Some Useful Coding Tutorials for Tech Writers

Some years ago, at one of my annual performance reviews, my boss said: "I didn't realize how technical your job is". That's despite my title being Senior Technical Writer. While I had to produce and edit numerous specification smf design documents, I was also building online help, designing and maintaining a departmental website and documentation archive, and writing Word and FrameMaker macros to streamline my workflow. All that meant that I had be be able to work with HTML, CSS, Javascript, and VBA at a minimum, and be able to read and understand Linux shell scripts.

I relied on many web resources to help me learn some of this. One of the better ones is freeCodeCamp, which publishes thousands of articles, tutorials, and courses about a wide range of programming languages and topics. I still subscribe to their weekly newsletter. Here are links to a few articles that I think might help you if you are a technical writer who is on the more technical side of the spectrum or you need to learn a new skill. 

• Introduction to Algorithms with JavaScript Examples. "If you are new to algorithms, this is handbook is a great place to start. It's chock-full of JavaScript algorithm code examples. And it explains key concepts like Time Complexity and Big O Notation. (full-length handbook)."
• How to Extract Pages from a PDF and Render Them with JavaScript. "PDF files are great for certain types of documents. But they can be hard to work with as a developer. This tutorial will give you an overview of popular libraries for working with PDF files. Then it will show you how to extract pages from a PDF and render them using JavaScript. (20-minute read)."
• An Introduction to Software Architecture Patterns. "What is Software Architecture? What are Design Patterns? This handbook will answer these questions. It will also teach you some of the more common patterns, with code examples to help you better understand. You'll learn about Microservice Architecture, the Client-Server Model, Load Balancing, and other practical concepts you can use in your own coding. (1-hour read)"
• Regular Expressions for Beginners. "Regular Expressions (often abbreviated as RegEx) can help you with everyday tasks like find/replace in your text editor, filtering Trello cards, or web searches with DuckDuckGo. This tutorial will teach you the RegEx basics. You can then naturally expand on your RegEx skills over the years as you use them."
• Learn CSS in 11 Hours. "freeCodeCamp just published an in-depth CSS for Beginners course, taught by an experienced developer and software architect. You'lllearn Selectors, Typography, Variables, CSS Flexbox, CSS Grid, and other key concepts. You don't have to rely on templates and copy-pasted CSS examples. If you put in the time, you can understand how CSS really works under the hood. This course is a solid starting point. (11 hour YouTube course)"
• How to Use CSS Grid Layout "CSS Grid is built into CSS, and helps you create responsive website layouts. It's a 2-dimensional grid that can dramatically simplify your web design process. This tutorial will teach you how to use CSS Grid through a series of examples. It will really help you solidify your understanding of the key concepts. (12 minute read)."

I will probably publish more of these links in the future.