Software Developers Journey
303 episodes - English - Latest episode: 19 days ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsBecoming a software developer is a journey. The Software Developers Journey show is an inspirational podcast for software developers. Every week, a successful software engineer shares their journey and tells us what they learned.
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Episodes
#105 Sara Vieira is opinionated per design
June 16, 2020 03:00 - 45 minutes - 31 MBSara first told us how she came to learn to code to prove her dad wrong. We then discussed her internships, fast paced environments, shame, learning new domains and doing what you love. We also discussed about React, Angular, Vue and her "Opinionated Guide to React" book. We finally talked about failing and Sara's dream of traveling through Europe (the world?) to teach coding! Here are the links of the show: https://www.twitter.com/NikkitaFTW https://iamsaravieira.com https://github.com/...
#104 Jason Lengstorf successfully bet on himself for his career
June 09, 2020 03:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBJason first took us to his past as the lead singer of a band. There he did the marketing for the band on the side. That was his introduction to web-development. He explained how he slowly but surely made his side hustle his main job, and described the thinking process between "playing safe" or "betting on himself". Jason described his success... and how close he came to burning out. And we talked about "failure". He then described the ways he prevents this to ever happen again. We finally di...
#103 Carolyn Stransky learning her way from journalist to developer and back
June 02, 2020 03:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBCarolyn took us to the start of her career, as a journalist searching for a job in a foreign country. She told us how she found her first job writing tech documentation, and how this gave her the wish to learn to code. We talked about finding your path where you don't even know what to search for, tiptoeing in dev and becoming a technical writer. We talked about public speaking and how Carolyn found a sweet spot that makes use of her unique skills as a dev, a journalist and a storyteller. H...
#102 Jen Luker is a relentless accessibility advocate
May 26, 2020 03:00 - 46 minutes - 32 MBJen took us to the beginning of her STEM journey, with the goal to walk the footsteps of Ayanna Howard, but life wanted otherwise. Nevertheless, she found her way to coding. We nostalgically talked about dev-jobs in the 90s and early 2000s. We spoke about web development, accessibility and advocacy. Here are the links of the show: https://www.twitter.com/knitcodemonkey https://www.deque.com/axe/axe-for-web Talk from Marcy Sutton - Where in the Stack is Carmen Sanfrancisco?https://www.you...
#101 Jeff Haynie on thinking under pressure, contracting and entrepreneurship
May 19, 2020 04:00 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBJeff first told us how he went from coding games for fun, to selling software as a teenager, to solving problems on the deck of an aircraft carrier. We then talked about contracting and running a contracting business, and drifted toward entrepreneurship. Jeff finally told us the birth story of Titanium in 2006 and his new startup pinpoint. Here are the links of the show: https://www.twitter.com/jhaynie https://github.com/pinpt https://github.com/jhaynie https://pinpoint.com https://en...
#100 Tim Bourguignon is a guest on his own show
May 12, 2020 02:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBWe first started talking about how I dabbled into the world of computers, mostly through gaming and tinkering. We then talked about my studdies and my wish to go into (buildings) architecture and keen interest into leadership. We discussed the origin of the show and what I learned from it. We discussed my superpower(s) and what use I make of them. We went over the effects of hosting the podcast in everyday life and how I am able to convince. Here are the links of the show: https://www.twit...
#99 Anjana Vakil mastered her debilitating curiosity
May 05, 2020 02:00 - 48 minutes - 33.4 MBAnjana started by clarifying what Computational Linguistics is, and the research she did in this field. We then talked about idiomatic programming and echo-chambers, which led us to talking about communities. Anjana then described the coding retreat she did in 2015 and how it was a forming experience in her life. We finished the interview by talking about Developer Advocacy and Public Speaking. Anjana suffers from a debilitating case of curiosity, which led her from philosophy to English te...
#98 Doug Arcuri is curious & learning, always!
