Virtual Coffee's Technical Task Challenges are created/aggregated by VC members to help other VC members gain practical experience in how to use technical skills in real-world scenarios.
These task challenges will greatly benefit the entire Virtual Coffee community. They will serve our members who are current working professionals by allowing them to up-skill in select technologies and tools. They will also help our job seekers, especially those with no prior professional experience in the tech industry. The unique added value of the technical task challenges is that they're modeled after real-world scenarios, lending these exercises a quality that far surpasses what's readily available on sites like LeetCode and Codewars.
- Adding Your Experience
- Posting a New Technical Task Challenge
- Technical Task Challenge Skill Levels Tracks
- Working on a Technical Task Challenge
- Submitting Your Technical Task Challenge
- Going Further
- Honorable Mentions
- Code of Conduct
As a VC member with real-world experience, you may want to list some of your routine technical tasks. To do this, first create a fork of the repository and a new branch titled add-to-directory. Add your name, job title(s), years in the role(s), and tasks to the directory document. Then, make a pull request back to the main project.
In doing this, you are signaling to other members that you are open for conversation about the listed tasks. If you so choose, you can post a challenge (or challenges) related to one or more of your listed tasks.
NOTE: You should not post any proprietary data or company-specific tasks. Focus only on transferable tools and technology.
As a VC member with real-world experience, you may want to post a technical task challenge. To do this, create a fork of the repository with a new branch titled add-<challenge-name>-challenge. Begin by creating a new folder to hold your challenge, then add a README file. Link from the relevant task in the directory document to the README file in your task challenge folder.
This README should explain the goal(s) of the task challenge and how to get started. It should also list…
- the VC member who posted the task challenge (you!)
- the challenge source/author
- the skill level this challenge is targeting
- any VC members currently working on the task challenge
- any VC members who have successfully completed the task challenge, including a link to their fork of the repo
NOTE: You do not have to create the task challenge from scratch, however, you must have completed it before posting it as you will be responsible for giving final feedback to VC members who attempt your challenge.
We will divide task challenges into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Challenges can be multi-part, increasing in difficulty the further along you go.
Beginner level tasks: for a person learning to code
Intermediate level tasks: with a focus on the working professional and building up skills
Advanced level tasks: for seniors who want a challenge
As a VC member looking to build your skills, you may want to try several technical task challenges. To work on a task challenge, create your own fork of the repository and a new branch titled add-challenge-participant. Type your name in the appropriate spot of the README where it lists the task challenge participants, and send a pull request back to the main repo.
There are several avenues of help available to VC members who take on a task challenge. The following in the order in which you should seek out help:
- If there are other VC members currently attempting the task challenge, partner up with them on any help you need or any questions you may have.
- If any VC members have successfully completed the challenge, review supplemental resources they created after completing the task challenge (if any) and reach out to them with questions.
- If you are the first person to attempt the task challenge, communicate any questions you have to the VC member who posted the challenge and reach out to them directly for help.
Unless you are the first person to attempt the task challenge, you will be required to have another VC member peer review your work before submitting your final solution to the challenge poster. If there are other VC members currently attempting the task challenge, you should pair up and peer review each other's work. If there are no other members currently attempting the task challenge, ask a member who has successfully completed it to review your work.
After your solution has been peer reviewed and necessary changes made, you may proceed to submit it to the challenge originator for final analysis and feedback. Once you receive your feedback from the challenge poster and are told you've successfully completed it, you may create a new pull request to move your name in the technical task challenge README from the list of participants to the list of successful completions. Link back to your challenge solution in your fork if you'd like!
At work, one of my tasks is to implement a CI/CD setup for a React/Node application using GitLab CI and Jenkins. If I wanted to create a task challenge for this, I would fork the repository, add my information to the directory document, and create a new folder called Implement CI/CD Setup for a React/Node Application Using GitLab CI and Jenkins. I would add a README file with an overview of the challenge and instructions on how to proceed and link that back to the directory document.
Since I've done this before and am very comfortable with the process, I can help whoever tries it out first. Then as more people attempt the challenge, the pool of people who can help answer questions and debug grows, so I don't become overwhelmed with requests for support.
There are a few more ideas for what we can do after a VC member has completed a task challenge. These are completely optional and open to change.
- The challenge originator can provide them with a list of resources and/or topics to follow up on and expand their newfound knowledge.
- The challenge completer can create a resource of their own covering what they just learned. Options include but are not limited to: blog posts, videos/live streams, Twitter spaces, social media posts, podcasts, etc. We would want to link them in the repository, but they can be shared outside the community as well.
I would like to extend my gratitude to Meg Gutshell for helping me present this idea to Virtual Coffee community and in helping and guiding me for the proposal. Its all won't be possible without your help, Meg. Thanks a lot for everything.