The decline in the percentage of Auburn students who are Black is representative of a broader trend among the 14 schools of the Southeastern Conference, nine of which had shrinking proportions of Black students from 2010 to 2018.
Nationally, the picture was not much better: Black enrollment went down at 20 of the top 50 public universities over the same period, and it fell at almost 60 percent of the 101 most selective public colleges and universities from 2000 to 2017. A Washington Post and Hechinger Report analysis published this year found that 15 state flagship universities had “at least a 10-point gap between the percentage of Black public high school graduates in their states in 2019 and the Black share of freshmen they enrolled that fall.”
These numbers demonstrate a missed opportunity to use one of America’s strongest engines of economic and social mobility — public higher education — to reduce racial inequities. Black and Hispanic people are less likely than white and Asian people to have college degrees, and that presents a major impediment to advancement. In Alabama, 28 percent of the Black population lives in poverty, compared to 12 percent of white people.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word impediment in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how impediment can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Have you ever seen the movie “Jurassic Park” or one of its sequels? It tells the story of an eccentric businessman who creates a theme park of cloned dinosaurs from prehistoric DNA, only to have his dreams ruined when the resurrected Tyrannosaurus rex and other ferocious predators escape and endanger the lives of the no-longer-thrilled human visitors.
Now, a team of scientists and entrepreneurs has announced the formation of a company that aims to genetically resurrect the woolly mammoth thousands of years after it went extinct.
If they can pull it off, would it be a magnificent achievement? Or should we heed the warning of “Jurassic Park” and never try to bring back long-extinct animals?
A team of scientists and entrepreneurs announced on Monday that they have started a new company to genetically resurrect the woolly mammoth.
The company, named Colossal, aims to place thousands of these magnificent beasts back on the Siberian tundra, thousands of years after they went extinct.
“This is a major milestone for us,” said George Church, a biologist at Harvard Medical School, who for eight years has been leading a small team of moonlighting researchers developing the tools for reviving mammoths. “It’s going to make all the difference in the world.”
The company, which has received $15 million in initial funding, will support research in Dr. Church’s lab and carry out experiments in labs of their own in Boston and Dallas.
A former researcher in Dr. Church’s lab, Eriona Hysolli, will oversee the new company’s efforts to edit elephant DNA, adding genes for mammoth traits like dense hair and thick fat for withstanding cold. The researchers hope to produce embryos of these mammoth-like elephants in a few years, and ultimately produce entire populations of the animals.
Other researchers are deeply skeptical that Colossal will pull off such a feat. And if Colossal does manage to produce baby mammoth-like elephants, the company will face serious ethical questions. Is it humane to produce an animal whose biology we know so little about? Who gets to decide whether they can be set loose, potentially to change the ecosystems of tundras in profound ways?
The article explains some of Dr. Church’s hopes for reviving the long-extinct animal:
Beyond scientific curiosity, he argued, revived woolly mammoths could help the environment. Today, the tundra of Siberia and North America where the animals once grazed is rapidly warming and releasing carbon dioxide. “Mammoths are hypothetically a solution to this,” Dr. Church argued in his talk.
Today the tundra is dominated by moss. But when woolly mammoths were around, it was largely grassland. Some researchers have argued that woolly mammoths were ecosystem engineers, maintaining the grasslands by breaking up moss, knocking down trees and providing fertilizer with their droppings.
Russian ecologists have imported bison and other living species to a preserve in Siberia they’ve dubbed Pleistocene Park, in the hopes of turning the tundra back to grassland. Dr. Church argued that resurrected woolly mammoths would be able to do this more efficiently. The restored grassland would keep the soil from melting and eroding, he argued, and might even lock away heat-trapping carbon dioxide.
It concludes with a discussion of both the prospects and possibilities of Colossal’s ambitious plan:
Beth Shapiro, a paleogeneticist at the University of California Santa Cruz, is skeptical about the company’s prospects. “It feels to me that a mammoth is a long way in the future,” she said. Nevertheless, she applauded the company’s launch and hopes it will deliver scientific advances that could help species that are endangered but not yet extinct.
For example, scientists may be able to use Colossal’s advances to save species under threat from diseases by endowing them with genes for resistance to a pathogen, she said. Other species might be enriched with genes to better tolerate heat and drought brought on by climate change.
