Last night, I hosted an event for designers and devs at Studiomates to gather and ask me any questions they might have about code. The purpose was to provide everyone with in-person help, to answer those questions that are difficult to find, or learn, through Google or Stack Overflow. Think of it as a dev Q&A, or as I like to call it, Q&&A.

This was the second time I organized a Q&&A at Studiomates. The first time, nearly a year ago, we discussed static website frameworks and workflows in a small group of five. This time, the discussion revolved around creating your own API using lightweight Ruby frameworks like Sinatra and Grape—and we had over a dozen attendees.

I see great value in sharing a few hours of my time to save others from countless nights of frustration—it’s the least we devs could do to pay back those who have helped us along the way. I’m going to try to make this a regular occurrence, and I encourage others to do the same. If you’re a dev with a free night to spare, try offering it to the designers and new devs in your area. A little help goes a long way.