I'm a co-founder of dev.to, ask me anything!

I love being part of a team that is facilitating an inevitable and positive movement in the lives of software developers. We're not trying to create a new market or push people in arbitrary directions; we're trying to support the broader movement of cultivating a more kind, inclusive, and constructive environment for programmers.

I also love that it has a high ceiling. We're building for all developers — no matter their background or experience level. We can build something lasting and important for people all across the globe, which is a very special and motivating force.

Past projects I've worked on had elements of being niche, singularly profit-focused, or somewhat temporary and limited in their potential scope. It's refreshing and deeply inspiring to feel like I'm a small part of something much bigger.

Are you planning thematic weeks or something else ?

Since Peter hasn't gotten to this. YES. Well not planning yet, but planning to plan.

My family didn't cook very much growing up, but this happened to have been a refrigerator staple:

Ack. I've been trying to think of a better answer here. It's a great question.

I'm definitely more intrigued by blockchain technology recently, but that was a transition from "I don't have an opinion" to "this is really interesting and potentially game-changing."

To pick a more lighthearted example: I've recently been eating a lot more tofu, seitan, and tempeh. As a kid, I would tease my sister (a life-long vegetarian) that I would eat a lot of meat in her stead, so this shift is somewhat notable in my personal day-to-day.

It's definitely on the roadmap! We have a dedicated #hiring tag (which is effectively in beta right now) where members can post job opportunities at their company. In the coming months, we'll be improving the experience for both job-providers and job-seekers.

Job-seekers will be able to search the listings and filter their results. They'll see more of the most relevant information (location, salary range, listing age, etc) at a glance.

Job-providers will have an easier time posting their listings, and tracking their success.

I think that hiring tools represent a key area where we can generate revenue while also delivering meaningful value for all parties involved. It's important to us that everything be organized such that you can easily ignore that wing of the platform if it's not relevant to you at that moment in time.

Hey Ben, I'm probably not the best person to answer this question, but I'll offer my thoughts anyway.

My sense is that if you're not enjoying Python, but you are enjoying Javascript, then allow yourself to allocate more of your time in that direction. I wouldn't worry about any "sunk cost" that you've already put into Python; you'll still benefit from that experience as you learn new languages.

The idea of "mastering" a language is pretty abstract. You can always improve, and your skill in that specific language improves by osmosis as you pick up skills in other areas. If you're specifically worried about job-hunting, I do think it could make sense to pick a language and continue making progress on it and its related technologies.

I think that in a job search, being able to demonstrate your legitimate interest and demonstrated progress, along with the ability to finish projects and intelligently describe the choices you made, would be about the most impactful part your application and pitch.

I'm sure @jess , @ben , or another member of the community would be happy to jump in and lend their thoughts, as well. Good luck!

Hi Ben! I've been programming with Python since forever (I think Python 2 wasn't even a thing) and I still have to google stuff sometimes :-)

I love it (less than I used to) but if it's not for you there are so many languages and skills (that can get you hired) you can learn. JavaScript is quite fun and you can definitely get hired being a good JS developer.

My advice is don't wait to feel ready until you can recite "JavaScript the bad parts" by memory :-D

Good luck!

Great question.

1) non-technical people working in a technical environment

I somewhat touch on this here, but I'll expand a bit. I think that it's easy to fall into the trap of imagining a huge gulf between the technical / non-technical sides of the business. It's frustrating to look at code and feel totally lost, or to let your mind wander as someone explains the technical nitty gritty.

The reality is that you are totally capable of understanding what's going on if try hard, ask thoughtful questions, and have patient and committed teammates. You'll learn more quickly than you had anticipated due to "beginner gains," and then you'll build the capacity to accrete more and more knowledge on your own. You might not be committing code, but it won't take long to notice that you're a lot more informed and effective when communicating with technical members of the team.

2) technical people (the devs, technical writers, etc) who are looking to branch into the "business side" of tech?

I think that it's easier to "bike shed" on the business side — after all, everyone can have an opinion on pricing or roll-out strategy, whereas not everyone can have an opinion on which Javascript framework to use and why.

I've found that the bigger blocker going in this direction is a sense of reticence about "staying in one's lane." I've noticed that programmers I've worked with in the past sometimes had tremendous insight, but felt shy about speaking up because they felt like it wasn't their place. So, again, I'd say it's about making a concerted effort to begin the dialogue, ask thoughtful questions, and then seeking the right forum to raise ideas.

As I've educated myself and learned more, I think I'm at the position of... I know enough that I don't know enough.

I think that the vast majority of people investing into cryptocurrencies are purely hype-driven and have no insight or appreciation for the underlying technology. Maybe that's fine, and maybe they're "right" in the macro sense, and they'll all make a lot of money as cryptocurrencies gain adoption and importance in our world. But I find it worrying.