“I worry that for lots of species today, the pace of climate change and the pace of habitat degradation is such that evolution isn’t going to be able to save them,” Dr. Shapiro said. “We need to intervene even more.”
Read the entire article, then tell us:
What is your reaction to the article? Are you excited by the news that resurrecting long-gone creatures may one day may be possible? Does it fill you with dread? Should Colossal’s efforts should be applauded or feared?
Should we bring back animals from extinction? Why or why not? What do you see as the possible benefits and dangers?
If you answered yes, what animals would you like to see revived? The mythical Dodo bird? The famed saber-toothed tiger? Or even a Tyrannosaurus rex?
Mr. Zimmer raises many ethical questions about the project, such as, “Is it humane to produce an animal whose biology we know so little about?” and “Who gets to decide whether they can be set loose?” How would you answer these questions? Do you think it is ethical to resurrect extinct creatures?
Dr. Church believes that reviving woolly mammoths could help the environment and lessen climate change. How persuasive do you find this argument?
What legal limits, if any, should be placed on attempts to genetically resurrect extinct animals? Should they be banned in any form? Or should scientists be permitted to freely research and experiment with the genetic engineering of extinct animals? Explain your thinking.
Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
This lesson is a part of our new Accessible Activities feature, which aims to welcome a wider variety of learners to our site and to The Times in general. Learn more and tell us what you think here.
Have you ever stopped to wonder how our roads, streets and crosswalks are painted?
In this lesson, you will learn about the art of line painting, or pavement marking, and how it keeps all of us from bumping and smashing into each other. Then, you will document and celebrate other kinds of overlooked work that make our communities run.
Warm-Up
The roads in your town or city are probably full of painted lines that help people know where to drive and walk, like these:
Now, imagine they have all washed away. And the mayor has asked you to help repaint them.
How would you go about painting the lines on the streets? What supplies would you need? How would you make sure that the lines are straight and even? And keep in mind, you can’t take all day with one single line. There are a lot of roads to cover!
Take a few minutes to come up with a good plan. Then, turn to a partner and share your ideas. Which of your ideas do you think would work best?
Vocabulary
Here are 10 words you’ll find in this article that you may not know:
Click through the article, reading the text and viewing the photos and videos. Then answer the following questions:
1. What did you learn about how city workers paint the lines on roads and streets? What was the biggest surprise?
2. Compare your plan for painting streets from the warm-up activity with how the city workers do it: What was similar? What was different?
3. What kinds of skills and knowledge are needed to be a good line painter? Give two examples from the article.
4. What are some of the challenges and joys of painting our roads and streets with lines?
5. The article says that the people who paint lines help to “stave off chaos.” In your opinion, why is line painting important? What do you think would happen if all the lines painted on streets and roads washed away?
6. Why do you think The New York Times published this story about something most people see every day but give very little thought to? What can readers learn from it? What lessons or inspiration do you take?
7. Would you want to be a street line painter for a living? Why or why not?
Going Further
The article celebrates line painting — a skill and art that is not usually noticed or valued. There are many jobs in our world that are underappreciated. Brainstorm a list of at least five jobs that you think should be respected more.
Then, pick one job from your list and write about or discuss with a partner these questions:
What is the job? Describe it for someone who might not know anything about it.
Why do you think it isn’t appreciated enough?
Why is it important? What role does this job play in your life and in your community?
Additional Teaching and Learning
Celebrate someone’s work. Interview someone in your community whose job you think deserves more appreciation. Find out what they like most and least about their work and one thing they wish the public understood about it. Take a few photographs, and make a slide show of your best interview quotes and images.
Learn more about the unrecognized work that makes our communities thrive. Watch “The Midnight Gardeners of Mumbai,” a short film about the lives and dreams of two men whose job it is to water the gardens of India’s capital city. Answer the questions that follow. Afterward, discuss with a partner: How does this work compare with that of the line painters? What did you learn about the skills, joys and challenges of this job? What does it make you think about when considering your own future work or career?
Learn more about Lesson of the Day here and find all of our daily lessons in this column.
