MJS 063: Fred Zirdung

Panel: Charles Max Wood Guest: Fred Zirdung This week on My JavaScript Story, Charles speaks with Fred Zirdung. Fred is currently the head of curriculum at Hack Reactor, where he essentially builds all of the tools and learning materials for the students there. He is also an instructor and has been there for five years. Prior to that, he worked for multiple companies such as Walmart Labs as well as many small startups. He first got into programming with the Logo programming language in the 6th grade and he had always been interested in working with computers since a young age. They talk about what got him into web programming, what enthralled him about JavaScript and Ruby on Rails, and what he is proud of contributing to the JavaScript community. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: JavaScript Jabber Episode 76Fred introHow did you first get into programming?Coding professionally for 20+ yearsCoding prior to college graduationLogo programming languageQNX operating systemWere you always interested in programming?Always interested in computersCommodore 64Basic programming in high schoolProgramming didn’t click for him until high schoolIn college when the web became popularComputer engineering degree in collegeWhat was it that appealed to you about software over hardware?Software vs hardwareEmbedded systems softwareHow did you get into web programming?Dolby LaboratoriesWhat technologies got you excited?JavaScript, Perl, and Ruby on RailsLoved the flexibility of JS and RailsFound something he could be productive withWhat are you proud of contributing to the JavaScript community?What are you working on now?And much, much more! Links: JavaScript Jabber Episode 76Hack ReactorWalmart LabsDolby LaboratoriesJavaScriptPerlRuby on Rails@fredzirdungFred’s GitHubFred’s Medium Picks Charles React Developer Tools pluginPluralSightReact Round Up and Views on VueFramework Summit Fred NavaliaKoaVue