April 28, 2020 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBDoug's first told us how discovering computers triggered his curiosity. He explained how he created Mods for Half-Life and realized his calling toward software development. He told us about his first years as a Web Developer, and how he accidentally moved to mobile development. Doug explained how he started working for media companies and one thing leading to the next, taking over management roles and what he learned out of it. Doug Arcuri is a husband, father of 2, and software professiona...
#97 Joe Drumgoole's life as a great software developer NPC
April 21, 2020 00:00 - 59 minutes - 41 MBJoe fist took us through the first few forming years of his career. From developing UNIX workstations and producing fantastic-but-useless software, to doing his first group trainings and learning his chops as a manager. We also touched on entrepreneurship and Joe's secret recipe to success! Joe Drumgoole is Global Director of Developer Relations at MongoDB. He has over 30 years of product development experience. He still writes software (slowly) most days. His programming weapon of choice i...
#96 Dylan Beattie THE Rockstar Programmer
April 14, 2020 01:00 - 57 minutes - 39.2 MBDylan first told us about his childhood in Zimbabwe and his first computers. Then we spoke about his further discoveries in the UK. We continued talking about technology stacks and modularity. Dylan then spoke about public speaking and his job at Skillsmatter. We finally touched on the Rockstar programming language. Here are the links of the show: https://www.twitter.com/dylanbeattie https://dylanbeattie.net https://ursatile.com https://www.twitter.com/Ursatile https://codewithrockstar...
#95 Lara Martin learned her way from biologist to Flutter GDE
April 07, 2020 01:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBLara first took us through her start as a biologist... or was it statistician? She then took us through her learning to code on her own, and finding a job as a QA Engineer. She then explained how she slowly moved into an Android developer role, without strong-arming her boss... too much ;) We then talked about her discovering Flutter and becoming a Google Developer Expert. We finally talked about representation in our industry, public speaking and remote work! Here are the links of the show...
#94 Michael Kennedy almost learned Python in the 90s
March 31, 2020 01:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBMichael started by telling us about his Math studies, and how the coding-tool finally took precedence over it. We talked about his role in a (cool) UX/visualization startup and how he really learned to code there. Michael told us how he dipped his toes into public speaking and how it got him his next job into trainings... and was the birth of his current endeavor: 2 podcasts and his own training company. Michael Kennedy is an entrepreneur, a father of three girls, a husband, a student, and ...
#93 Guilherme Rambo found his joy in coding for Mac/iOS
March 24, 2020 02:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBGuilherme first came to coding via Web-Development. But after a while, he lost interest and was almost ready to change career and stop coding. That's when he got his first Mac... and just before the iPhone came out. He then told us of his first Mac Apps, then iOS Apps. How he found the ideas for them and what he learned from releasing small and big apps alike. We finally touched on writing for the 9to5Mac site and hosting the Stacktrace podcast. Gui's official job, is building apps for both...
#92 Tracy Lee is having fun all the way
March 17, 2020 01:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBTracy took us all the way back to the creation of her first startup as a "non-technical founder". She told us about her dabbling with technology and how she learned to code. We talked about getting in the zone and relationships. We talked about passion and success. We discussed how to find ideas be scratching your own itch, as well as tips to make your weeks successful. Tracy is the Co-Founder of This Dot Labs, a mentoring and consulting firm, helping teams build front-end applications. She...
#91 Harald Reingruber is embarking on a coding tour
March 10, 2020 01:00 - 38 minutes - 26.7 MBHarald first told us how he came to graphics programming: curiosity. We then talked about his first internships and jobs in the healthcare industry. We discussed what quality means in such a heavily regulated environment. We then talked about how his views on software quality and furthermore pair programming evolved through the years. We finally zoomed in on his upcoming coding tour, what it is, how it is organized and why you should consider it too! Harald is an enthusiastic software engin...
#90 Khaled Souf learned the value of creating value
March 03, 2020 01:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBKhaled surprisingly started by telling us how he loved machines, but not code... until he discovered that he could create value for customers. We then discussed his first jobs and how he moved to France. Khaled told us about learning humility and discovering that, after all, he knows nothing. Khaled then told us about how he discovered the software crafters movement and got involved with SOCRATES. We finally moved - with him - to Canada, and discussed building a new software crafters communi...