[MUSIC PLAYING] I have a question for you. Is the red dot inside or outside of the white box? “OK, I do not see a red dot.” “What red dot?” “I don’t see the red dot.” “There’s no red dot.” OK, I’ll do it again. Is the red dot inside or outside of the white box? “I don’t see a box.” “There’s no white box.” “So now I see the dot, and I see no box.” Next one. “Oh, I see what you’re doing. What?” “Is this what it’s like for you? Oh, God.” That’s what I see when I take the test. “Oh.” [MUSIC PLAYING] Nature has located the eye close to the brain so that its messages may arrive there quickly. The eyes are really an extension of the brain, and the whole optic system is capable of understanding and memorizing. Are my eyes [expletive] up? “They are a little bit.” “Nothing’s wrong with your eyes. They’re just different.” “Your eyes are different from other people’s eyes. I think only you know if they’re messed up. Certainly, people from — who see you think they’re messed up.” Do my eyes make me uglier? “I wouldn’t say so.” “No. I mean, I don’t know.” “No, you have beautiful eyes, I guess. I think so. What color are they? Brown?” I’m your child. So, my name is James, and these are my eyes. Having eyes like mine, well, it feels like everyone I meet is frolicking happily on the ship they’ve dubbed the U.S.S. Normal. And then here I am, below the surface, feeling a bit isolated. But whenever I get up near the surface, where the people on the U.S.S. Normal can see me, everyone starts acting a little weird. They get nervous. They don’t know what to do, so they just avoid looking into the ocean altogether. Even my own family. What is wrong with my eyes? “I don’t exactly know, but one of them is — you have a lazy eye.” But I don’t have a lazy eye. My brother has sat across from me at the dinner table for his entire life. In that whole time, he never got up the courage to ask me what was happening with my eyes. Now, look, I get it. I used to also believe that this conversation was best avoided. I used to lie to people about the name of my condition, telling them that it was a lazy eye. Not because this was true but instead because it was something that they would have heard of. But the thing is, I don’t really think that’s productive anymore. And that’s why we need to talk. If you’re going to spend your whole life aboard this ship, then I want to tell you a little bit about how you can meaningfully interact with what else is out there in the ocean. You see, the name of my condition is strabismus. I’m an alternator with exotropia, and I have a complication called A.R.C. All of that is hard for even me to remember. So that’s why, a couple of years ago, I just started calling them whale eyes. We take our type of vision for granted, but consider the case of the whale. What was it like to give birth to a whale? “Oh, God. I did not know that you were a whale at the time.” For me to explain whale eyes to you, the first step is to understand how normal eyes work. “Normal” is a complicated phrase. My mom is technically normal. Her eyes both work together. But she’s also the proud owner of a 50-pound bag of popcorn kernels, which is exclusively for personal consumption. Well, let’s say you wanted to look at this abnormal object with your normal eyes. A normal person would see the popcorn out of both eyes. “Your brain fuses those two images into one, and you figure out 3-D.” That 3-D is how we do things like shake hands, play Ping-Pong and hand each other Post-its without missing. “So that’s considered normal? Your eyes —” Yeah, kind of a different story over here. You see, what happened is both my eyes worked perfectly individually. They can both see the popcorn with 20/20. It’s just that this collaboration stage where they got a little confused. So my brain was getting this image from the left eye and this image from the right eye. And it was like, holy cow, that is so much information and so much popcorn. My brain could only handle one of these at a time, so I started switching back and forth. You see, my eyes were never actually lazy. It was just my brain got confused. [MUSIC PLAYING] In the U.S., as soon as you’re born into the ocean of difference, people try to start fishing you out. And believe me, I tried it all. Band-Aid eye patches, pirate eye patches, staring at strings for long periods of time, 3-D glasses, reading glasses, staring at strings for even longer periods of time. The most popular form of vision correction is surgery. If you’re young enough, doctors can straighten your eyes and trick them into realizing that these two objects are actually the same thing. I had it twice, and the doctor missed both times. This is what missing looks like. The eyes might look aligned, but it wasn’t close enough to trick my brain. I was like a fish that kept getting caught, taken into a boat and then wiggling its way back into the ocean. What all these failures meant is that I was going to have to grow up with whale eyes, overboard in the sea of difference. Let me give you an example from when I was 6 years old. I’m on the baseball team — Monte Cassino, Tulsa, Okla. So the coach would pitch you two balls, and you would try to thwack them. And if you couldn’t thwack them, which I never could, then you would get a tee, and you got two tries on the tee. And, obviously — I mean, if the ball is just sitting there on a stick, everyone hits it the first time off the tee. Almost everyone hits it the first time off the tee. I got my two chances, and I missed both times. [MUSIC PLAYING] And I remember the umpire didn’t know what to do because he had clearly never seen someone strike out in tee ball. My strikeout was just one of thousands of humiliations in which others didn’t know how to react to my whale eyes. We put so much time and effort into making sure that people who are perceived as different understand what it would be like if they were normal. But we rarely ever do the opposite. Pushing those who see themselves as normal to understand what it would be like if they were different. [SPLASH] Do you know what happens when my eyes switch? “You see out the other eye? I don’t know.” That’s a good start. But everything moves. “Everything moves?” Yeah. “Really?” [MUSIC PLAYING] So everything jumps. So when you’re reading, you’ll be like, the little brown fox jumped in the big black car. It’s like car is over here now. Now, my way of perceiving the world might seem strange and frustrating to you. But if you come below the surface, you’ll see that I’ve adapted. Take, for example, the pencil test. “Isn’t there are a famous article on pencils?” You close one eye, take two pencils, hold them out in front of your face and then try to touch the tips or the erasers to each other. “I can’t do it.” “Hands up. I got it.” Wow. Faster than any of us. “I know. Do you know what I do?” What? “You just look for the shadow.” I’ve taught myself to adapt. In all honesty, I don’t have a problem with the way that I see. My only problem is with the way that I’m seen. I just want to be able to connect with people. It’s hard to tell where I’m looking. I get it. It’s not just, “Where is he looking?” It’s like, “Where is he?” I’m still here. You just are having trouble connecting to that person. You want to know why I call them whale eyes? It’s because we love looking at whales, and we’re completely unbothered by the fact that we can only look into one of their eyes at a time. That’s the kind of acceptance that I’ve always craved. But I’m not a whale. And this whole thing about the sea of difference, it’s just a metaphor. I really live in your world. It’s a world of handshakes, and pitchers and rain. I have a fear of umbrellas. I always think they’re going to hit me. It’s a world of high fives and changing lanes and really sharp knives. That’s why I buy the precut cheese. And, yes, it’s even a world where children dream of the major leagues, even after striking out in tee ball. It’s because I really live in your world that I need your help overcoming this distance between us. That means looking back into whichever eye is looking at you and meeting those inevitable gaffes with patience. More than anything, what I really hope you’ll understand is that what for you is a few seconds of discomfort, for someone else is just one in a lifetime of little moments that have made them feel like they’re hundreds of meters below the surface, even though they’re really just standing a few feet in front of you, waiting to connect. [MUSIC PLAYING]
1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:
2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.
4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?
The Reveal
We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!
Students 13 and older in the United States and the Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Big data is all the buzz. Startups and seasoned companies alike are all exploring a new approach to problem-solving through the use of “big data.”
But what is big data? And how can you take advantage of the increasing demand for big data science and technology?
Data is information. Big data is more information. The key distinctions between data and big data are volume, velocity, and variety. Generally, big data is more extensive information with more individual components that are collected in a shorter period of time. Big data sources are often new but can encompass older data streams as well.
Nowadays, we create more data than ever before. Within this data are valuable insights that we can use to improve our various systems and processes. Data Scientists, Analysts, and Engineers collect and analyze data to find valid and useful conclusions.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at big data, the technologies behind it, the challenges of using it, and more.
Big data examples
As we said, big data holds valuable insights. Many of these insights help companies better serve their customers — and generate more money.
Because of this, big data is often used in marketing. Many of our online behaviors are tracked, from our activity on social media to our shopping habits. Marketers use this data for targeted advertising, promoting products and services that align with your interests.
Big data is also used in the healthcare industry. Think of all the wearable devices we have today, from Apple Watches to Fitbits. These devices can track your heart rate, breathing, sleep habits, and more — and they can even alert you to any concerning changes. Plus, physicians can use the data from these devices to create more comprehensive health profiles and better treat their patients.
