Wizard zines is a little different from other tech publications. Here’s my approach: stick to fundamentals: wizard zines focuses on fundamentals: things that haven’t changed much in the last 10 years and that probably won’t change much in the next 10 either. That’s why there’s a zine about HTTP and not, say, the Python module. HTTP/1.1 was defined in 1997! The basics haven’t changed since 1997 because we need backwards compatibility on the web!
Wizard zines. Zine 14 pack
0h 0m 0s
English
Paid
Fundamentals are important for 2 reasons:
- you can just learn them once. Because HTTP doesn’t change much, you can learn it now and stay confident in your knowledge. It’s still going to be the same in 5 years.
- everything based on them gets WAY EASIER. If you know HTTP, learning or an AWS API or or whatever you need in your job gets SO MUCH EASIER. It’s easier to Google, easier to ask colleagues question, and easier to read documentation.
Everyone needs to learn new things
One thing I think is unfortunate about programming culture is that “knowing fundamentals is really helpful!” can sometimes turn really gatekeeper-y (“oh, you don’t know how THING works? WELL YOU SHOULD!! IF YOU DON’T YOU AREN’T A REAL PROGRAMMER”). This is really unnecessary.
It’s SO NORMAL to make it 5 or 10 or 15 years in your programming career without learning something that seems “basic” about computing. We all need to learn new things to do our jobs well! And it’s BOTH:
- good to learn some of these “basic” things when you need them
- totally okay to not have learned it yet!
Just the most important ideas
We all have a lot going on. Not everyone has time to read 400-page programming books!
Each of these zines is 20-28 pages. I spend hours on each page making sure that every single one explains one or two important ideas as succinctly and clearly as I possibly can.
Avoid jargon
The internet is FULL of unclear explanations of programming concepts that almost seem designed to make you feel dumb. They’re full of jargon and phrased in a very formal way, kind of like “These are Very Important Serious Ideas and we need to use Complicated Words to explain them accurately”.
Instead, these zines explain “hard” ideas in simple, straightforward language. It’s important to keep the explanations accurate! It’s doesn’t help anyone if the explanation is simple and fun but untrue, and sometimes you do need to use more specific language! But I avoid jargon unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Zine 13 pack
- How DNS Works!
- Hell Yes! CSS!
- HTTP: Learn Your Browser's Language
- Become a SELECT Star
- Oh Shit, Git!
- Help! I Have a Manager!
- How Containers Work
- Bite Size Linux
- Bite Size Bash
- Bite Size Networking
- Bite Size Command Line
- The Pocket Guide to Debugging
- How Integers and Floats Work
About the Author: Julia Evans
Julia Evans is a Canadian software engineer and the publisher of Wizard Zines — a series of short, comic-style zines that explain how Linux, networking, debugging, and the lower layers of computing actually work. The zines are widely loved among working engineers for explaining things that most reference docs treat as too obvious to cover.
Her CourseFlix listing carries a Julia Evans technical zine / course. Material is paid and aimed at engineers who want to fill in the foundational gaps that most tutorials skip.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Wizard zines. Zine 14 pack about?
Wizard zines is a little different from other tech publications. Here’s my approach: stick to fundamentals: wizard zines focuses on fundamentals : things that haven’t changed much in the last 10 years and that probably…
Who teaches this course?
It is taught by Julia Evans. You can find more courses by this instructor on the corresponding source page.
How long is the course?
It is delivered as a self-paced online course on CourseFlix.
Is it free to watch?
It is part of CourseFlix's premium catalog. A subscription unlocks the full video player; the course description, table of contents, and preview information are available to everyone.
Where can I watch it online?
The course is available to watch online on CourseFlix at https://courseflix.net/course/wizard-zines-zine-14-pack. The page hosts every lesson with the integrated video player; no download is required.