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

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