Podcast.__init__: Andrew's Adventures In Coderland

Software development is a unique profession in many ways, and it has given rise to its own subculture due to the unique sets of challenges that face developers. Andrew Smith is an author who is working on a book to share his experiences learning to program, and understand the impact that software is having on our world. In this episode he shares his thoughts on programmer culture, his experiences with Python and other language communities, and how learning to code has changed his views on the world. It was interesting getting an anthropological perspective from a relative newcomer to the world of software.

Summary

Software development is a unique profession in many ways, and it has given rise to its own subculture due to the unique sets of challenges that face developers. Andrew Smith is an author who is working on a book to share his experiences learning to program, and understand the impact that software is having on our world. In this episode he shares his thoughts on programmer culture, his experiences with Python and other language communities, and how learning to code has changed his views on the world. It was interesting getting an anthropological perspective from a relative newcomer to the world of software.

Announcements

• Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great.
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• You listen to this show to learn and stay up to date with the ways that Python is being used, including the latest in machine learning and data analysis. For even more opportunities to meet, listen, and learn from your peers you don’t want to miss out on this year’s conference season. We have partnered with organizations such as O’Reilly Media, Dataversity, Corinium Global Intelligence, and Data Council. Upcoming events include the combined events of the Data Architecture Summit and Graphorum, Data Council in Barcelona, and the Data Orchestration Summit. Go to pythonpodcast.com/conferences to learn more about these and other events, and take advantage of our partner discounts to save money when you register today.
• Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Andrew Smith about his anthropological study of software engineering culture in his upcoming book Adventures In Coderland.

Interview

• Introductions
• How did you get introduced to Python?
• Can you start by describing the scope and intent of your work on Adventures In Coderland?
• What was your motivation for embarking on this particular project?
• Prior to the start of your research for this book, what was your level of familiarity with software development as a discipline and a cultural phenomenon?
• How are you approaching the research for this book and to what level of detail are you trying to address the problem space?
• What are some of the most striking contrasts that you have identified between software engineers and coding culture as it compares to that of a layperson?
• We met at the most recent PyCon US, which I understand you attended as a means of conducting research for your book. What are some of the notable aspects of the Python community that you discovered while you were attending?
• What are some of the other programming communities that you have engaged with?
  • What are some of the differentiating factors that you have noticed between the communities that you have interacted with?
• What are some of the most surprising discoveries that you have made in the process of writing this book?
• What is your metric for determining when you have gathered enough raw material to complete the book?
• Now that you have delved into the peculiarities of "coderland", how has it changed your own outlook on both the software industry, and society at large?
• What advice do you have for the engineers who are listening as it pertains to your experiences in writing your book?

Keep In Touch

• Website
• @wiresmith on Twitter

Picks

• Tobias
  • Throughline Podcast
• Andrew
  • 20 Thousand Hertz Podcast

Closing Announcements

• Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out our other show, the Data Engineering Podcast for the latest on modern data management.
• Visit the site to subscribe to the show, sign up for the mailing list, and read the show notes.
• If you’ve learned something or tried out a project from the show then tell us about it! Email hosts@podcastinit.com) with your story.
• To help other people find the show please leave a review on iTunes and tell your friends and co-workers
• Join the community in the new Zulip chat workspace at pythonpodcast.com/chat

Linksj

• Adventures In Coderland
• https://us.pycon.org?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
• Nicholas Tollervey
• 1843 Magazine
• The Economist
• Free Code Camp
• Code Golf
• Moon Dust book about the astronauts who first landed on the moon
• The Face magazine
• The Observer
• The Guardian
• Charlie Duke
• Totally Wired
• Code For America
• Supercollider programming environment
• SonicPi
• George Boole
• FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
• Ruby Language

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

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