#89 Hadelin de Ponteves is a data scientist and an entrepreneur
February 25, 2020 01:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBHadelin first spoke about his entrepreneurship mindset. This was already in his mind early on, and never left him. We spoke about his interest for math, science and technology and how it drove him to one of the best French engineering schools. We talked about him discovering Data Science and how he changed his major at the very last minute. We then talked about his professional life. How he got to work at google, and why he didn't reconduct his contract and chose to create online courses ins...
#88 Lydia Hallie is a web dev following her passion
February 18, 2020 01:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBLydia first took us through her discovery of JavaScript via the theming of Tumblr page. She then told us about how she decided not to go to university and go for a boot camp instead. Lydia explained us how she then dipped her toes into freelancing, remote work and digital nomad-life... and would never go back to an "office work" anymore. All along the way, we discussed her decision making processes, mentoring, networking, work-life-balance, routines and burn-out. Lydia Hallie is a 21-year-o...
#87 Denise Gosnell is working at the bleeding edge of data science
February 11, 2020 02:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBDenise's choice for STEM and maths was a no brainer, but the rest of the journey wasn't as clear. There were many forks along the way. Denise first told us about her maths studies and how she inadvertedly discovered graphs theory. She described how her aversion for a focus on teaching led her to digging deeper into the graphs field that became the subject of her PhD. We the talked about moving from academia to the industry. Denise told us about her job at the startup PokitDok and how it felt...
#86 Jamison Dance implores you to be nice to other people
February 04, 2020 01:00 - 44 minutes - 30.3 MBJamison quickly took us through his studies, how he zoomed in on computer sciences... not without a few detours beforehand. We talked about his part time jobs and how he learned what a bad manager can be. We then jumped forward a few years to talk about management, what it takes to do a good job there, the challenges and successes of the function. We finished talking about two dreaded responsibilities of a manager: hiring and firing and how Jamison made his way through this. Jamison is a co...
#85 Shedrack Akintayo a web developer from Nigeria
January 28, 2020 01:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBShedrack first took us through his discovery of Python coding and his engineering studies. We talked about how his first mentor opened his eyes on the coding world, and how he quickly moved into it. We then moved to the jobs Shedrack did on the side during his studies and how this prepared him for becoming a contractor. We then discussed the remote gigs he did, and how it is to work with different cultures. We talked about fears, trust, learning and communication. We then discussed about She...
#84 Molly Struve, an aerospace engineer trading in SRE
January 21, 2020 01:00 - 51 minutes - 35.3 MBMolly first brushed over her unusual path to dev... via aerospace engineering and options trading. Then we focused on her journey as a Ruby developer and how she slowly got into Site Reliability Engineering. After defining the term and devising on it, we slowly moved to her current job as an SRE-Lead at Dev.to. Molly finished on a high note, bringing one fantastic advice after the other, about mentoring, expectations, leadership, and much more. Molly Struve is the Lead Site Reliability Eng...
#83 Reuven Lerner had his career all planned out?
January 14, 2020 01:00 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBReuven took us on a rollercoaster, from his discovery of programming, his first classes and tryouts, to his life changing discovery on the Web while at MIT. He took us through his first jobs and taught us how he became a consultant. We discussed his experience as a broad T-Shaped consultant, and slowly converged toward his training business. We then focused on learning, teaching and the key skills required to strive in this business. We finally finished brushing over the history of Reuven's ...
#82 Pariss -Athena- Chandler learns jumping in with both feet first
January 07, 2020 01:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBPariss started off on a scare, when she learned that her non technical skills might be threatened in the future. She then decided to learn how to code, and did really well. Pariss told us the story of her Bootcamp, Internships and Mentors. She told us how she slowly but steadily discovered her unknown-unknowns in the art of software development. She described the birth of the #BlackTechTwitter hashtag and the BlackTechPipeline. We discussed the success and future of such a side project. We f...