A lot of the smartest people I know are working on blockchain-based projects, and understand how to leverage the technology's unique advantages to transform industries. At this point, I don't have that same level of insight or bullishness in the area — but I'm prepared to be wrong in a major way.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this whole thing play out similarly to the .COM crash. A lot of people will lose a lot of money on specific projects — maybe it's too early — but the overall sector will do really well in the long run.

Fun fact: Ben and I met on reddit.com/r/nycjobs

When I first started working with Ben, I was definitely guilty of the "JUST" mindset. I didn't have a full appreciation of how difficult and de-moralizing it can be to work with a non-technical stakeholder that doesn't have adequate insight into the technology. Constantly changing the specs, assuming major changes are trivial, etc.

We often internally cite the XKCD Tasks comic to explain the disconnect.

Over the last several years, I've made a substantial effort to ask thoughtful questions, and improve my overall understanding of the technology we use and decisions we've made. I do my best to write detailed issues and can usually identify the right "approach" as I suggest features and provide feedback. I'll often peruse the code included in PRs to ensure I have a vague recognition of what went where and what it did.

I think it's critical that everyone on the team — even if they're not committing code regularly — has an appreciation for and understanding of the code-base and it's moving pieces. I plan to try and take on more "approachable" issues in 2018.

I tried to embrace the "liberal arts" mindset when I got to college. I decided pretty early on that I would let my passion and authentic interest guide my course-load as opposed to optimizing for career prospects or the optics of "hard skills." I loved building abstract arguments and defending them, and debating ideas, and English classes were great for those intellectual exchanges.

I've never felt "limited" whatsoever by that decision. It's increasingly common to continue developing professional skills post-graduation; so I think the primary goal of school should be to hone your ability to self-learn, rather than give you all the knowledge you'll need.

The Montel Show was part a pretty crazy experience. I was fifteen and on a helicopter tour in Hawaii when I noticed a glint of light way below us on the black ground of a lava field. I knew that people sometimes used flashing lights to communicate an SOS signal, so I mentioned it to the pilot.

It turned out to be a hiker that had been lost for five days who was using a piece of mirror to try and signal helicopters. He had been at it for days and they had called off the search for his body. They invited us on for a "meet your hero" episode. It was pretty nuts. Here's a link with some more info.

Great question. I've always been entrepreneurial — from launching projects and side-hustles through middle and high school, to building and selling a business in college. When I moved to NYC, I was part of a small team at Hatch Labs, a mobile app incubator that was part of IAC. I had a super cool role where I was tasked with helping every incubating company with all of their non-technical needs: everything from customer support to business development to partnerships, product development, acquisition, etc.

I loved that job, and my co-workers, and I recognized that I was building a ton of valuable skills... but even though I was only at that company for six months (before it shut down), I always felt a strong itch to take more control and lead my own project. After it folded, I met @ben and we started working on Texts.com.

In that sense, I've always "felt the drive" and have wanted to lead and co-lead projects.

That said, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the massive element of privilege that's often present in being an entrepreneur. The fact that I was able to attend quality schools growing up without accumulating personal debt, that I had a family that would support me if all else failed, that I knew people who could invest at the early stages, on and on, has been a major factor.

The ground has been unsteady and chaotic at times, but it's also been a lot "safer" for me personally than it has been for many other entrepreneurs. I try not to forget that, or to ascribe too much pride or self-satisfaction without remembering that massive advantage and privilege that I feel like people don't talk about enough.

I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, so NYC was always the mystical "big city" on the other coast. I knew I wanted to get out of California for college, and I ended up going to school in Connecticut.

I was able to connect with a few entrepreneurs in NYC while in my senior year, and they helped me find an awesome job here in the city. I actually moved here just a few days after graduating, which was exhilarating but terrifying.

I love that tech/startups are one of many prominent industries in NYC. I had noticed that Entertainment dominates in Los Angeles, that Tech dominates in San Francisco, and I wanted to be somewhere with a more diverse set of professional fields. There are so many people in finance, media, fashion, the arts, etc. here — it's never boring and you get to meet new and interesting people every single day.

It's been 5.5 years and I'm still loving it, despite the cold weather :)

In sixth grade we could earn fake money for presenting a current event at the beginning of class. You got to use that fake money at the end of the year to bid on candy in an auction setting. The "catch" was that you could only present one current event / per person / per day.

I started creating "ready to go" current events that I would sell right outside the classroom for 50% of the bounty. It got to the point where we were wasting so much time on these presentations that the teacher agreed to just buy me out for the entire year.

I think it was as I was eating my fill of Twizzler's and Reese's at the end-of-the-year party that I knew.

Hey Ivan — yup, this has definitely been discussed and requested. I've been finding myself personally wanting this feature more and more over the last few weeks. It might have to wait until we open-source, but it's a popular request so hopefully it's treated as a priority :)