📓 1.0.0.12 A Glossary of Epicodus Terminology
There's a lot to get used to when getting started at Fidgetech, so we're hoping to make it easier with this short reference of common terminology that we use to describe the structure of our courses, classes, and assignments. Some of these terms are commonly used at Epicodus, but they may not all be used at Fidgetech. If you have any question regarding a term that you come across, please feel free to contact your instructor for clarification. This list is in alphabetical order.
Glossary of Epicodus Terminology
Code review. Also known as a "CR", a code review is the activity of someone other than yourself reviewing your code for mistakes. In the tech industry, code reviews are commonly used for quality assurance. Your co-worker or manager will review your logic, your code structure, and ensure that you are following best practice and convention. At Epicodus, your coding instructor will review the independent project you submit for each course section as your "code review". We use "independent project" and "code review" interchangeably. In some exercises, we invite you to do peer code reviews, in which you and your pair reviews another pair's code.
Cohort. This refers to the group of students who are signed up in the same program. We often distinguish cohorts by their start date, like the "May cohort" or "October cohort". We also talk about the "upper cohort" and "lower cohort", distinguishing the cohort who is farther along ("upper") from the cohort who is earlier ("lower") in the program.
Course. This is a topic that is comprised of multiple sub-topics, and at Fidgetech we will also refer to this as a Course Unit. The course will correspond to the language, framework, or general topic that will be covered. Every track at Epicodus has multiple courses to teach you full stack web development. For example, the C# and React track has 5 courses:
- Introduction to Programming
- Intermediate JavaScript
- C# and .NET
- React
- Internship
Course section. Also known as "section", this is one section of a course. At Fidgetech course sections last as long as the student requires, for full-time Epicodus students the sections last one week. For example, the Introduction to Programming course has three course sections:
- Git, HTML, and CSS
- JavaScript and jQuery
- Arrays and Looping
CR. This stands for "code review" or "career review" -- any project that you do for your classwork at Epicodus.
DEI. DEI is an acronym for “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. Scroll down further to review other entries that describe the DEI curriculum at Epicodus.
DEI lessons. DEI lessons range from topics on diversity and equity to preventing microaggressions. These lessons are integrated into the technical curriculum, appearing once in a section, or every other section. These give you the opportunity to learn more in depth about a particular subject. These are always listed as homework. Visit this link to see all of the DEI lessons.
DEI workshops. Also referred to as “workshops”, these are periodic events facilitated by Epicodus staff to discuss specific topics within diversity, equity, and inclusion. These workshops include a short presentation and a series of breakout sessions in which students group up and discuss prompts. The nature of these workshops is explained when we introduce the DEI curriculum in the lesson Making Epicodus an Inclusive Place.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) curriculum. Also known as the DEI curriculum, at Epicodus this includes workshops, lessons, and reflective assignments. The goal is to actively learn about DEI concepts so we can better work together to include students from all backgrounds and engage with personal and social change to improve diversity in Tech and our future workplaces. Students learn about this curriculum in the lesson Making Epicodus an Inclusive Place.
Fidgetech Code Central. Located at central.fidgetechcode.org, this is where you will find your account with Epicodus. You can view your independent project grades and prompts here.
Resub or resubmission. When you need to "do a resub" or "turn in a resubmission", it means your advisor or instructor has reviewed your independent project and determined that it is not passing all objectives and needs more work. Your advisor or instructor will ask you to work on certain objectives and "resubmit your project" for an additional review by a due date.
Retrospective. This is the end-of-class meeting with your dev team to talk about how the class session went. Retrospective meetings are an Agile development technique where dev teams reflect on the past in order to improve the future by discussing what worked, what didn't, and why. Typically these meetings happen every two to four weeks, depending on the company. At Epicodus, we use this time to share code, do group peer code reviews, talk about questions, or chit chat in general.
Section. Also known as "course section", this is one section of a course. For part-time students, course sections last two-three weeks, and for full-time students, course sections last one week. For an example, see "course section" above.
Scrum. This is an umbrella term that refers to a short meeting with your class and instructor or dev team. At Scrum, everyone checks in, shares announcements, and discusses questions. At Fidgetech, you'll have an all-hands Scrum at 10 AM for morning students and 1:30 PM for afternoon students, and both times for full-time students.
Student handbook. This is the main reference for all information about Epicodus's philosophy, structure, course requirements, facilities, and policies. Epicodus staff will regularly cite the student handbook's policies, and send you information from the student handbook. If you can't find the information you are looking for, ask any Epicodus staff for help. The student handbook is located in the "Getting Started with Epicodus" pre-work attached to every course.
Track. This refers to the program that you are signed up for at Epicodus. There are full-time and part-time tracks, and there are tracks differentiated by course of study, like the C# and React (Part-Time) track or the Ruby and React track. You can find all available tracks by going to www.learnhowtoprogram.com/tracks. Fidgetech has it's own track.