Season 2 Finale
December 31, 2019 02:00 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MBThis show marks the end of season 2. I make a little retrospective of the year and a few announcements. The next guest interview will be back next week, on January 7th 2020. Credits Music Aye by Yung Kartz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. Your host Software Developer‘s Journey is hosted and produced by Timothée (Tim) Bourguignon, a crazy frenchman living in Germany who dedicated his life to helping others learn & grow. More about h...
#81 Richard Campbell is simply adding value
December 24, 2019 01:00 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBRichard took us from the first time he burned his fingers with a soldering iron, all the way to the book "The History of .NET" he is currently writing. We started talking hardware, tinkering and making money on the side. Then Richard explained how he slowly incorporated software into his hardware-heavy jobs. Fast forward a few years, we talked selling the "value" to customers and the ROI of software. Richard told us about how he got involved with Microsoft. And finally, we talked about the H...
#80 Joseph Young, code & music composer and conductor
December 17, 2019 01:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBJoseph started by taking us all the way back to 3rd grade, when he discovered QuickBasic and the power of computers. We then discussed his musical background and the parallels between the music composition language and computing. He then briefly brushed over his USAF career and how he transitioned to the civilian life. Joseph told us about his first and second jobs, and how they convinced him to create his own company... that would be the antithesis of those jobs: remote, 30h/week, freedom, ...
#80 Joseph Young, code & music composer and conductor
December 17, 2019 01:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBJoseph started by taking us all the way back to 3rd grade, when he discovered QuickBasic and the power of computers. We then discussed his musical background and the parallels between the music composition language and computing. He then briefly brushed over his USAF career and how he transitioned to the civilian life. Joseph told us about his first and second jobs, and how they convinced him to create his own company... that would be the antithesis of those jobs: remote, 30h/week, freedom, ...
#79 Ted Young & Java, a love story?
December 10, 2019 01:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBTed first took us to his very first lines of code, on a TRS-80, his first programs in Applesoft Basic and slowly took us all the way to his first commercial lines of code and how he slowly started making a living out of writing software. He then described how Java entered (and rocked) his life. We discussed eXtreme Programming, teaching, coaching and solving problems. We finally touched on enabling people and moving them a notch. Ted M. Young has been creating software and training develope...
#78 Bubunyo Nyavor is the mentor he never had
December 03, 2019 01:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBBubu first took us through his discovery of computers and how he decided to study computer sciences. He quickly veered off and told us about his first startup, how it came to be and how it shaped the creation of his second startup AF-Radio. We then discussed about DevCongress, the community Bubu is heavily involved in, and how he slowly but surely took over more responsibility there. We finished on a high note with a trick on how to be easier on yourself in the future! Bubu is a software de...
#78 Bubunyo Nyavor is the mentor he never had
December 03, 2019 01:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBBubu first took us through his discovery of computers and how he decided to study computer sciences. He quickly veered off and told us about his first startup, how it came to be and how it shaped the creation of his second startup AF-Radio. We then discussed about DevCongress, the community Bubu is heavily involved in, and how he slowly but surely took over more responsibility there. We finished on a high note with a trick on how to be easier on yourself in the future! Bubu is a software de...
#77 Dave Smith swings the pendulum
November 26, 2019 01:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBDave first told us where the idea for the Soft Skills Engineering Podcast first came from. Then he took us back to when he started programming, with the Basic language on a Texas Instruments calculator. We then followed his studies, and the start of his career... just after the DotCom burst. We then talked about his first steps toward management, and how he swung from individual contributor, to manager, and back. And after he changed company, how he continued swinging, becoming "Director of ...
#76 Wes Bos was born a teacher
November 19, 2019 02:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBWes first came in contact with CSS tweaking his MySpace page... and got hooked. He first told us how he scratched his entrepreneurs itch, doing some small web-dev for Hardcore Metal bands and small clients. Then how he somehow survived university, dreaming of the time he could finally create websites. And told us about how he started creating websites full time by the time he graduated. We discussed how he entered the world of teaching and how, following the flow, he slowly created the busin...
