The freeCodeCamp Podcast

Today Quincy Larson interviews Zubin Pratap, a software engineer and manager from Melbourne, Australia. After nearly two decades working as a corporate lawyer, he taught himself programming using freeCodeCamp.org. Within two years, he landed a job as a software engineer at Google. We talk about: - How tools are making programming easier, but other parts of being a developer harder - How 2009 - 2022 was NOT a normal job market and how devs are adapting - "The purpose of communication is to be understood" and other lessons Zubin's learned over the years Support for this podcast is provided by a grant from AlgoMonster. AlgoMonster is a platform that teaches data structure and algorithm patterns in a structured sequence, so you can approach technical interview questions more systematically. Their curriculum covers patterns like sliding window, two-pointers, graph search, and dynamic programming, helping you learn each pattern once and apply it to solve many problems. Start a structured interview prep routine at https://algo.monster/freecodecamp Support also comes from the 10,104 kind folks who donate to our charity each month. Join them and support our mission at https://donate.freecodecamp.org Get a freeCodeCamp tshirt for $20 with free shipping anywhere in the US: https://shop.freecodecamp.org Links from our discussion: - Zubin's LinkedIn and other social media: https://meetzubin.carrd.co/ - Zubin's "Easier said than done" podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4Hhd-k1js&list=PLAPuklwJx5V3fpXiSD9CMh3RhPQTCSemj Community news section: 1. Let's kick off 2026 with a ton of announcements. We just launched Version 10 of freeCodeCamp's JavaScript certification, along with updated Python, SQL, and Responsive Web Design certifications that you can earn. We even launched our beta Spanish and Mandarin Chinese curricula. (10 minute announcement article with tons of data): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/christmas-gifts-freecodecamp-community-2025 2. Now you can learn Spanish on freeCodeCamp. We just launched our FREE A1 Level Spanish curriculum. You'll learn: pronunciation, introductions, numbers, and more. More than 200 steps are live now. ¡Aprendamos! https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-a1-professional-spanish-curriculum-beta-is-now-live/ 3. Over the holiday break I took my kids to Johnson Space Center in Houston. If you're in Houston you should absolutely go here. We visited the Mission Control center that NASA used during the Apollo missions to the moon. They also had an awesome multimedia experience created by Tom Hanks about this year's Artemis mission to the moon. This is an incredible museum. We spent 7 hours there. It wasn't particularly expensive. Just make sure you book tickets to mission control a few months in advance of your trip. 4. During the road trip, I re-listened to Guns 'n' Roses's entire catalogue. Which brings me to today's song of the week: the 1991 epic Estranged. The is maybe the most mature-sounding song they've ever done, with introspective lyrics and a series of tastful, emotional guitar solos. Great drum fills, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpmAY059TTY

Today Quincy Larson interviews Santosh Yadav. The son of a textile worker, he grew up inner-city Mumbai and studied hard to get into university. From there he's worked as a software engineer for 16 years. Along the way, he's picked up every distinction imaginable including Google Developer Expert, GitHub Star, and Microsoft MVP. Santosh shares tips for: - How to get promoted as an Individual Contributor without needing to becoming a manager - How to rise within a company without needing to change jobs to move up - How to succeed socially on a team while working remotely remotely - How to not just survive but thrive after a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis Support for this podcast is provided by a grant from AlgoMonster. AlgoMonster is a platform that teaches data structure and algorithm patterns in a structured sequence, so you can approach technical interview questions more systematically. Their curriculum covers patterns like sliding window, two-pointers, graph search, and dynamic programming, helping you learn each pattern once and apply it to solve many problems. Start a structured interview prep routine at https://algo.monster/freecodecamp Support also comes from the 10,338 kind folks who donate to our charity each month. Join them and support our mission at https://donate.freecodecamp.org Get a freeCodeCamp tshirt for $20 with free shipping anywhere in the US: https://shop.freecodecamp.org Links from our discussion: - Santosh's freeCodeCamp article: "From the Slums of Mumbai to a Rented Apartment – My 30-Year Developer Journey": https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/my-journey-into-tech-from-slums-of-mumbai-to-my-own-apartment/ - Santosh's freeCodeCamp article "My Developer Journey – How I Got a Remote Job and Increased My Salary While Contributing to Open Source": https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/my-developer-journey-how-i-increased-my-salary-and-got-a-remote-job/ - Santosh's journey to Staff Engineer and tips for getting promoted as an IC: https://www.santoshyadav.dev/blog/2025-03-29-my-journey-to-staff-engineer/ - Santosh's podcast on working in tech: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThisisTechTalks -Santosh's article on how he realized he was introducing toxicity as a manager: https://dev.to/this-is-learning/how-i-made-workplace-toxic-1ici