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

The qualities needed for advocacy

Geertjan Wielenga: What kind of qualities would be ideal for a person doing what you do?

Matt Raible: You really have to like to create content. That seems to be the most valuable asset. I'm one of those people who likes to write tutorials. I can whip out a tutorial over three days.

Geertjan Wielenga: When you write a blog, is it a more extensive process than just writing something and publishing it?

Matt Raible: Yes, it goes through a number of steps. First of all, there's the actual ideation: figuring out what to write about. I always know what I'm going to write about each week ahead of time.

I've got to write the example app, make it work, write a blog post, and then it has to go through quality assurance (QA). Typically, what I do is delete the app and use my blog post to write it from scratch again. Then I see what changed and check it into GitHub.

Once I'm done, someone with a really good sense of what writing should look like...