We can also find examples of big data in the transportation and automotive industries. Self-driving cars and trucks use data on weather and road conditions, vehicle and pedestrian information, and more to increase safety and efficiency.
As you can see, big data holds great potential for improving our society. But, before we can make use of big data, it needs to be processed.
Big data processing
Because big data is so vast and comprehensive, it needs to be processed before being analyzed for insights. This involves collecting and comparing data from multiple sources, cleaning it to remove any errors or duplicates, and more.
After big data has been processed, data science professionals go through it to find any relevant patterns. This often involves the use of machine learning algorithms. Then, data visualization methods are used to make these insights easy to understand. Statistics also play a key role in data analysis as it helps us understand the relationships between data and probable outcomes.
Big data programming languages
There are several programming languages behind the tools Data Scientists use to collect, process, analyze, and visualize big data. Each language has its own advantages. Some of the most popular languages used for big data include:
Python
Python is easy to learn, and it’s one of the most popular languages used for data science. As a result, there are many Python libraries designed for data processing, analysis, and visualization. These libraries make it much easier to work with big data.
Python can also be used for statistical analysis, and it’s also commonly used in machine learning — two critical components of data science.
Java
Java also has utility for big data. Some of the most popular big data tools are written in Java. They’re open-source, flexible, and free to use — making Java a key language for anyone aspiring to work with big data.
JavaScript
JavaScript is one of the core programming languages for web development. It’s what makes websites interactive and dynamic rather than static.
The advantages of JavaScript make it useful for presenting and visualizing data online. JavaScript is often used for sharing big data and making it easier to understand.
C/C++
C and C++ are incredibly useful programming languages. While C was invented in the early 1970s and C++ in the mid-1980s, C and C++ programmers are still in strong demand today — and for a good reason.
When it comes to speed, C++ is often the best choice. Processing massive amounts of data quickly is one of the key advantages of C programming languages. When information is needed quickly in certain use cases for big data, C++ may be the best option.
R
With big data, statistical analysis is an integral part of drawing valid and useful conclusions. R excels at statistical analysis and visualization. When complicated statistics need to be applied, R is often the programming language of choice for data analysis.
SQL
SQL is used for accessing information stored in databases. The language was developed for handling large databases with relationships between different variables from different datasets. SQL is often the language utilized to easily access large amounts of stored data.
Challenges for big data
There are many challenges for big data. Incoming data that needs to be analyzed can be structured, unstructured, or somewhere in between.
Structured data is clearly defined, like a birthday or the number of widgets sold per day. As a result, it’s much easier to process and interpret.
Unstructured data is not well defined and needs further interpretation to be useful. The text of an email or a tweet is typically a good example of unstructured data.
Part of the challenge of big data is just making sense of the massive amount of information available. Algorithms for understanding the general meaning of text are often a key part of gleaning insights from big data.
The privacy and security of big data are also major challenges. It often seems like we hear about the theft of personal information from thousands of people every week. Big data demands new tools and techniques to keep information secure. Losing control of information can damage a company’s reputation and lead to various legal and financial consequences.
Data storage and processing are also huge challenges with big data. With large quantities of data that change rapidly, quick access and interpretation are required. Cloud storage is often utilized but can present challenges with speed, costs, and accessibility.
Learn more about big data
Opportunities in big data abound, and the demand for data science professionals is likely to grow as the online world continues to produce more information.
If you’re interested in working with big data, the first step is learning how to use some of the programming languages listed above. Use any of the courses below to get started:
Or, if you’d rather learn everything all at once, check out our Data Scientist or Data Analyst Career Paths. These courses will teach you how to use the programming languages above to collect, manipulate, and analyze data. You’ll also put your skills to use by creating projects that you can feature in a portfolio to impress future employers and clients.
Pair programming is an agile software development technique in which two programmers work together. The goal of agile software development is to deliver software on an ongoing basis so the results can be evaluated more easily.
But how does having two programmers working together improve software development? Read on to learn more about pair programming, how it works, and its advantages and drawbacks.
Some of the very first programmers were the women who worked on the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). These women worked in pairs, allowing them to discuss ideas and improve each other’s work.