#75 David Hirschfeld had a long, eventful career (sofar)
November 12, 2019 02:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBDavid first told us about his sales background and why he decided to learn the dev stack he was selling himself. He told us about Model Driven Development an how he learned development with a very holistic, systemic approach. We then talked about this tech and sales background prepared him to create his first company. After a few painful tales from the DotCom era, we pushed toward learning to code, creating a second, and then a third company. We finally fast forwarded a few years to land to ...
#74 Kemdi Ebi is thriving on products
November 05, 2019 01:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBKemdi started by telling us his first experience with Salesforce and how he then realized that he could solve problems this way. Fast forward a few years, he had then leveraged the power of existing tools to uplift voters in Nigeria and was hooked on entrepreneurship. We then talked about how he then built Versus, his current company, to pioneer sentiment analysis in Africa. We finally talked about his skills and what made him particularly fit for this very job. Kemdi Ebi is the Cofounder a...
#73 Kai König about simplicity and aesthetics
October 29, 2019 01:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBKai started by describing his first steps into HTML, manually scratching his own itch. He then described his troubled studies and how he ended up in an apprenticeship position. We then spoke about the beauty of the Ruby language, about intuition and aesthetics. We discussed testing, TDD and the art of producing simple code. We finally jumped forward to the no-code movement and the future of our industry. Kai König has had several roles in tech including, Product Owner, Team Manager, Systems...
#72 Katrina Owen, one little piece at a time
October 22, 2019 00:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBKatrina first told us about her rocky start that had nothing to do with science or programming. She described the detours she took and how she finally woke up earning a living as a programmer some day. She explained how her first job in a fashion startup was a forming experience and how she picked her next job afterwards. We touched on her debut in public speaking and how it started an avalanche that led her -through hard work- to working for Github nowadays. Katrina is an ecosystem enginee...
#How to help me grow DevJourney?
October 20, 2019 06:00 - 5 minutes - 3.87 MBDo you want to help me grow the DevJourney podcast? Vote for "Software Developer's Journey" for the "Discover Pod Awards" until October 21st: http://podawards.devjourney.info Here's a list of our potential guests: http://potentialguests.devjourney.info Here's a form to suggest guests to interview: http://newguest.devjourney.info Here's a form to suggest a question to ask: http://askquestion.devjourney.info Here's a link to our Patreon account: http://support.devjourney.info Your host...
#71 Irwin Williams found his perfect spot
October 15, 2019 00:00 - 41 minutes - 28.3 MBIrwin first spoke about his studies and how he volunteered to write code everyday. He went over the ups and downs and told us how he joined Teleios. We discussed his bumpy start. He spoke about how he learned from his own failures, how this became part of the company culture and a praised example for newcomers. We discussed his move toward Engineering Management and mentorship. And we finally spoke about learning and passion for your work. Irwin has been a professional software developer fo...
#70 Jeeva Nadarajah's life of serendipity
October 08, 2019 00:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBJeeva took us full circle. She started telling us about her first interest in computer science -because it sounded easy- and then really falling in love with it. She told us about the harsh reality of her life in Sri Lanka, and having to take on a completely different career. We spoke about her moving to the USA, how she felt about this dream-land and how she was welcomed there. We continued talking about her masters degree, her first jobs in the USA, and how she stumbled upon extreme progra...
#69 Aisha Blake's DevJourney should be a musical
September 30, 2019 23:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MBAisha first walked us through the Musical-Conference she is putting up. Then we scrolled back to the place software entered her life. We then talked about her volunteering at the Cristo Rey High school and then in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. We discussed how this formed her teaching skills as well as letting her dig deeper into software development. We talked about her bootcamp and how teaching came full circle into her life. We discussed pairing and exploring and finished on a high note, ta...