Community news section: 1. freeCodeCamp just launched our new JavaScript Data Structures and Algorithms Certification and our new Python certification. The are 300-hour interactive courses. You can now take the final exams for both of these and earn a free verified certification, which you can then it to your LinkedIn, CV, résumé, or personal website. These are part of version 10 of the core freeCodeCamp curriculum. The community collectively spent thousands of hours developing all this to serve as your shortest path to acquiring programming fundamentals. (300 hour interactive curriculum – announcement article and FAQ): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-new-javascript-certification-is-now-live/ and https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-new-python-certification-is-now-live/ 2. Tell your friends who are learning English: freeCodeCamp just launched our English for Developers curriculum. You can learn vocab, grammar, reading, and listening – all through stories set in a Silicon Valley tech company. This is level A2 English, meaning it's lower intermediate. We'll introduce other CEFR levels in the coming months as well. (interactive curriculum with certification – announcement article and FAQ): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-a2-english-for-developers-certification-is-now-live/ 3. Now you can learn Spanish on freeCodeCamp. We just launched our FREE Spanish curriculum. You'll learn: pronunciation, introductions, numbers, and more. More than 200 steps are live now. The rest of CEFR level A1 will go live in 2026. ¡Aprendamos! https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-a1-professional-spanish-curriculum-beta-is-now-live/ 4. Today's song of the week is the 1982 Disco Soul anthem "Walk on By" by D Train. You'll love the busy synth bass and soaring strings. Even though it's a sad song, I've listened to this song dozens of times and it never fails to pick me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEgxqSnHXQ

Today Quincy Larson interviews Jason Lengstorf. He's a college dropout who taught himself programming while building websites for his emo band. 22 years later he's worked as a developer at IBM, Netlify, run his own dev consultancy, and he now runs CodeTV making reality TV shows for developers. We talk about: - How many CEOs over-estimated the impact of AI coding tools and laid off too many devs, whom they're now trying to rehire - Why the developer job market has already rebounded a bit, but will never be the same - Tips for how to land roles in the post-LLM résumé spam job search era - How devs are working to rebuild the fabric of the community through in-person community events Support for this podcast is provided by a grant from AlgoMonster. AlgoMonster is a platform that teaches data structure and algorithm patterns in a structured sequence, so you can approach technical interview questions more systematically. Their curriculum covers patterns like sliding window, two-pointers, graph search, and dynamic programming, helping you learn each pattern once and apply it to solve many problems. Start a structured interview prep routine at https://algo.monster/freecodecamp Support also comes from the 10,338 kind folks who donate to our charity each month. Join them and support our mission at https://donate.freecodecamp.org Get a freeCodeCamp tshirt for $20 with free shipping anywhere in the US: https://shop.freecodecamp.org Links from our discussion: - Jason's previous freeCodeCamp podcast interview, with his developer origin story: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/from-drop-out-to-software-architect-with-jason-lengstorf-podcast-167/ - The first season of Web Dev Challenge on CodeTV: https://codetv.link/wdc  Community news section: 1. freeCodeCamp just published a Git and GitHub for beginners course. Git is a powerful version control tool that most developers now use to build software projects together. GitHub is a popular platform that adds tons of collaboration features on top of Git. You'll learn the basics of both in this course, which covers branching, merging, pull requests, and other key concepts. Well worth your time. (1 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/git-and-github-crash-course-for-beginners 2. freeCodeCamp also just launched our new Responsive Web Design Certification. You can now take the final exam and earn this verified cert, then add it to your LinkedIn, CV, or personal website. This is version 10 of the core fCC curriculum. The community collectively spent thousands of hours developing all this as your shortest path to front-end development skills. This announcement and comprehensive FAQ will help you figure out where this fits into your journey toward your learning goals. (100+ hour interactive curriculum): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-new-responsive-web-design-certification-is-now-live/ 3. freeCodeCamp also just published a new Harvard CS50 course that will teach you R, a popular programming language for statistical computing and data science. You'll work with real-world datasets inside the RStudio Integrated Development Environment. You'll learn about Vectors, Matrices, Data Frames, filtering, visualizations, and more. (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-r-programming-from-harvard-university/ 4. freeCodeCamp's JavaScript certification is now live. It's 1,033 steps long. and you'll build dozens of projects then sit for the final exam. This is a FREE verified certification you can earn then add to your LinkedIn, CV, and portfolio website. Dive in. Full announcement article and FAQ (5 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-new-javascript-certification-is-now-live/ 5. Today's song of the week is 1982's soul classic Risin' to the Top by Keni Burke. I love the laid back bass groove and spacious piano chords. The lyrics are about overcoming setbacks, which I know anyone who's attempted to learn programming can relate to. https://youtu.be/euysGPy2t0M