Pair programming as a concept didn’t develop until the late 1990s, when agile software development practices were spread to a wider audience.
How does pair programming work?
In pair programming, one person is the “driver,” and the other is the “navigator.” The driver is the person at the keyboard who’s actively writing code. The navigator observes, checks code for accuracy, and keeps an eye on the bigger picture.
Pair programmers switch roles regularly, so both pairs stay engaged. They also work collaboratively, determining which tasks need to be done.
Why use pair programming?
Pair programming is a great educational tool for beginners. Observing other programmers and writing code in front of them are great ways to improve your problem-solving skills.
It’s also a good introduction for programmers who are onboarding with a new company. Learning about ongoing projects by working on them with an experienced and knowledgeable team member can help you stay up-to-date with programming practices. It also keeps individuals from becoming isolated from the rest of the team or project.
Christine Y., one of our Content Contributors, sheds more light on pair programming and how it’s beneficial:
“I personally love pair-programming because I prefer being on the exact same page as someone I’m working with. It creates less room for confusion/error, and I just think solutions are better as 2 minds > 1 mind.”
Pair programming requires communication to work. It improves the code that’s produced, and it’s less likely to contain errors since it’s reviewed by both pairs as it’s written.
Organizations that want to improve the quality of their code, integrate new members into their team more easily, and have development be more collaborative, benefit from using pair programming.
Advantages of pair programming
Here are some of the reasons why organizations use pair programming:
Knowledge sharing
While everyone on a project strives to be knowledgeable, there may be one or two programmers who hold the most knowledge of a project’s codebase. These people are sometimes called “towers of knowledge,” and teams may rely on them heavily. This becomes an issue if progress comes to a halt when those people are unable to work due to sickness or other causes.
Pair programming can ensure that one or two people aren’t holding all the knowledge critical to a project. Pairing them with a variety of programmers helps spread knowledge and keeps them from burning out.
Thinking
Writing code is only a small piece of what programmers do. Most of their time is spent solving problems, so having another programmer to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with is invaluable.
You can come up with more creative solutions than you would on your own, and you might find solutions faster. Just having someone to talk through a problem with can be key to coming up with a solution.
Focus
It’s easy for your mind to wander when you’re working on your own. Having another person with you and changing roles often can help keep you fresh and focused.
Accuracy
Having someone quality checking the code as it’s being written will improve accuracy. Issues and bugs can be caught immediately rather than down the road when it’s harder to debug. This system makes it easier to improve code as well.
Challenges of pair programming
While there are many advantages to pair programming, it has its flaws, such as:
More complexity
Tasks often done by only one person tend to be simpler than those assigned to two people. For these complicated tasks assigned to a pair, an approach should be created and agreed upon.
Forming the best approach to a problem adds an extra layer of complexity and requires an extensive amount of time and thought. Ideally, programmers will have enough time to work on solo and pair-programming tasks.
Fatigue
When you’re working on your own, you can take breaks and work at your own pace. That’s more difficult when you’re working in a pair, so it’s important to discuss break schedules with your pair programming partner.
Managing skill levels
If there’s a significant gap in skill level between the two partners, one might end up relying too heavily on the other. This could lead to issues with workflow and between programmers.
It’s important for both partners to be open-minded and give the other person a chance to write code, make mistakes, and correct themselves. For example, if the driver makes an error, give them several seconds to correct it before pointing it out.
No alone time
Some tasks need to be done on your own, like email or returning phone calls. Expecting a pair to work together all the time is unrealistic and could lead to burnout. Instead, make it a consistent part of a schedule that includes time to work alone.
Getting started with pair programming
Many organizations use pair programming for improved efficiency. Even if you’re still learning to code, pair programming is a good way to improve your skills. For example, if you’re new to Python, you might want to practice with another student learning Python (or someone more experienced).
If you’re taking one of our classes, consider connecting with other students in our forums or on Discord. You can virtually pair program, and while it has a few more hurdles than in-person pair programming, it can still be beneficial.
As a beginning Web Developer, you’ll hear many terms thrown around, and you might be unsure which are important in your study. One of those terms you may have heard is DOM, which is an important concept for Web Developers to learn. In fact, it may be the most important.
