The Scrimba Podcast
Alex Booker
Recent Episodes
Meet Deb Goodkin! Deb is the Executive Director of the FreeBSD Foundation. The Foundation supports the FreeBSD project and community. FreeBSD is a powerful open-source operating system known for its reliability and security and used by companies like Netflix to power their servers and networks.
With a strong background in engineering, Deb is passionate about open-source technology, and after this episode, you might become passionate about it, too! In this episode of the Scrimba podcast, you'll learn how a complex project like FreeBSD works from an organizational standpoint, why open-source is a great place for even newer developers, what are the key differences between community-driven projects and working for a corporation, and where should you start if you're looking to get into open-source.
🔗 Connect with Deb
⏰ Timestamps
- What is FreeBSD? (01:19)
- What is the FreeBSD Foundation? (02:49)
- Open-source projects vs. commercial projects (04:04)
- Open source is a nourishing place (07:04)
- Some original BSD developers are still working on the project decades later! (07:46)
- Open source is a community (09:35)
- How can contributing to open source help a newer developer advance their career? (11:25)
- Community break! (14:08)
- What skills do you need to join an open-source project? (16:23)
- Start with documentation! (18:42)
- How do you interact with others working on an open-source project? (21:20)
- Are people more likely to help others who help themselves? (24:05)
- Quick-fire questions! (27:26)
- How does an open-source project like FreeBSD run?
- If you're listening and want to get into open source, do this! (38:13)
🧰 Resources mentioned
- FreeBSD Foundation
- FreeBSD
- Jon 'maddog' Hall on Linkedin and Twitter
- Kirk McKusick on YouTube
- Michael W Lucas on Mastodon
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You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so they can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏
Meet Sam Julien 🇺🇸! Sam is a director of Developer Relations at Writer, a teacher, and the author of Getting Started in Developer Relations. He loves helping people level up their developer advocacy or web development jobs. Recently, he became interested in AI engineering. And in this episode, you'll find out why you should, too!
Sam will teach you how to differentiate passing fads from the tech that's here to stay, how to stay future-proof, and why it's still important to learn the basics. AI as a tool has changed the scale at which we can make stuff - and that's the biggest reason to get acquainted with it. Sam and Alex discuss the current state of the job market in the realm of AI engineering, whether AI will make developers obsolete, as well as the novel use cases and key applications of large language models. Sam also shares how he broke into the field! You'll also learn more about Writer - their LLMs are available on Hugging Face!
🔗 Connect with Sam
⏰ Timestamps
- How Sam Julien got into AI engineering (01:34)
- What convinced Sam that AI was here to stay? (03:56)
- Sam was strategic about pursuing AI engineering (05:55)
- The spectrum of career opportunities in AI engineering (07:23)
- Machine learning is not the only thing you can work on! (09:19)
- The current state of the job market: there's a significant discrepancy between how people perceive AI engineering and how things are actually going
- Break (14:02)
- What is Writer (15:01)
- Writer's own AI models - also available on Hugging Face (17:03)
- Are there opportunities for front-end developers in this space? (18:28)
- How to learn AI engineering? (23:19)
- Using models to teach you how to use models (25:18)
- Did Sam use AI to get a job in AI engineering? (27:48)
- Quick-fire questions: favorite podcasts, music, and people to follow (28:49)
- Do you need an ML certificate? (31:06)
- Novel uses and core applications of AI and LLMs (31:58)
- Should a new developer focus on AI? (35:33)
- How to stay future-proof (40:44)
- It just takes one breakthrough to catch you by surprise (41:43)
- How to use Writer (41:53)
🧰 Resources Mentioned
- Course: Level Up From Software Engineer to AI Engineer (Shawn "Swyx" Wang and Noah Hein)
- Latent Space Podcast
- The Rise of the AI Engineer
- Scrimba's AI path
- Kadasha Kerr
⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.
You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so they can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏
Meet Rizel Scarlett 🇺🇸! Rizel is a Staff Developer Advocate at TBD. She's also a career changer, software engineer, and community builder!
Rizel dropped out of psychology studies after running out of money. Then she went into IT support, then into coding, and then realized that, after working in an organization that teaches women and non-binary people of color to code, developer advocacy could be a great career for her!
In this episode, you will hear how Rizel learned to code, paved her own path, and knew when to pivot. You'll learn why internships are cool and what to be on the lookout for if you're looking for your first opportunity. Rizel will also teach you why you need personal branding and how to do it even if you're an introvert - complete with step-by-step instructions on writing a blog post, practicing public speaking, or networking.
This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite interviews!