Today Quincy Larson interviews Kunal Kushwaha. He's a software engineer and prolific computer science teacher on YouTube. He failed the JEE, the Indian Engineering Entrance Exam, TWICE. But he persevered. He did 4 years of university but attended ZERO lectures. Instead he built his own learning path by contributed to open source projects and using free learning resources including freeCodeCamp. He moved from Delhi to London on a UK Global Talent Visa. He works at Cast AI and is the founder of the WeMakeDevs community. We'll talk about: - How he teaches himself new skills, then teaches those skills through his YouTube channel - His day-to-day working remotely at startups - His role in building out cloud regions as a field CTO at Civo, a cloud native service provider - The Indian higher education system Support for this podcast is provided by a grant from AlgoMonster. AlgoMonster is a platform that teaches data structure and algorithm patterns in a structured sequence, so you can approach technical interview questions more systematically. Their curriculum covers patterns like sliding window, two-pointers, graph search, and dynamic programming, helping you learn each pattern once and apply it to solve many problems. Start a structured interview prep routine at https://algo.monster/freecodecamp Support also comes from the 10,338 kind folks who donate to our charity each month. Join them and support our mission at https://donate.freecodecamp.org Rep the freeCodeCamp community with pride. Get your fCC t-shirt for $20 with free shipping anywhere in the US: https://shop.freecodecamp.org Links from our discussion: - Kunal's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KunalKushwaha - WeMakeDevs, an inclusive global community for anyone passionate about technology that puts on events: https://www.wemakedevs.org/ - CastAI where Kunal now works: https://cast.ai/ Community news section: 1. freeCodeCamp's New Responsive Web Design Certification is now live. You can now take the final exam and earn this FREE verified cert, then add it to your LinkedIn, CV, or personal website. Announcement article: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamps-new-responsive-web-design-certification-is-now-live/ 2. Before modern Large Language Models, scientists and developers worked with more fundamental Natural Language Processing tools. freeCodeCamp just published a handbook that will help you understand the tools that power chatbots, machine translation, text summarization, and more. You'll learn how computers analyze syntax, model semantics, and interpret context. Then you'll use popular Python libraries to apply those concepts to real projects. (full length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-nlp-techniques-and-tools-in-your-projects-full-handbook/ 3. freeCodeCamp also published a handbook that will give you a nuanced understanding of one of the trickier aspects of JavaScript development: Closures. First you'll learn about functions, parameters, and lexical scope. Then you'll learn how a Closure "closes over" a variable to keep it safe, while still granting you access to its values through function calls. If this sounds complicated, it is. But fear not – this handbook will give you tons of code examples of Closure mechanics, and teach you when to use them. (full length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-closures-work-in-javascript-a-handbook-for-developers/ 4. Flexbox is a powerful CSS feature that lets you build user interfaces that fit any screen size. If you've ever struggled to center something with CSS or tried to make columns line up nicely, well, Flexbox simplifies this dramatically. freeCodeCamp just published a Flexbox for beginners course where you'll learn both the concepts and the code syntax while building a responsive website navigation bar. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-css-flexbox-for-beginners-free-2-hour-course 5. When you're working with Large Language Models, every additional token adds cost and latency. Microsoft just open-sourced a tool called LLMLingua that will compress your prompts and other context window data. freeCodeCamp published this tutorial to help you understand how this works and how you can add it to your Python projects. (10 minute read): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-compress-your-prompts-and-reduce-llm-costs/ 6. It is with great pride that I announce our Top Open Source Contributors of 2025. It's been a super productive year for the global freeCodeCamp community. As we start our 12th year as a community, we're firing on all cylinders, pushing forward more steadily than ever toward a future of open source education: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamp-top-open-source-contributors-2025 7. Today's song of the week is 1983 anthem Rock of Ages by British rock band Def Leppard. This is a silly, feel-good song with excellent vocal harmonies and massive-sounding drums. As a kid, when I saw the music video with the singer wielding a giant sword in a cave it blew my mind.

