#182 Abandoning med school to become a software engineer with Edidiong Asikpo

I interview Bruno Haid. He's a software engineer and tech founder from Austria. We talk about growing up in the European countryside, his early passion for computers, and ultimately his move to San Francisco, where he's founded several tech companies. Bruno's super excited about embedded systems and custom hardware. He's building home appliances that incorporate open source software and open datasets. We talk about so many topics here. From Star Trek to the European Pirate Party. I hope these weekly freeCodeCamp podcasts are firing you up about learning more about technology. Tell your friends about the freeCodeCamp podcast. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech. A couple interesting links from our discussion:  "Only Amiga" song from Comdex 1987: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWeO5IkCssk Halt and Catch Fire TV Show trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrioRji60A

24 Nov 20231h 41min

Today I'm joined by Dr. Curran Kelleher. He's a data visualization expert and has taught a number of in-depth data visualization courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel. We talk about what it's like to get a Ph.D. under one of the pioneers of data visualization.  We also talk about how he uses his visualization skills in industry, his many years living in India, and his love of teaching. I think you're going to walk away with a deeper understanding of data, the human brain, and how we process information. You'll also learn some practical career tips. I hope these weekly freeCodeCamp podcasts are firing you up about learning more about technology. Tell your friends about the freeCodeCamp podcast. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech. Some relevant links from our discussion: Curran's 20-hour Data Visualization with D3 course on freeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/data-visualizatoin-with-d3/ "Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps" book Curran mentions: https://www.esri.com/en-us/esri-press/browse/semiology-of-graphics-diagrams-networks-maps Curran's portfolio of work: https://github.com/curran/portfolio Bret Victor's talk "Inventing on Principle"： https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGYGl_xxfXA

17 Nov 20231h 18min

On this week's podcast, I meet with Arian Agrawal in New York City to talk about her journey into tech startups. Arian grew up in New York and studied at MIT. She worked in finance for a few years, then built her own Ecommerce Marketplace startup with a friend. Along the way, Arian went through the South Park Commons startup accelerator, and she now leads their New York City branch as a partner. We talk about technology, startups, and her journey from finance to building products. I hope you're digging these weekly freeCodeCamp podcasts. Be sure to leave us a review. And download a few episodes so you can learn on the go. Tell your friends about the freeCodeCamp podcast. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech. Arian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AgrawalArian Arian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arian-agrawal-46639439/ South Park Commons: https://www.southparkcommons.com/

10 Nov 20231h 51min

Today I'm joined by Joel Spolsky. He's co-founder of Trello and Stack Overflow, and author of the iconic developer blog Joel on Software. I hung out with Joel in his New York City home to discuss his 4-decade-long career as a developer and a CEO. He shared his insights on software engineering, product design, running companies, and how he uses AI as a tool. This interview is the culmination of years of learning from Joel through his blog and using the tools he's helped make. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Be sure to follow The freeCodeCamp podcast in your favorite podcast app. And share this podcast with a friend. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech. The Joel Test: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-test-12-steps-to-better-code/ Making Better Software video course series from the early 2000's playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBfisaHMr-8&list=PLcIkt5s7w8D0ywp0CBmNFWRTFZic3pWNn The ESP-32 microcontroller Joel mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESP32

3 Nov 20232h 13min

Today I'm joined by Kevin Miller. He's a senior developer and host of the Coder Conversations YouTube channel. Kevin studied accounting in Texas and worked overnight for 7 years at hotels, making only $11 an hour. But his knowledge of spreadsheets lead to him learning more about programming and automation. After spending a year living with his parents and teaching himself to code full time, Kevin landed his first developer job. He immediately tripled his income.  Kevin has since worked as a dev at several Fortune 500 companies. But it's been a bumpy ride. He's been laid off 3 times due to mergers and employers just running out of money. He started Coder Conversations as a way for him and fellow developers to talk about technology and share career advice. He now has 200 episodes. I hope you're digging these weekly freeCodeCamp podcasts. Be sure to leave us a review. And download a few episodes so you can learn on the go. Tell your friends about the freeCodeCamp podcast. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech. Coder Conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@coderconvos254 Kevin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevm254

