Berlin Whiteboard Talks

The Berlin Whiteboard Talks are a series of informal whiteboard talks (currently given by Julius) for beginners in tech and programming. The sessions cover all kinds of basic programming, computing and technology fundamentals.

These talks were initially born during the Rails Girls Summer of Code 2013 at SoundCloud, when I started doing whiteboard sessions on computing basics with the Summer-of-Code participants. Now I'm continuing the talks for a more general public of tech beginners.


The result of one of our latest sessions - just kidding! Let's put a real photo here soon.

The philosophy behind these talks is to keep them relatively ad-hoc and informal, to enable everyone to ask questions or dive into discussions in the middle. Since I am doing the talks just for fun and in my free time, this also means that I don't need to prepare meticulous slides for every talk. But mainly, I think this format creates a nice atmosphere where the brain and communication can work best.

Here's some more info at a glance:

Where SoundCloud office (meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77)
WhenEvery one or two weeks, check out the schedule
FormatLoose, ad-hoc whiteboard discussions, although I do prepare a bit.
TopicsAnything basic about programming, computing or related technology. Check the topics!
SizeWorks best with small groups with up to 6 people, for better interaction and discussions
PrerequisitesNone! You can and should be almost a complete beginner
AttendingJust check out the schedule and show up if you're interested. No registration or any of that. And it's all free of course!
ContactFor questions and planning discussions, please join this mailing list / Google Group: whiteboard-talks-berlin

Talk Schedule

Time Topic Meet
December 16, 2014 (Tuesday)
19:00
Database Basics
What is a (relational) database, how do I design a schema, how does SQL work?
Laptops optional, but recommended.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
September 24, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro
Lists, arrays, trees, hashes, queues, stacks, graphs - what are they, when should a programmer use which, how efficient is it to do lookups or changes in them? What are simple algorithms that work with different datastructures?
No laptop required.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
September 17, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro
Lists, arrays, trees, hashes, queues, stacks, graphs - what are they, when should a programmer use which, how efficient is it to do lookups or changes in them? What are simple algorithms that work with different datastructures?
No laptop required.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
August 20, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Command Line Basics
What is the shell / command line, how does it work, how to use it?
Bring your laptops please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
August 13, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Operating Systems Intro
What is an operating system, what does it do, and how do my programs interact with it?
Laptops optional.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
August 6, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro
Lists, arrays, trees, hashes, queues, stacks, graphs - what are they, when should a programmer use which, how efficient is it to do lookups or changes in them? What are simple algorithms that work with different datastructures?
No laptop required.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
July 30, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Git Basics, Part 2
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
July 23, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Git Basics, Part 1
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
July 16, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Security Fundamentals
...with a focus on web applications and a practical part in which you get to hack a demo app!
Bring your laptop please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
July 9, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
An overview over the HTTP protocol.
What is it, how can I debug it, how can I speak it myself?
Bring your laptop please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
July 2, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Security Fundamentals (changed in person to Database Basics)
...with a focus on web applications and a practical part in which you get to hack a demo app!
Bring your laptop please!
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
June 18, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Database Basics
What is a (relational) database, how do I design a schema, how does SQL work?
Laptops optional, but recommended.
Meet at the street level of The Factory at Rheinsberger Str. 76/77
June 11, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Big Data Overview
What is Big Data, how does it work? MapReduce, NoSQL, etc.
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
May 28, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Introduction to Go.
The Go programming language: overview, comparison to other languages, basics.
Bring your laptop please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
April 9, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
An overview over the HTTP protocol.
What is it, how can I debug it, how can I speak it myself?
Bring your laptop please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
April 2, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Git Basics, Part 2
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
March 26, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Git Basics, Part 1
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
March 19, 2013 (Wednesday)
19:00
Database Basics
What is a (relational) database, how do I design a schema, how does SQL work?
Laptops optional, but recommended.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
March 12, 2014 (Wednesday)
19:00
Bitcoin
What is Bitcoin, how does it work, what problems does it have?
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
March 6, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
The Art of Counting
What does it mean to be digital and how do humans and machines count?
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
February 13, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
Big Data Overview
What is Big Data, how does it work? MapReduce, NoSQL, etc.
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
January 30, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro
Lists, arrays, trees, hashes, queues, stacks, graphs - what are they, when should a programmer use which, how efficient is it to do lookups or changes in them? What are simple algorithms that work with different datastructures?
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
January 23, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
Git Basics, Part 2
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
January 16, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
Git Basics
Git usage and internals
Bring your laptops please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
January 9, 2014 (Thursday)
18:30
Command Line Basics
What is the shell / command line, how does it work, how to use it?
Bring your laptops please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
December 12, 2013 (Thursday)
18:30
Database Basics
What is a (relational) database, how do I design a schema, how does SQL work?
Laptops optional.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
December 5, 2013 (Thursday)
18:30
Security Fundamentals
...with a focus on web applications and a practical part in which you get to hack a demo app!
Bring your laptop please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
October 31, 2013 (Thursday)
18:30
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro
Lists, arrays, trees, hashes, queues, stacks, graphs - what are they, when should a programmer use which, how efficient is it to do lookups or changes in them? What are simple algorithms that work with different datastructures?
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
October 24, 2013 (Thursday)
18:30
Database Basics
What is a (relational) database, how do I design a schema, how does SQL work?
Laptops optional.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
October 17, 2013 (Thursday)
18:30
Operating Systems Intro
What is an operating system, what does it do, and how do my programs interact with it?
Laptops optional.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
October 9, 2013 (Wednesday)
18:30
Security Fundamentals
...with a slight focus on web applications
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
October 2, 2013 (Wednesday)
18:30
How does a computer work?
CPU, RAM, disk, and how they work together.
No laptop required.
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212
September 25, 2013 (Wednesday)
18:30
An overview over the HTTP protocol.
What is it, how can I debug it, how can I speak it myself?
Bring your laptop please!
Meet in the courtyard of "Die Fabrik" at Greifswalder Str. 212

Talk Topics

Topic More Info
Git Basics coming soon...
Command Line Basics coming soon...
Data Structures and Algorithms Intro talk description and info
Database Basics talk description and info
Operating Systems Overview talk description and info
Security Overview coming soon...
Crypto Overview coming soon...
How Does a Computer Work? talk description and info
HTTP Overview talk description and info