Spotlight Series
Featuring Joe Previte
Go behind the scenes with our sublime team members through our Spotlight Series.
Joe Previte is a Software Engineer at Echobind. He is 25 years old, has a lovely wife and two beautiful golden retrievers.
How did you get into coding?
My journey into coding has been quite interesting. If we go back to high school, I used to work for a startup called Verbling as a website administrator. This was in 2012. They were part of the Y Combinator 2011 batch. That was my first exposure to startups.
Fast-forward to 2013, I went to San Francisco and did an internship with them. My role was in customer support but I sat next to the engineers. I remember feeling fascinated with a simple thing like a drop-down menu. I had no idea how it worked. I was the annoying guy in college who had all these app ideas and wanted to find a programmer to build them for me. Safe to say that never worked out.
Fast-forward to December 2016. It was winter break at California State Long Beach. I was there in pursuit of a master’s degree in Italian Linguistics and Literature. I felt uncertain about the stability of my career path in academia. I started researching alternative paths. While on Facebook, I saw an ad for a coding boot camp. I looked at the price tag and told myself I wouldn’t take on any more loans. Luckily, I found freeCodeCamp, an online curriculum for teaching yourself how to code. I decided to give that a try.
After a few months of freeCodeCamp’s curriculum, I realized I was in love with programming. I decided to drop out of grad school and move back to Arizona to start an internship as a web developer. A few jobs later, I ended up here at Echobind, working as a Software Engineer. And that’s my story!
To get the full story about my journey, listen here on the freeCodeCamp podcast.
What do you love about what you do?
I love the fact that I can write code in a way that humans can understand. Machines can read it and it can produce something on a screen or solve someone’s problems. Isn’t that amazing? Not to mention, as developers, we understand how machines work. We know how to talk to them. We know how to tell them to do what we want. It’s such a beautiful thing. I can’t explain it. Beyond that, I love the never-ending list of things you can learn as a developer. People in the dev community are always reinventing the wheel. They are coming up with new solutions to make things better. It’s unlike any other industry or career. We get paid to build solutions. That’s what I love about this job. Helping people solve problems through code. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
What is your go-to resource when you are stuck on a problem or need guidance?
Google.
Always and forever. Over the years, I find myself getting better at the way I write my query when I go to search for a technical answer. It’s kind of fun actually. Sometimes I don’t like the results, close the tab, then find myself searching for the exact same thing. 😂Either way, I usually end up on a blog post, video or StackOverflow question where I find the answer to my problem.
I hope Google continues to be my resource as time goes on because it is a tool I can’t imagine replacing.
Who in the industry do you admire?
There are so many amazing individuals in this community whom I admire. I can’t possibly list them all, but I can name a few:
These people’s involvement in the community is what makes them so admirable. They’re involved in open-source projects, mentoring, teaching, and supporting the community. I wouldn’t feel as welcomed without them. Some I know and can call a friend. Others I have yet to meet but are people who I am thankful for in the tech industry.
What is your favorite podcast?
The podcast that I listen to the most is Syntax by Wes Bos and Scott Tolinski. They describe it as a “Tasty Treats Podcast for Web Developers.” I enjoy this podcast because Wes and Scott make it feel causal. It feels as though you’re sitting at a coffee table with them chatting about the latest tech in web-dev.
It’s also nice because they cover beginner and intermediate topics. The quality is top-notch and they have a great sense of humor. I recommend if you’re interested in staying up-to-date with the latest tech.
Are there any technologies or frameworks coming out that you are excited to use?
That’s a fantastic question. Svelte is one I’m going to keep my eye on. I’ve tried it for a brief project but only scratched the surface. It has many wonderful things built-in like accessibility and animations. The framework is still so young but people I look up to are taking an interest. I won’t be jumping on the bandwagon anytime soon but it’s something I’m excited to follow to see where it ends up.
What have you built/created/managed that you are most proud of?
The thing I’m most proud of is a gamified learning website/platform I built called mentored.dev.
I only shipped an MVP but it was my first time learning about:
- TypeScript
- game development
- OneGraph
- SVG animations
I learned a lot in the process and still find it strange to realize how much time I put into the project. I wrote a long tweet thread about the process, which you can read here:
Tweet thread about mentored.dev
I’m proud of this project because it was the first time I took an idea from a wireframe all the way to a “shipped product”. It is far from feature-complete or perfect, but it has one lesson and achieves the basics. I spent a few months building it and felt proud knowing I did it all by myself. I love to challenge myself and see what I can accomplish. This taught me that I can build whatever I want, as long as I put my mind to it. I have a lot of support from friends, family and the community.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to get into coding?
There’s a lot of advice I could give. I wrote an article called “The Practical Checklist for Getting a Job”. In this article, I share specific action items you can take to get your first job. If you’re not there yet and just getting into coding, here’s what I would suggest:
Join #100DaysOfCode and see if coding is for you.
Coding is tough. At times, it’s not as glamorous as you think. If you want to get into coding, join this challenge, make coding a habit and see if it makes sense for your needs.
Focus on patterns
One of the most underrated skills is pattern recognition. In college, I took a class called “Portuguese for Spanish Speakers”. The curriculum leveraged your Spanish skills to teach you a new language. This same concept can be applied in programming. Yes, you can memorize syntax. But the real knowledge comes from understanding the patterns. If you can focus on those, you’ll pick up programming concepts much faster. And, you’ll be able to transfer your knowledge quicker as well.
What do you enjoy doing that is not work-related?
Outside of work, I spend time doing the following things:
- reading
- listening to music
- playing with my dogs
- playing pick-up basketball
- learning
- teaching
- writing
Besides that, I spend free time coding and building small projects. I love to code so it’s easy for me to get lost outside of work on things that end up helping me at work. 😅Luckily, it’s a win-win scenario.
What is your morning routine like?
My morning routine shifts depending on what’s happening in my life. Right now, the major factors affecting it are the weather, the search for a house and a puppy. Here’s what the average day looks like.
- 5:45 am: wake up, brush teeth
- 6:00 am: head to apartment gym, listen to a podcast while I walk on the treadmill or lift weights
- 6:30 am: head home, shower, breakfast, feed and take dogs out
- 7:30 am: start the workday
Not as exciting as you were probably hoping for. 😅The temperatures here in Arizona this time of year drop to 40 degrees. This makes me less inclined to bike to the actual gym. My wife and I are also in the midst of searching for a home. This entire process has taken up more mental energy than I imagined. This is my excuse for switching from a weight lifting program to a measly walk on the treadmill. Lastly, our puppy and other dog have shifted my morning routines a bit. I usually feed them, take them to the apartment dog park and let them play a bit.
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