Back to the Recurse Center

I'm starting another batch at the Recurse Center on Monday, this time virtually. It’s a programming community I’ve stayed close to over the years, and the organization has invested heavily in custom software to make the remote experience feel right. With cold weather and a pandemic limiting options, a bit of extra structure sounds appealing this winter.

What actually happens there

The Recurse Center (RC) is a free, self-directed programming retreat. A batch runs for one, six, or twelve weeks. During that time, you pick what you want to learn, devise a plan — often a fun project like writing a TCP stack in Python — and then work through it.

The environment is full of people at different stages: beginners seeking their first programming job alongside experienced engineers who have been at this for years. It’s a good source of project inspiration and collaboration partners.

RC’s business model is recruiting. They partner with companies, and if you want a job after your batch, they connect you with those companies; if you accept an offer, the employer pays RC a fee. Attendance itself costs nothing.

What I want to tackle this time

My first batch was heavily systems- and networking-focused because it felt like the hardest possible thing I could attempt. I’m more comfortable with that territory now, so I plan to branch into different areas. I’ll list some ideas, though I fully expect to abandon most of them — last batch I walked in with a plan and did none of it.

  • Learn Rails — I’ve built small websites for years without working professionally as a web developer. I have a silly website idea that could serve as a starter project.
  • Experiment with generative neural networks — something I’ve been curious about for years without making any real progress.
  • Potentially finish an “incidents as a service” system I started eighteen months ago to help people practice responding to bizarre computer incidents.
  • Tackle a backlog of ignored rbspy GitHub issues.
  • Build a game — the batch includes a games-themed week.
  • Learn graphics or shaders.

More writing, plus two zines

I’m hoping to blog more during this batch — not necessarily daily, since that turned out to be a lot of work — but short posts about things I’m learning should be manageable.

I’ve also got two zines coming out this month: one on CSS that I recently finished, and another on bash that I wrote while procrastinating on the CSS one during a self-imposed October challenge. Both should appear here soon.