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 advantages of being independent

Geertjan Wielenga: Going back into the general developer advocate discussion, since you don't work directly for a company, does that means that you can be 100% honest about everything and just speak from the heart?

Kirk Pepperdine: That's what I do. I generally speak true to my experiences. There have been some really funny situations.

Heinz and myself were the first non-Sun Microsystems people invited to speak at Sun Developer Days. The most embarrassing thing was that Simon Ritter, who was working for Sun Microsystems at that time, had something like 19 people at his talk. Heinz and I were looking at each other saying, "Okay, that's crazy because Simon Ritter is an absolutely fantastic speaker. He just nails it every time."

I actually really enjoy going to see his talks and I attend them regularly because he's really good. But he had 19 people at his talk and at my talk, I had 385. I remember the number because I remember the...