Project & Tutorial Night w/ Mentors

What is it? This is an opportunity for you to bring a project / tutorial and receive guidance from one of the mentors that will be roaming the room. There will be (at least) 6 Mentors at this meetup to help you with your projects or tutorials (see below for bios of those Mentors). You can bring a project in any language or framework, but there's no guarantee that one of the Mentors will know that language / technology. If you don't know what to work on, or don't have a project, that's okay, we can get you pointed in the right direction, or you can get started with the suggestions below.

Other Details? Yep. Be sure to bring an ID, because they'll check it at the door. We won't have any food, but you can bring your own snacks and drinks if you want. Somebody will be there from 6:30 -- (at least) 9:30.

Resources?

If you are new to programming, you could try Learn Python the Hard Way (http://learnpythonthehardway.org/).

If you want some intermediate projects created for educational purposes, try these one's (https://openhatch.org/wiki/Intermediate_Python_Workshop/Projects) from OpenHatch (http://openhatch.org/) (you should also read about OpenHatch (https://openhatch.org/wiki/About_OpenHatch) if you're new and interested in Open Source). OpenHatch also has a list of "bite-sized" bugs (http://openhatch.org/search/?q=&toughness=bitesize&language=Python) for beginners. There's also a cool mentoring project that's worth looking into called Learn Programming (http://learnprogramming.github.com/).

You can find a list of intro, advanced, and reference Python books (http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonBooks) from the python.org wiki.

Which Mentors will be there to help me?

1. Neal Charbonneau ( http://nealc.com )

Neal has been programming for nearly ten years working on projects ranging from client-side web development to distributed systems in C++. He has an M.S. in computer science and works as a software engineer. He has experience writing software in Python, Java, C, and C++ and codes primarily for Linux. His interests include software development process (how to write good code), data structures and algorithms, networked and distributed systems, network protocols, and Linux.

2. Roberto Fuentes ( https://github.com/bahtou )

Roberto is a Javascript developer working on front and backend (Node.js) projects. He's got over 5 years experience in data analysis, and is currently working on MongoDB, IndexedDB and WebRTC browser technology. Interests include webSecurity and Javascript fundamentals. If a mentee wants to work on a project, needs help managing a project or just code, Roberto's schedule is flexible on meeting outside of the MeetUp.

3. Dan Kuebrich ( http://github.com/dankosaur )

Dan's primary skills lie in Python, Systems programming, Javascript, and he has general web experience. He'd like to help people with getting started as a programmer, and also provide project / tutorial-based help by answering questions.

4. Max Thayer ( http://www.maxthayer.org )

Max is a self proclaimed Wizard who has experience in a variety of technologies, including Python (Flask), Ruby (Rails), and now works mostly in Node.js. He also loves playing with APIs. Max is a super helpful guy, who's really fun to be around.

5. Ryan Donnelly ( http://www.twitter.com/ryanmdonnelly )

Ryan has been working with Python for about a year, and has more recently started working with Front End technologies and UX design. He can help with programming fundamentals, Python, and HTML / CSS.

6. Brian Dant ( http://www.bdant.net )

Brian has been working with Python for about a year, and Django for 6 months. He can help with programming fundamentals, Python, Django, HTML / CSS, and enjoys talking about learning programming and career-transitioning into a Web Development.