27 Okt 20231h 23min

This is it – my full FREE 2023 book in audiobook format. How to Learn to Code and Get a Developer Job. Written, read, edited, mixed, and mastered by me, Quincy Larson. The text version of the book (also free): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-to-code-book/ Table of Contents: Preface: Who is this book for? 500 Word Executive Summary Chapter 1: How to Build Your Skills Chapter 2: How to Build Your Network Chapter 3: How to Build Your Reputation Chapter 4: How to Get Paid to Code – Freelance Clients and the Job Search Chapter 5: How to Succeed in Your First Developer Job Epilogue: You Can Do This Song "From the Ground Up" by Quincy Larson from the Learn to Code RPG Original Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TDsGUFFXSY Additional Reading: Article: How to Contribute to Open Source: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-contribute-to-open-source-projects-beginners-guide/ Article: We fired our top talent. Best decision we ever made: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/we-fired-our-top-talent-best-decision-we-ever-made-4c0a99728fde/ Article: How to negotiate your developer job offer salary: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/salary-negotiation-how-not-to-set-a-bunch-of-money-on-fire-605aabbaf84b/ Article: How to ask for a raise as a developer: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/youre-underpaid-here-s-how-you-can-get-the-pay-raise-you-deserve-fafcf52956d6/ Article: Why recruiters are an underrated tool in your toolbox: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-tech-recruiter-red-pill-967dd492560c/

20 Okt 20233h 25min

Today I'm joined by Lynn Zheng. She's a software engineer at freeCodeCamp and at Salesforce. Lynn grew up in Shenzhen, China – the computer hardware capital of the world. Both of her parents were engineers. And from an early age, they encouraged Lynn to learn math and computer science. She got into the prestigious Computer Science program at University of Chicago, where she earned both Bachelors and Masters degree – all by the age of 21. I met up with Lynn at the Redwood City Public Library in the heart of Silicon Valley. But they didn't have any study rooms available. so we climbed to a nearby rooftop and recorded there. We talk about Lynn's many game development projects, which culminated in Learn to Code RPG, a Visual Novel game where you learn to code and get a developer job. And we talk about her experience working as an engineer at one of the largest tech companies in the world, even as she's stuck in work visa limbo. Next week will be our 100th episode, and I've got something extra special in store for you. Tell your friends about the freeCodeCamp podcast. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themsleves in tech. Learn to Code RPG: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/learn-to-code-rpg/ Lynn's Stable Diffusion course: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/stable-diffusion-crash-course/ Lynn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lynnzheng08 Lynn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruolin-zheng/

29 Sep 202357min

Ben Dunphy studied international relations and had a short career in finance. Among other things, he co-authored a bill that eventually got passed in his state of New Hampshire. But Ben saw the writing on the wall – that technology was becoming one of the most powerful ways to affect change. He learned to code and moved to San Francisco, where he and I first met back in 2013. He built Real World React – a series of evening events and corporate training programs – and ultimately helped launched conferences like Reactathon and JAMstack conf. And now he's helping run the upcoming AI Engineer Summit. I talk with Ben about his journey into tech and the lessons he's learned along the way. And if you're considering creating a tech event in your city, boy has Ben got some tips for you. I hope you're digging these weekly freeCodeCamp podcasts. Be sure to leave us a review. And download a few episodes so you can learn on the go. Not only do we have Spanish and Chinese podcasts, but we just launched our Portuguese podcast as well. And tell your friends. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themsleves in tech. Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Benghamine Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamindunphy/ The Rise of the AI Engineer article by Shawn Wang AKA Swyx: https://www.latent.space/p/ai-engineer The AI Engineer Summit Oct 9, 2023 through Oct 11 in San Francisco: https://www.ai.engineer/summit The Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston: https://www.gardnermuseum.org/

22 Sep 20232h