Like any other startup, we go through ups and downs. However, we try to keep a positive energy, and you, my friends, contribute to that by sending your love, support, and thanks everyday. Above all, you inspire us with stories of how our product helped you learn, teach, and even develop a new skill to land a better job.
Today I’d like to share with you two stories from two Replers: Ruslan a software developer from Scotland, and Mark a math teacher from Houston.
Landing a self-driving job
Ruslan (@kuddai), a Physics Major, wanted to land a job in doing software engineering. So he spent a lot of time practicing coding using Repl.it and eventually was able to land a new job software engineering job in the cutting edge field of self-driving! Here is him telling the story:
While I was doing my M.S. in Informatics at University of Edinburgh, I realized that I lacked practice in coding interviews because my first major is in Physics. During my preparation (“Cracking coding interview”, “Algorithms by Robert Sedgewick”, hackerrank, etc.) I needed some general place to store my solutions for coding exercises. Eventually, I have chosen repl.it because:
- It is interactive. I can store my test cases as well, and use them for various algorithms (like for all kinds of sorting)
- It is accessible in browser so I could easily switch between library computer and my laptop
- Ability to search past repls which is useful for spatial repetition.
When I was invited for the interview at Yandex, my past repls allowed me to repeat a lot of topics in a very short amount of time. And after a couple of interview rounds I was selected as software developer by selfdriving team. Appreciate that you added ability to use custom libraries in python (numpy repls are really handy).
Teaching low-income high-achieving students
Mark (@mrshcmidt) is a computer science student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he spent the summer teaching programming to 7th and 8th graders help them get into college. Both Mark and his students used Repl.it to build projects using Python and Python turtle. Here is Mark telling the story:
This summer I was a teaching fellow at Breakthrough Houston — a program that aims to help low-income high-achieving students get into college. I worked with 7th and 8th graders, teaching math as my core subject and an elective computer science class. None of my students had any programming experience going in.
Repl.it enabled and empowered me as a teacher — I didn’t have to worry about pre-installing any software, or worry about jumping through hoops to get everyone setup. It was truly painless, and my students loved the class. We learned some Python basics through lessons and challenge problems. We spent the last week using the Python turtle module to make art using their programming skills. I was so incredibly impressed with what they made, and I just wanted to share it with you.
Here is video of Mark’s students creations
Ruslan and Mark are only two among the thousands who use Repl.it everyday and are very passionate about programming -- so if you have your own story that you want share, as always, we'd love to hear from you!
