 MBYou've probably heard about some of the JavaScript frameworks that dominate the front end ecosystem. And this week's podcast we'll be discussing the pros and cons of JavaScript frameworks, go into detail about React, Vue, and Angular, and discuss tools and resources for how you can get started with these frameworks. Difference between a library & a framework - 1:04 Do we even need a framework? - 4:37 Pros & cons of using frameworks - 13:25 Popularity of different frameworks - 16:54 React - ...
Hacktoberfest Pt. 2
October 10, 2019 05:00 - 20 minutes - 28.2 MBOctober means it's time for Hacktoberfest. We're talking with Shannon Crabill about what open source is, how to get involved with Hacktoberfest, and tips & tricks for maintaining open source projects. Show Notes Who is Shannon? - 1:17 What is open source? - 4:19 How did you get involved in Hacktoberfest? - 4:55 What is it like to maintain an open source project? - 6:27 Tips && tricks for people wanting to work on maintaining an open source project - 7:35 How to contribute to Hacktober...
Hacktoberfest Pt. 1
October 07, 2019 04:00 - 26 minutes - 37.1 MBOctober means it's time for Hacktoberfest. Hacktoberfest is an awesome event where you can get involved in open source whether it's your first time contributing or you're a seasoned pro. In this episode we'll discuss what Hacktoberfest is, how you can start contributing to open source, and with our special guests Peter and Jess from Dev, we'll talk about how you can maintain your own open source project. For full show notes, check out our website.
Design Systems
September 30, 2019 05:19 - 39 minutes - 54.6 MBDesign systems are in the world around us from the signs on the side of the highway to the setup of a grocery store and our products are no exception. But what exactly our design systems and how do we build them? In this episode, we'll take a look at the foundations of design systems, the benefits and drawbacks, and the process for creating one from the ground up. 1:23 What are design systems? 2:58 Emma's experience with design systems 3:52 Ali's experience with design systems 4:41 Kelly's ...
Teaching Code with Angie Jones
September 23, 2019 07:00 - 38 minutes - 52.9 MBHave you ever wondered what it takes to be an effective teacher in the tech industry? Well wonder no more! We had the pleasure of chatting with Angie Jones, Senior Developer Advocate at Applitools and Director at Test Automation University about her experience as a teacher. Angie talks to us about her teaching and learning styles and shares some advice for those looking to get into the world of teaching. In this episode, we discussed how to teach to multiple skill levels, common misconcept...
What The Heck Is GraphQL?
September 16, 2019 05:00 - 1 hour - 54.8 MBGraphQL has taken this industry by storm, but what is it exactly? In this special episode of the Ladybug Podcast we’ve invited 14 GraphQL experts from the community to educate us on all things GraphQL! 2:00 - What Is GraphQL? (Erin Fox) 8:21 - Benefits Of GraphQL (Akshar Takle) 11:19 - History Of GraphQL (Brian Douglas) 14:01 - Syntax (Chris Biscardi) 17:01 - Schemas (Kurt Kemple) 20:02 - Variables (Swyx) 24:24 - Fragments (Emma Wedekind) 25:36 - Directives (Jon Wong) 32:10 - Toolki...
Career Paths in Tech
August 26, 2019 08:00 - 49 minutes - 57.2 MBThere are so many different paths your career can follow in the tech industry. There's frontend, backend, or even full-stack development. You could also be a software engineer, quality assurance engineer, UX engineer, manager, developer advocate, or something else entirely! For full show notes and resources for today's episode, check out the episode page on our website
Ask Kelly about Entrepreneurship
August 19, 2019 08:00 - 37 minutes - 50.9 MBToday we are doing a deep dive about entrepreneurship with our in house business owner, Kelly! Everyone can benefit from thinking entrepreneurially, even people who don’t want to start their own business. We’re going to ask Kelly about all the things that we are curious about and scare us about entrepreneurship. Check out full show notes and resources for today's episode, check out the episode page on our website
Level Up with CSS - Part 2
August 15, 2019 06:00 - 41 minutes - 56.4 MBIn our first part of our CSS episode, we discussed the foundations. In this special bonus episode we'll continue the conversation by covering some more in-depth areas of CSS, like layouts with Grid and Flexbox, animations, media queries, naming conventions, pre-processors, and frameworks. Read the full shownotes and transcripts on our site: ladybug.dev/css-part-2
Level Up With CSS - Part 1
August 12, 2019 08:00 - 36 minutes - 50.1 MBWe all know that Peter Griffin Family Guy gif of him unable to work some blinds. This gif is always associated with the frustrations of CSS. Something changes, then something breaks. Why do people have these issues? How can you improve your CSS skills? What are the key concepts that you need to understand to write clean, maintainable styles? In this episode, we'll talk all about the nuances of CSS -- what it is, how it works, and how to get better at it. Read the full shownotes and transcr...
Impostor Syndrome
August 05, 2019 08:00 - 41 minutes - 56.7 MBHave you ever been scared to contribute to a conversation or publish a blog post because you were worried you weren’t qualified enough? Wondered how you got to the point you’re at in your career because you feel you don’t belong? Or that you’re a fraud? You’re not alone! In this episode, we discuss how we have experienced impostor syndrome and our personal strategies for combatting it. 0:36 How have we experienced Impostor Syndrome Job Interviews (0:48) Quitting Computer Science & feelin...
How the Ladybugs Got Their Spots
July 29, 2019 08:00 - 37 minutes - 51.5 MBIn this episode, we're getting to know the ladybug hosts, both on technical and non-technical topics. Listen in to learn about our favorite tech stacks, our biggest career milestones, favorite books, and more. Be sure to review the show notes on our website for links to all resources we discuss. We also have full transcripts listed there!
Web Technologies We're Excited About
July 22, 2019 08:00 - 41 minutes - 56.4 MBThe landscape of technologies you can learn in the development world can be overwhelming if you don't know where to go next. In this episode, we discuss the technologies we're most excited about. From CSS to GraphQL, Django to WebAssembly, and design to augmented reality - we cover it all. Be sure to review the show notes on our website for links to all resources we discuss.
Blogging 101
July 15, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 60.9 MBOne of the most popular outlets for programmers is through blogging. In this episode, we discuss why each of us got into blogging, the pros and cons of starting your own blog, and tips on how to make your blog a success. View the show notes and a full transcript at ladybug.dev.
Side Project Balancing Act
July 08, 2019 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBSide projects are an excellent way to express yourself creatively and build up your tech stack. But how do you find time to work on your side project when you have a full-time job and other responsibilities at home? In this episode, we discuss our personal side projects, along with some useful strategies for giving your side projects the attention they deserve. View the show notes and a full transcript at ladybug.dev.
New Career, Who Dis?
July 01, 2019 10:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBThere are several different ways you can learn how to code. In this episode, we discuss computer science degrees, bootcamps, and self-directed learning. Each has benefits and have brought a lot of people into the world of programming. Each also has challenges. We all have had unique paths to programming, so we'll incorporate our experiences and observations. Visit ladybug.dev for the full transcript and show notes!