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Every Tuesday at 12pm Mountain Time

weekly-dev- chat logo

A casual weekly virtual chat mostly focused on web and software development.

Weekly Dev Chat is a place to ask questions, hear different viewpoints, and get to know your fellow developers. Every week there is an initial topic posted to get the discussion started. Sometimes we discuss the initial topic the entire chat, and other times the topic changes several times through the natural flow of the conversation.

Everyone and anyone are welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others.

  • in Career
  • 1 min read

IRL: Whiteboard Practice Night

Join Weekly Dev Chat for a whiteboard practice night focused on explaining your thinking clearly while solving coding problems — a skill that matters in interviews and on the job.

This is not about speed or perfection. We'll work through junior-friendly, approachable coding problems while practicing how to:

  • Understand the problem and build a solid mental model
  • Ask clarifying questions and state assumptions
  • Talk through your approach step-by-step
  • Explain tradeoffs (even for simple solutions)
  • Stay calm and communicate when you get stuck

The hosts will demo 1–2 example problems first, then attendees can volunteer to take a turn (whiteboard/interview style). Participation is optional — watching and learning is totally welcome.

The event runs on Wednesday, March 25 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Edmonton Public Library – Strathacona. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Register and view full details on Luma:

https://luma.com/hcsxff11

IRL Whiteboard Practice Night event image

*Nano Banana created the header image based on a previous variant of the WDC logo I designed.

Review my Vibe Coded App

In today's (2026-03-17) chat I'll get the chat mob to review my 99% vibe code Word Games is Dumb app and/or vibe code some more of it. This is the first application I've vibe coded and accepted most of the clanker (AI) recommendations unless they were really dumb. It's in TypeScript which is a language I'm not familiar with, so I'm curious to hear what TypeScript experts think of the generated code.

I found the clanker was good at quickly creating a proof of concept (PoC) for my game ideas. For example, I had one idea that I PoC in an afternoon, tried for a couple days, then ditched it.

Everyone and anyone are welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others.

P.S. - Image was created using Nano Banana. I love how the text is repeated.

Review my Vibe Coded App Image

Choosing Programming Languages for New Projects: Old Language, Old Project - Or New Language, New Project?

How do you decide which language to use when starting a fresh project? Some follow the adage "new project—old language, old project—new language." But what's your approach?

Some points to discuss:

  • Decision criteria and heuristics for language selection
  • How to balance comfort with growth
  • Learning fatigue vs. focused depth: navigating the challenge of learning a new language PLUS building a new project simultaneously

Everyone and anyone is welcome to join as long as you are kind, supportive, and respectful of others.

Shelf with programming language textbooks