#68 Greg Koberger finally built his one dream
September 24, 2019 00:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBGreg first told us about his need for creating things, building things and expressing himself through products. We then talked about his studdies and how he ended up working for Mozilla. Greg told us a lot about what he learned there, what he liked and why he decided to move on. He then told us about the consulting part of his career and how this all was the perfect build up to create his company ReadMe. We then discussed ReadMe itself, the 5 years when the company was profitable and bootstr...
#67 Kapunahele Wong's kindness as a practice
September 17, 2019 00:00 - 45 minutes - 31.1 MBKapunahele talked about her going back and forth between technical studies and non-technical activities, between dancing, grammar of the roman languages, tech support and hardware repairs. She spoke about her love for esthetics and how she enjoys mathematical mental models of the world around her. We finally spoke about her work for the Angular.JS community and how she strives to make the open source community a more including, welcoming and kind place to be. Kapunahele is a developer and A...
#66 Rob Kendal is not afraid to try
September 10, 2019 00:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBRob first told us about his first jobs on the hardware side of IT and described how he slowly transitioned into software. Fast forward a few years, he told us about applying for a new job and discovering teamwork, tight feedback loops and direct contact with the clients. Rob then told us about moving toward front-end development and embracing HTML5. We talked about Javascript, ES6 & Typescript and finding a tool that works for you. We then talked about failures and learnings. And we finished...
#65 Woody Zuill brings people together who should be working together
September 03, 2019 00:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBWoody took us all the way back to the 70s, when he started learning programming as a side activity. He described how he learned to scratch his own itch for almost 15 years before finally making the jump to become a "professional developer". We talked about the jump itself, the imposter syndrome attached and how he overcame it. We talked about how he discovered pair-programming and eXtreme Programming. We finally devised on improving programming practices, coaching and working on systems. Wo...
#64 Guillermo Rauch learned with communities
August 27, 2019 00:00 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBGuillermo first took us through his very early steps in the software world... as a child. He then explained how he discovered he could make a living out of it, and how it shaped his perception. We then discussed how he grew learning and teaching in online communities and how he finally decided to move to the Silicon Valley. We finally touched on moving away and stepping into a new life. Guillermo is a serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of ZEIT, socket.io and MongooseJS. He is also the c...
#63 Stephanie Hurlburt encourages us to be social techies
August 20, 2019 00:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBStephanie first told us about the detours that led her from math, art and political science to computer science. We then discussed her first jobs and her first mentor. We then touched on how she joined Oculus and Unity and their respective interview processes before switching gears and talking about entrepreneurship and her creating her own business. Stephanie was then very open about her technical burn out and explained how she feels it coming back. Stephanie Hurlburt is a graphics enginee...
#62 How Llewellyn Falco brought the joy of programming back in his life
August 13, 2019 00:00 - 54 minutes - 37.5 MBLlevellyn took us way back to the point where he discovered his first computer and FORTRAN. We brushed over his studies and drifted toward MobProgramming after talking about dancing. Llewellyn told us about how he discovered "strong style pair programming" and how it brought the joy of programming back in his life. Llewellyn Falco is an independent agile coach who spends most of his time programming in Java and C# specializing in improving legacy code. He is creator of the open source testi...
#61 Elissa Shevinsky felt into Security
August 06, 2019 01:00 - 46 minutes - 32 MBElissa first spoke about her political sciences, activism background and then her love for IT. We then discussed getting into Security, Mentoring, people surrounding you and creating a business. We finally delved on failures, growth and being a role model. Elissa Shevinsky is CEO at Faster Than Light, where she is building super fast tools for static analysis testing. She previously helped launch Geekcorps, Everyday Health and Brave. But you might also know Elissa for her work promoting be...
#60 Trisha Gee owns her career
July 30, 2019 00:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBTrisha took us from her first years at school, being an outsider, all the way to taking advantage of it as a developer advocate for JetBrains. During this fantastic discussion, we brushed over the people that helped and even pushed her. We spoke about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. We discussed taking a leap of faith, not burning bridges, taking control of your career, working on your brand, important developer skills and building on people. Trisha has developed Java applicatio...