Frequently Asked Questions

Learning

Saumya addressing questions on the learning period we have at the beginning of each year for new entrants to Unicode:

How do I learn to program in X (Python, Django, Android, Javascript, HTML, CSS)?

OR

How does the initial learning period in Unicode work?

Basically you’ll have to fill your progress in a sheet on a weekly basis. Based on the amount of time you’ve committed to per week, we’ll track how well you are learning. Don’t worry if you couldn’t accomplish a lot because you were stuck on a bug or you were just watching course lectures/video tutorials.

Just write everything in the sheet, truthfully and thoroughly. We highly recommend that you do a project on the side while learning (may even be the course ka project) - that’s the best way to learn. And yes, whatever project you do, upload the code on Github and put the link in the sheet.

Where do we learn from?

DJ Unicode Resources If you are selected as a frontend developer, pick up a language like HTML/CSS or Javascript and start learning from one of the resources we have curated and linked to. It will have books, blogs as well as videos. Learn whatever suits your style. If one method didn’t work out say videos aren’t helpful, then read a book on the topic. If you picked up one course for a technology, move on to the next technology. Don’t waste your time trying to do all the courses listed under a single technology because diverse skillsets matter too!

What if we want to switch teams?

If you want to switch from frontend to backend and vice versa, ensure that you have adequate skills for it. You will have to do the learning for the position you’re selected for. Learn the other tech stack on your own time. There’s a sheet that will be shared. Please write down what you intend to achieve in this week. And you can update it as and when you get substantial work done. Please don’t write down intangible goals like learning only HTML for 10 days - instead build something alongside the learning to demonstrate what you know; do some good work because if you don’t finish everything intended to be finished in the learning period, your team suffers and as a result everyone’s work is slowed down..

Projects

What is the correct way to proceed for a project? 1. Get the code shown in a YouTube video or any other source and then implement it according to your needs? 2. Go through the documentation and start from scratch?

Maulik answers:

  • The short answer: It depends.
  • The long answer: If your project is something you’ll be working on for at least more than 10 days, prefer to start from scratch. The sole reason being that you have total control over the code you’re writing and a complete understanding of what you’ve written. Thus fixing bugs and adding new features is a breeze. Plus you gain a lot of experience if you code from scratch.Now, on the other hand, if you’ve got a project that you don’t really put your entire heart into, like a college project or a hackathon project (where time is a constraint), then you may pick up code and tweak. Although, bear in mind that fixing bugs may take up a lot of time, since you’ve got to sit and trace where the issue originates from, if you’ve not written the code yourself.So, in summary, if it’s a good and long term project (like Unicode’s), read the docs and start from scratch. It’s totally worth it. If you’ve got something you want to finish quick and dirty and are never going to go back to, pick up code and tweak.