Book Image

Developer, Advocate!

By : Geertjan Wielenga
Book Image

Developer, Advocate!

By: Geertjan Wielenga

Overview of this book

What exactly is a developer advocate, and how do they connect developers and companies around the world? Why is the area of developer relations set to explode? Can anybody with a passion for tech become a developer advocate? What are the keys to success on a global scale? How does a developer advocate maintain authenticity when balancing the needs of their company and their tech community? What are the hot topics in areas including Java, JavaScript, "tech for good," artificial intelligence, blockchain, the cloud, and open source? These are just a few of the questions addressed by developer advocate and author Geertjan Wielenga in Developer, Advocate!. 32 of the industry's most prominent developer advocates, from companies including Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, open up about what it's like to turn a lifelong passion for knowledge sharing about tech into a rewarding career. These advocates run the gamut from working at large software vendors to small start-ups, along with independent developer advocates who work within organizations or for themselves. In Developer, Advocate!, readers will see how developer advocates are actively changing the world, not only for developers, but for individuals and companies navigating the fast-changing tech landscape. More importantly, Developer, Advocate! serves as a rallying cry to inspire and motivate tech enthusiasts and burgeoning developer advocates to get started and take their first steps within their tech community.
Table of Contents (36 chapters)
34
Other Books You May Enjoy
35
Index
36
Packt

Choosing a job title

Matt Raible: At my previous company, Stormpath, and when I first started at Okta, I had the title of "developer evangelist." I went to Devoxx US one year and Arun Gupta said, "Don't use evangelist." Many other people in the room agreed because it has religious connotations. That doesn't work in some countries. You won't be allowed to speak if you say you're an evangelist. They immediately advised that I change my title, and I did. We call our group "developer relations" but we don't say we are evangelists—we say we are advocates.

Geertjan Wielenga: How did you end up being a developer advocate in the first place?

Matt Raible: I was an independent consultant for 20 years. I did do advocacy as a side hobby.

I started a blog in 2002 and wrote about Java a lot. This was before Stack Overflow, so I used Struts and Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE).

I posted my questions, which you would now...