Software Developers Journey

Grant told us about his childhood and how he ended up doing an internship at 12, programming Flash animations. But what could have been a straight line toward software engineering took a long detour of 20 years. After years of fighting with alcohol and drug abuse, Grant embraced the career of Substance Abuse Counselor, helping teenagers like he used to be. We then discussed why and how he decided...

Adi took us on a journey of following learning opportunities. From a machine learning research project in college to learning about distributed systems and big data. We explored how she approached joining Microsoft and creating a scalable network of colleagues while continuing to share her knowledge and learning in the open. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/AdiPolak https:...

Marcy told us about her photojournalism studies and how they led her to web development. We soon bifurcated into accessibility and remained there until the end. We discussed what it means to create accessible websites, the no-brainers and low-hanging fruits, why investing in accessibility early on in our projects are essential, and where to learn more about it. Here are the links from the show: ht...

Sergey's story started with circumventing the  BIOS passwords his Dad put on their family computer. Fast forward a few years, we dug deep into Sergey's P.hD, research, academia, assistant professor position, cryptography, the blockchain, taking a risk, failing, the startups he founded, and his back and forth between the industry and the academia. Here are the links from the show: https:/...

Tanja's story started in a computer science family in the 70s, where Tanja fell in love with computers. She spoke about programming in high school, coming out of college during the DotCom bubble, and learning best practices of software engineering she had never learned during her early self-studies. We then spoke about the role communities, and lunch&learn activities played in her career....

Stephanie's story is one of creativity. She told us how she got into Flash animations and ActionScript in high school. We then talked about WordPress and how she slowly but surely drifted toward web development while freelancing on the side. We discussed open source, pushing projects out of communities, giving back, creating courses, and giving talks. Finally, Stephanie encouraged us to find...

Christina's story started and ended with observing and understanding why the world works as it does. She first told us about her biology studies, then crime & forensic sciences, and biotech. She then spoke about discovering coding. She explained how she got hooked, helped by mentors, and pushed by destiny to embrace it. We spoke about moving to SanFrancisco and the Bootcamp she went throu...

Paul started talking about gaming, creating websites as a kid, and following his dream of becoming a pilot in the RAF. He told us how he transitioned back into the industry and taught himself a new trade: web development. We talked about agencies and product shops. We spoke about learning, knowing it all, and maturing in an industry. We finally spoke about communities and how Paul became an instru...

Shruti's story started with a push from her dad. Little did she know it would trigger such a career. She told us about her studies, moving to Canada and then to the Silicon Valley. We talked about entrepreneurship, WordPress, QA automation, React, getting (and losing) a job, accessibility, communities, and the joy of giving talks! Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/shru...

Geepaw (Michael Hill) story started like no other, with the tale of his firing. He told us how he began as a computer salesman and got interested in programming and the Forth programming language. We briefly discussed being independent before talking more and more about the state of our industry. We spoke about joy being mandatory for the team's success. We discussed methods and how they won&...

Michael's story started in a time of crisis, in 2008, when he realized that being a mediocre accountant wouldn't cut it. So he embraced web development by picking hourly gigs on CraigsList. Michael told us the story of a coach she worked for and who changed his life. From then on, we went deep into emotions' social and empirical science. We talked about feedback and being ready to l...

Wynn took us on a story made of APIs, wrappers, and interfaces. He first told us about his law studies and how HTML and building websites slowly made their way into his life. We talked about classic ASP and working in a team. We spoke about creating your company and wearing many hats. And we spoke about how API design and wrapping APIs took Wynn to Github and further. Here are the links from the s...

Erin took us from tweaking her page on MySpace to her master's in journalism. She then spoke about her jobs and how she was not challenged/stimulated. She told us how the idea of going through a Bootcamp emerged, how she found the right Bootcamp for her and bit the bullet. We talked about her first job, her first mentor, pair programming, and moving on. We talked about having a hard time find...

Christos took us on an extended origin story made of movie inspiration, dreams, traveling, and a lot of learning. He told us how following the idea of becoming a hacker took him from not having any knowledge of computers to graduating with a master's degree in networking in a foreign country (and being able to touch-type). He then brushed over job-hopping, working on old systems, painful rewr...

Glaucia's story started when she taught computer classes to her co-students in high school. Fast forward a few years during which she graduated from a very selective program while working full time to feed her family, Glaucia finally got a job as a developer. From there on, it was a story of being lucky, making her own luck, and always focusing on human connections and communities. One thing...

Ingrid took us back to her childhood, discovering video games and a different reality. And then she took us on an adventure led by curiosity. We talked about exploring marketing and sales. We talked about finding a job to pay the bills. We spoke about testing and learning the ropes. We talked about moving toward the startup world. We talked about interviewing bad managers, and we briefly spoke abo...

Arpit's story took us from Tamagotchis to Robotics, and then to discovering that Software development is not just for failed hardware engineers. Arpit took us on a wild ride, made of entrepreneurship, learning on the job, hypergrowth, and finding the product-market-fit (or not). We talked about his transformation from a software engineer to a coding CTO and then to an organization builder. We...

Maia's story started with a ZX-81 in the 80s, and from there on, she was hooked. We talked about how she followed her curiosity and studied engineering while not wanting to become an engineer. Maia spoke about how she started working on embedded systems while still not wanting to become an engineer. She spoke of how she went back to school and studied art because she still didn't want to...

Carl took us on a wild ride, starting with discovering he could build on computers very early. We brushed over his Engineering studies and how he almost went to study history instead. Carl spoke about his first job as an IT support person/sys admin and how he found his love for programming and creating back after a multi-year hiatus. Carl told us about how he created his career around learning and...

Eve took us through her first career in marketing, and how she slowly joined the "fine, I'll do it myself club." She then spoke about her moving to Lake Tahoe and being forced to embrace a new career. We then spoke about her new business revolving around teaching. We talked about the tools she creates for teachers' time management and the courses she made for LinkedIn Learning....

Legacy code, often considered a daunting challenge, holds valuable lessons in its complexity. It carries the weight of decisions made in the past, and learning to navigate it can provide a rich, rewarding journey. Such is the tale of Scott Ford, a seasoned software developer who embraced this path and has gained unique insights that have shaped his career and outlook. Scott's story took us fr...

Jess told us about the toys she disassembled (and sometimes failed to reassemble) as a kid. She then spoke about her early dabbling with HTML, discovering IF statements and PHP. We then talked about writing vs. using CMSs, creating websites, working in teams, contracting and consulting, and finally about communities and Jess's Podcast: BaseCode. And as of the publication of this show, she is...

Swiz' told us how he discovered computers at a very early age and how the planets aligned. By the time he enrolled in a CS degree in Slovenia, he had already had multiple internships and experiences working as a software developer. He spoke about freelancing and how this led him not to finish his CS degree. He talked about how his first entrepreneurial experience took him to Silicon Valley, w...

In this episode, Wajahat tells us the moving and emotional story of how his mother, family, and friends shaped the person he became. Wajahat spoke about his childhood in Pakistan when his family couldn't afford a computer. He talked about applying to highly selective universities and the role the loss of his mother played in him being accepted at one of them. He told us about his studies of t...

Crazy but true, it's show number 200! I invited Patrick Leblanc to come and ask me all the questions he wanted about the show to celebrate this milestone. Credits Cover Heliotrope by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 . Your host is Timothée (Tim) Bourguignon, more about him at timbourguignon.fr . Gift the podcast a rating on one of the significant platforms https://devjourney.info...