// short reads for people new to code

Learn to code in your coffee break.

Short, hand-made explainers on programming, the web, tools and how computers work. No setup, no jargon you haven't been told about.

$ browse articles $ surprise me

$ ls latest/

see all →
networks/dhcp-how-a-device-gets-an-address-the-moment-it-joins-the-wi-fi.md DHCP: how a device gets an address the moment it joins the Wi-Fi Every device on a network needs its own address, but nobody types one in when you join café Wi-Fi. A helper called DHCP hands them out with… 6 min read · 9 Nov databases/sql-window-functions-how-every-row-gets-a-rank-or-running-total-withou.md SQL window functions: how every row gets a rank or running total without collapsing the table A window function adds a calculated column to every row without collapsing rows the way GROUP BY does. Learn what OVER, PARTITION BY and… 4 min read · 8 Nov computers/endianness-why-the-bytes-of-a-number-can-be-stored-backwards.md Endianness: why the bytes of a number can be stored backwards Store the number 0x12345678 in memory and you might expect the bytes in the order 12 34 56 78. Most laptops and phones store them as 78 56… 5 min read · 7 Nov web/stacking-contexts-why-z-index-9999-can-still-lose-to-z-index-2.md Stacking contexts: why z-index: 9999 can still lose to z-index: 2 You give a dropdown z-index: 9999 and it still hides behind a box that only says 2. The number is not too small: browsers sort layers in… 6 min read · 4 Nov languages/javascript-closures-how-a-function-remembers-a-variable-after-the-func.md JavaScript closures: how a function remembers a variable after the function that made it has finished A function in JavaScript can still use a variable long after the function that created it has finished. That is called a closure, and you… 5 min read · 3 Nov mobile/screen-readers-how-a-phone-decides-what-to-say-about-a-button-it-can-t.md Screen readers: how a phone decides what to say about a button it can't see A phone screen reader like VoiceOver or TalkBack can't see your pictures. It reads a hidden list of items, each with a role, a label and a… 4 min read · 3 Nov

$ cd topics/

0x01 ai/ Models, training, prompts and how language models work. 13 articles 0x02 software-design/ Architecture, patterns, testing, refactoring and code review. 13 articles 0x03 computers/ CPUs, memory, operating systems and what happens when code runs. 13 articles 0x04 computer-science/ Algorithms, data structures and the theory every language shares. 12 articles 0x05 databases/ Tables, queries, indexes, transactions, storage engines and caching. 13 articles 0x06 infrastructure/ Servers, deploys, containers, cloud and monitoring. 13 articles 0x07 mobile/ iOS and Android apps, app stores, offline sync and push notifications. 13 articles 0x08 networks/ The internet underneath: DNS, TCP/IP, TLS, latency and CDNs. 13 articles 0x09 languages/ Syntax, runtimes, compilers, JITs, type systems and memory management. 13 articles 0x10 security/ Passwords, encryption, auth and the common attacks to avoid. 13 articles 0x11 web/ Browsers, HTML and CSS, HTTP, frameworks and APIs. 13 articles 0x12 tools/ Git, the terminal, editors, debuggers and package managers. 12 articles
README.md

# How it works

new2coding is a collection of short, interactive articles for anyone starting out in code and tech. Each one is designed on its own, so every topic looks and feels a little different.

  1. 01
    Pick a topicBrowse by category, or hit random.
  2. 02
    Read for a few minutesEvery article shows its read time up front.
  3. 03
    Try it yourselfThen come back for the next one.