Quincy Larson: Why Learning To Code as an Adult Might Be Easier Than You Think

🎙 About the episode

Meet Quincy Larson 🇺🇸! Quincy is the founder of freeCodeCamp, a nonprofit company that makes coding accessible for all. He is a self-taught developer who learned to code when he was 31. Why did he learn to code? Because he wanted to make a school he was a director of more efficient. So... We have a career changer!

So, how does a teacher teach himself to code? And how does he teach others? In this episode, Alex asks hard questions, and Quincy answers all of them, sharing valuable insights on how adults learn, how important are your intrinsic capabilities, and why learning a new skill after the age of 25 might be easier than you think. You will also learn about the hacker ethic, how you can overcome your limitations, and why software developers need to be humble.

🔗 Connect with Quincy

• 👨🏼‍💼 Linkedin
• 🐦 Twitter

⏰ Timestamps

• How Quincy Larson started coding at the age of 31... as a school director (01:55)
• Why you should hang out with other developers (03:52)
• What is the hacker ethic? (04:51)
• Why do software developers need to be humble? (07:07)
• Quincy learning to code before freeCodeCamp. What was that like? (08:16)
• How does a teacher learn? (11:09)
• The key learning technique for people over 25 (11:56)
• The elusive nature of learning to code (15:41)
• How does an adult brain learn, and why might kinesthetic learning be the best way? (17:29)
• Can an old dog learn new tricks? (18:57)
• Learning with analogies and associations + why you shouldn't drink (21:47)
• Quincy is a master learner... But what if you're not? (24:49)
• Can anyone learn to code and become a successful developer? (27:35)
• Are aptitudes important? (28:24)
• Overcoming your limitations (32:16)
• How does Quincy feel about the success of freeCodeCamp? (34:44)

🧰 Resources Mentioned

• freeCodeCamp
• Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, book by Steven Levy

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