🔗 Connect with Rizel
⏰ Timestamps
- Why Rizel switched from psychology to IT and, later, to coding (01:43)
- Rizel tried many different jobs. Here’s why that’s not a bad thing! (03:48)
- How Rizel approached learning to code (05:55)
- Community and camaraderie are important parts of learning to code (06:50)
- How Rizel decided to enroll in a bootcamp (07:58)
- On learning to code with your significant other (08:31)
- Thinking like a programmer comes with practice (09:46)
- Why Rizel pursued internships (10:50)
- Why connections are important (12:20)
- What was Rizel’s internship experience like (13:21)
- What should you look for in an internship or your first job? (13:58)
- Break (15:54)
- What juniors bring to the table (17:00)
- How Rizel discovered developer advocacy and got hired as a developer advocate at GitHub (18:15)
- What does a supportive manager do (20:18)
- How Rizel approaches personal branding (22:08)
- You can’t expect people to find you. The best person to advocate for you is you (22:25)
- How to work on your public speaking (24:25)
- How to work on your writing and how Rizel approaches writing blog posts (27:08)
- How to get involved with the community (30:48)
- Closing advice: it’s okay to switch your focus, take your time, and maintain a list of your wins! (34:43)
🧰 Resources Mentioned
⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.
You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so they can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏
Meet Angie Jones 🇺🇸! Angie is a veteran software developer currently working as a global Developer Relations executive at TBD. Before that, she worked as an automation engineer at Twitter and as a software engineer and master inventor at IBM (where she worked for nine years)! Angie is also a teacher and an international keynote speaker who has authored 27 patents.
In this episode, Angie takes us through her career path, from falling in love with coding through automation engineering to eventually discovering her passion for teaching and DevRel. You'll learn the differences between large enterprises, medium-sized companies, and startups and find out what to look for if you're just breaking into the industry. Angie also talks about teaching, patenting your ideas, and finding specialization. Plus: decentralized technologies, changing jobs with the same company, and why it's important to keep learning new stuff.
This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite interviews!
🔗 Connect with Angie
⏰ Timestamps
- Angie's father thought she should familiarize herself with computers, so she took a C++ course. The rest is history! (01:21)
- What Angie loved about programming (02:54)
- Are developers missing out if they don't study computer science at university? (03:42)
- What makes a good teacher? (05:31)
- Break (09:40)
- Angie got his first role in tech through an internship (10:33)
- How Angie spent nine years at IBM (12:04)
- What are the advantages of changing jobs within the same company? (12:41)
- How does working at a huge corporation compare to working at smaller companies and startups, and why should you try a bit of both (14:22)
- What does career progression look like? (16:27)
- As a beginner, should you prioritize learning opportunities? What size companies should you go after? (17:05)
- Pay attention to the ratio of juniors vs. seniors (18:28)
- Software development is about much more than coding (18:49)
- How Angie discovered automation engineering and, subsequently, DevRel (19:32)
- There are gaps in the market for specializations (23:06)
- How to find a slight specialization within frontend (27:16)
- Quick-fire questions: Java, decentralized technologies, Sarah Drasner and Kelsey Hightower (29:03)
- Angie Jones has 27 patents! Here's how that happened. (33:10)
- What does a patent look like? (34:34)
- What's it like to invent patents within a big corporation like IBM? (37:04)
- Closing advice: Aside from technical competency, what else should new developers focus on? (38:41)
🧰 Resources Mentioned
- Sarah Drasner
- Kelsey Hightower
- Scrimba Podcast with Chad Stewart: Tech Is Hiring, and Here's What You Need to Do!
⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.
You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so they can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan the Producer he has butchered your name here.
Scrimba v2 is here! And you probably already know this if you've visited our website recently. Scrimba cofounder and CEO Per Borgen 🇳🇴 is joining us to reveal what this update is all about.
You might have noticed the redesign - but the update is not just on the surface. Scrimba has been rewritten from the ground up to support further development, and you can already enjoy a lot of new features. The platform is no longer a closed platform, which means you can make your own scrims, create and follow profiles, and make use of numerous templates. You can also use Scrimba's code editor to create your own projects - even if you're not following a course. It even features an advanced version control! Per and Alex also talk about AI and how it will change the way we learn coding and which AI features are already being worked on at Scrimba.
🔗 Connect with Per
⏰ Timestamps
- Scrimba v2 is a complete rewrite of the entire platform (01:00)
- "We also rebuilt the tools to build Scrimba" (02:45)
- What are Templates? (05:49)
- You can now use Scrimba as an online code editor (07:34)
- You can also add commits! (08:31)
- Scrimba is now open to anyone to create content and scrims (09:15)
- Scrimba profiles (10:59)
- The future of pedagogy on Scrimba (13:02)
- Backend courses are coming! (14:40)
- Visual rebrand: is Scrimba still playful? (17:12)
- The state of using AI to learn to code (24:44)
🧰 Resources Mentioned
⭐️ Leave a Review
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review here and tell us who you want to see on the next podcast.
You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so that he can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏 Or tell Jan he's butchered your name here.