In this article and the video below, we’ll look at what the DOM is, what it looks like, how it’s used, and why you should care.
What is it?
DOM is an acronym that stands for Document Object Model. It’s how a web browser represents a web page internally.
The DOM determines what content should be on a page and how each element of the content relates to the other elements. Let’s look at each word of the acronym.
Document
We can think of a document as a way to structure information, including articles, books, and scientific papers. For Web Developers, a document is a name for a web page, and they consider the DOM as a model for all the stuff on the web page. The DOM calls this stuff objects.
Object
The “stuff” on web pages are objects and are sometimes called elements or nodes. Here are some objects you may run into on a web page:
Content. The most obvious objects on a web page are the content. These can include words, videos, images, and more.
Structural elements. These include divs, containers, and sections. You may not see these elements, but you see how they affect the visible elements because they organize those elements on the web page.
Attributes. Every element on a web page has attributes. These include classes, styles, and sizes, for example. These are objects in the DOM, but they’re not elements like the content and structural elements.
Model
A model is a representation of something, and it helps us understand how something is put together. There are models for many things that need to be universally understood, analyzed, and used.
One example of a model being used is for instructions. Blueprints, floor plans, and IKEA directions are all examples of this kind of model. They show the object being modeled with enough detail that it can be recreated.
Another example of a model is a description. This type of model is used to simplify big ideas or complex systems so they can be understood more easily. These types of models help us to understand things like our galaxy.
The DOM is a model for web pages. It acts as a set of instructions for web browsers.
What does the DOM look like?
The DOM is represented as a type of data structure called a tree. Every object in the DOM is hierarchically under another object, and any object can have multiple children but only one parent.
Each DOM object “owns” its children. If you remove an object from the DOM, all of its children will also be removed with it.
The DOM itself is digital, so it actually doesn’t “look” like anything, but it can be represented in a few different ways. These representations can help us visualize what DOM is.
Tree graph
One way to represent the DOM is with a tree graph. A tree graph shows the relationship between parent and child objects, with lines between them representing their relationship.
Take a family tree as an example. At the top, you’d have your grandparents. Then, below, you’d have your parents and their siblings, followed by you, your siblings, and your cousins.
Similarly, the root node — the node at the top of the tree graph — of a web page would be the HTML element. Beneath, you’d have the head and body elements. Underneath the body element, you’ll possibly find header, main, and footer elements. Below the header element, you might find img, nav, and h1 elements.
HTML
The most common way to represent the DOM is with HTML. You can take a look at the HTML of a web page by opening the developer tools in your browser or by right-clicking on an element and choosing “Inspect element”. Here’s an example of HTML:
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Example Site
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This list of elements may not look like a tree structure at first, but every indentation in the browser inspector or in the example above is like a vertical level in a tree graph.
HTML elements wrap other elements that are its children. The img element is a child of the header element, which is a child of the body element, which is a child of the HTML element.
Even though this is the most common way to represent the DOM, HTML isn’t the DOM itself — it just represents it.
Source code
There are more ways to create a document than using HTML. You can use a back-end programming language like PHP to generate HTML when a web page is loaded. You can use JavaScript to modify elements in the web page dynamically. Or, you can use a front-end framework like React to create complete web pages without writing any HTML.
Rendered web page
We can also view the DOM in the rendered web page when the browser converts it into something we can see in the browser.
In short, the DOM is a set of instructions on how to build a specific web page. The DOM tells a browser how to render the web page’s content, and we can edit the DOM via source code.
As a critical component of web development, you’ll need to understand the DOM if you’re looking to become a Front-End Engineer, Back-End Engineer, or Full-Stack Engineer. To learn more about building websites, check out our courses on web development.
A framework is a structure that you can build software on. It serves as a foundation, so you’re not starting entirely from scratch. Frameworks are typically associated with a specific programming language and are suited to different types of tasks.
Let’s say you’re building a house. You could pour the foundation and frame the house yourself. It would take a lot of time, but you could do it. If all of that were already done for you, though, it would save you quite a bit of effort — especially if it was done by expert home builders.
In software development, a framework serves a similar purpose. It’s designed and tested by other Software Developers and Engineers, so you know it’s a solid foundation.