Today Quincy Larson interviews Andrea Griffiths, who taught herself programming using freeCodeCamp while working in construction. She moved to the US from Colombia when she was 17, and within 6 months she joined the US Army. She ran a chain of gyms before landing a support role at a tech company, then ascending to Product Manager and ultimately Developer Advocate at GitHub. Support for this podcast is provided by a grant from AlgoMonster. AlgoMonster is a platform that teaches data structure and algorithm patterns in a structured sequence, so you can approach technical interview questions more systematically. Their curriculum covers patterns like sliding window, two-pointers, graph search, and dynamic programming, helping you learn each pattern once and apply it to solve many problems. Start a structured interview prep routine at https://algo.monster/freecodecamp Support also comes from the 10,338 kind folks who donate to our charity each month. Join them and support our mission at https://donate.freecodecamp.org Get a freeCodeCamp t-shirt for $20 with free shipping anywhere in the US: https://shop.freecodecamp.org We talk about: - Tips for busy parents who want to learn new skills. - How AI tools are no substitute for your own critical thinking - and problem solving skills. - How even though it's getting easier every day to learn programming for free, people are so distracted, and for many it feels harder and harder to sit down and do it. Links from our discussion: - Article about AI and product management (which includes some blunt takes from Quincy): https://thenewstack.io/for-devs-a-fix-for-ai-complexity-is-hiding-in-plain-sight/ - Andrea's weekly newsletter: https://mainbranch.beehiiv.com/ - Learn How to Learn course by Dr. Barbara Oakley: https://www.classcentral.com/course/learning-how-to-learn-2161 Community news section: 1. freeCodeCamp just published this beginner-friendly back-end development course. You'll learn how to build your own web servers and APIs using Node.js, Express, and MongoDB. freeCodeCamp's website and mobile apps are built using these tools, which make up the popular MERN stack. You'll also get some exposure to database architecture, security principles, testing best practices, and more. (2 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/intro-to-backend-web-development-nodejs-express-mongodb/ 2. freeCodeCamp also published a comprehensive Blender and Three.js course where you'll build your own 3D portfolio piece: a render of an adorable home office. If you're interested in 3D rendering and computer graphics, this is the course for you. You'll learn key concepts like Quad Topology, Raycasting, OrbitControls, and more. By the end of the course, your 3D model will be live on the web so you can share it with your friends. (9 hour YouTube course): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/create-a-cute-room-portfolio-with-threejs-blender-javascript/ 3. freeCodeCamp also published a handbook on using Docker with Node.js. You'll learn how to set up Docker and Docker Compose. You'll also learn fundamental concepts like Volumes, Images, and Containers. This is an excellent resource for you to read through and code along with. Bookmark it for future reference. (full length handbook): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-use-to-docker-with-nodejs-handbook/ 4. Level up your JavaScript implementation skills with this new freeCodeCamp course on Clean Code. You'll learn how to detect "code smells" and refactor your JavaScript accordingly. You'll also learn how to use ESLint and Prettier to automate some of the more error-prone aspects of shipping code. (1 hour watch): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/level-up-your-javascript-detect-smells-and-write-clean-code/ 5. Classic text adventure games Zork I, II, and III are now open source with an MIT license. Microsoft has published their full source code on GitHub: https://github.com/historicalsource/zork1 6. Today's song of the week is 1985 classic "Something About You" by Level 42. I love the slap bass, the vocal harmony, the falsetto, and the huge synth sounds. It's impossible to listen to this song and still be in a bad mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpdQQoc-gkk