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

When you disagree with your company

Geertjan Wielenga: What happens when the company you work for does something that you disagree with, then you're on stage representing that company? Has that happened to you?

Josh Long: No, but it could have happened. I tried to love the Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) support that Spring had put forward before I joined Pivotal. I wrote about it to get a feel for it, coded it, and got feedback.

I never fell in love with it, though. By the time I joined the company, it was in the rearview mirror, so I didn't have to talk about it.

"Nobody forces you to talk about anything in a good organization."

—Josh Long

In fact, nobody would have forced me to talk about the OSGi support. Nobody forces you to talk about anything in a good organization like Pivotal. I can't speak for every organization, but at Pivotal, there is nobody who drives my direction, except the community. The community drives what I&apos...