A house isn’t complete with just the framework, though. Similarly, a framework in software development is a starting point, but you add higher-level functionality to it to make it work.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at frameworks, what they’re used for, the differences between libraries and frameworks, and more.
Why do we use frameworks?
Using frameworks saves time and reduces the risk of errors. You don’t need to write everything from the ground up, so there’s less chance of introducing errors. Plus, frameworks have already been tested, so there’s less to worry about. Other advantages include:
More secure code
Simpler testing and debugging
Avoiding duplicate code
Clean and easily adaptable code
Able to focus on writing code specific to the project
Can be extended
Types of frameworks
Frameworks can be used for developing websites, mobile applications, data science, and more. Here are some of the more popular frameworks:
Web application frameworks
AngularJS is a front-end JavaScript framework. It’s one of the most popular web frameworks and is backed by an enthusiastic community.
AngularJS was developed and is supported by Google. It includes features like two-way data binding, which reduces development time, and dependency injections, making it easier for different pieces of code to interact with each other.
Django is an open-source web development framework supported by the Django Software Foundation. It’s written in Python, a popular programming language, and is designed to encourage “rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.” It’s fast, secure, and scalable.
Rails is also an open-source framework. It’s written in the Ruby programming language, which was designed for ease of use. Rails is designed to involve less code and less repetition and is supported by a large community. It’s been used to develop sites like Airbnb, Twitch, and Hulu.
Express is a back-end framework for Node.js that allows you to start and configure a server with very little overhead. It’s free, open-source, and is written in JavaScript. Express has a reputation for being extremely flexible. It’s fairly minimalist, and developers have created middleware packages to address web development issues.
Mobile development frameworks
Flutter is Google’s open-source framework. It supports iOS and Android and has fully customizable widgets.
Flutter is designed to speed up app development and create attractive, user-friendly apps. It uses a thin layer of C/C++ code, but most of its system is in Dart.
Xamarin is a popular .NET-based framework by Microsoft. It also supports iOS and Android and has a community of 60,000 contributors.
React Native was developed by Facebook. It’s open-source, cross-platform, and written in JavaScript. It’s used in many popular apps, including Discord, Instagram, and Shopify.
NativeScript is an open-source, cross-platform framework. NativeScript apps are built using JavaScript, and it supports other JavaScript frameworks like Angular and Vue. It’s popular for its robust back-end support.
Ionic is another open-source, cross-platform framework. It uses JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and it includes a library of mobile-optimized UI components, gestures, and tools. Ionic builds fast apps and integrates with front-end frameworks like Angular and Vue.
Libraries vs. frameworks
The terms “libraries” and “frameworks” are sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re very different.
In the video above, Carlos, a Web Developer, explains that a library is a set of previously-written code that you can use to build your own code. A framework is a supporting structure that requires specificity. You must follow the pattern of the framework.
A framework is essentially a skeleton, and you work with the skeleton. A framework calls on your code. Your code calls on a library. In other words, your code is in control when you use a library, but when you use a framework, it’s in control. This is referred to as “inversion of control.”
Frameworks can, and often do, include libraries. Libraries are used to fill out functions.
Getting started with frameworks
Frameworks are a valuable tool for developing applications. But, before you get started with frameworks, it’s best to have a solid understanding of a programming language.
For example, JavaScript is used in many frameworks. It’s a powerful, flexible programming language. We offer a beginner-friendly course to learn JavaScript. If you already understand the basics of JavaScript, our Learn Intermediate JavaScript course might be a better fit.
Ultimately, the better you understand a programming language, the easier it’ll be to understand frameworks. Programming languages are a solid foundation for many career paths in IT.
Which programming language you start with depends on your end goals and preferences. We offer programming courses in several languages, so you could even try a few to see which suits you best.
Once you understand frameworks, you can even give back by contributing to open source frameworks and participating in developer communities.Ready to get started? We’re here to help, whether you’re brushing up on skills, changing careers, or just starting out — so sign up today!
Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this photo — or tell us about a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.
Another option? Write from the point of view of one of the people in the image. What might this person be thinking and feeling?
Post your story in the comments, then read the related piece to learn more.
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