This week, we focus on strengthening your core developer mindset by diving into problem-solving, debugging, testing, and code quality. These skills are essential for writing robust, maintainable software and for thinking like a real engineer.
You’ll explore different problem-solving methods and practice breaking down challenges into small, manageable steps. We’ll introduce you to basic algorithms, like search problems and simple sorting techniques, so you can begin to recognize common patterns in code.
We’ll also touch on the very basics of Big O notation, giving you the language to discuss how efficient (or inefficient!) your code is.
Next, you’ll learn why logging matters, what different log levels mean, and how to log useful information without cluttering your code. From there, we move into debugging—one of the most valuable skills you’ll carry throughout your developer journey. You’ll practice using breakpoints and working with the VSCode debugger to understand what your code is really doing.
You’ll also take your first steps into unit testing using Vitest, learning how to write assertions and use the Arrange-Act-Assert pattern to structure your tests clearly.
Finally, we’ll explore AI tools, how they can support your development workflow, and the importance of maintaining code quality while avoiding AI “hallucinations.” Understanding what makes code good—readable, reliable, and maintainable—is a key skill as you advance.
The HackYourFuture curriculum is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 **