How to Survive in Tech When Everything’s Changing w/ 21-year Veteran Dev Joe Attardi [Podcast #174]

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On this week’s episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Joe Attardi. He’s a software engineer and prolific author of programming books.

We talk about:
How software development has changed over the past 21 years
Tips for suriving AI’s sweeping changes to the field
The evolving role of Computer Science degrees
Why people should still read O’Reilly style programming books on dead trees

Support for this podcast comes from a grant from Wix Studio. Wix Studio provides developers tools to rapidly build websites with everything out-of-the-box, then extend, replace, and break boundaries with code. Learn more at https://wixstudio.com.

Support also comes from the 11,423 kind folks who support freeCodeCamp through a monthly donation. You can join these chill human beings and help our charity’s mission by going to donate.freecodecamp.org

Links we talk about during our conversation:
Joe’s freeCodeCamp books and tutorials: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/author/joeattardi/
Joe’s website: https://joeattardi.com/
Joe’s Web API Cookbook: https://www.webapis.info/
Joe’s open source projects on GitHub: https://github.com/joeattardi
What Joe’s desk looks like: https://x.com/JoeAttardi/status/1849819837360480658
Some games Joe’s recently played: https://backloggd.com/u/jattardi/games?page=1

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Joe Attardi and His Journey
03:01 The Pressure of Entrepreneurship in Tech
06:07 Navigating Career Paths: Management vs. Technical Roles
08:56 The Impact of AI on Software Development
12:00 The Role of Computer Science Degrees in Today’s Market
15:01 Advice for the Next Generation: Is CS Still Worth It?
18:02 The Future of Software Development and AI’s Role
20:45 Reflections on Education and Career in Tech
24:35 The Shift to Software Engineering
25:31 Building Foundational Knowledge
28:32 The Importance of Project-Based Learning
30:41 Balancing Work and Personal Life
32:12 The Value of Humility in Tech
36:10 The Role of Security in Software Development
41:21 The Book Publishing Journey
49:37 Streamlining the Editorial Process
50:44 Weight Loss and Lifestyle Choices
52:00 The Technical Review Process in Publishing
53:35 Marketing Your Book
55:16 The Future of Technical Writing and AI
01:00:04 Career Aspirations and Growth
01:02:51 Balancing Work and Hobbies
01:05:10 Exploring Game Development
01:09:14 Advice to My Younger Self Read More freeCodeCamp.org