Open Source Superstar and Roadmap.sh Founder Kamran Ahmed [Podcast #145]
611On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Kamran Ahmed. He's a software engineer and founder of Roadmap.sh, which has skill tree roadmaps for lots of developer fields, such as DevOps. As a teacher, he's also a Google Developer Expert and a GitHub Star.
We talk about:
Kamran's tips for finding the right open source projects to contribute to
The story behind Roadmap.sh, his popular developer website
Other specialized open source Kamran has built over the years
How Kamran became a Google Developer Expert and GitHub Star
Can you guess what song I'm playing during the intro?
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Links we talk about during our conversation:
Kamran's website, Roadmap.sh: https://roadmap.sh/
Kamran's "Design Patterns for Humans" GitHub book: https://github.com/kamranahmedse/design-patterns-for-humans
freeCodeCamp's "How to Contribute to Open Source guide" Quincy mentions: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-contribute-to-open-source-projects-beginners-guide/
Kamran on Twitter: https://x.com/kamrify
Chapters
0:00:00 Introduction to Kamran Ahmed and Roadmap.sh
0:09:19 The Power of Open Source Projects
0:16:53 Navigating Career Progression in Software Engineering
0:22:42 Lessons Learned from Working in Different Companies
0:27:22 The Value of Putting Yourself Out There
0:38:47 From Small Company to Startup: Seizing Opportunities
0:51:03 Growth Through Trust and Leadership
0:54:09 Learning and Expanding Skills Through Diverse Projects
0:56:06 From Dubai to Germany: A Journey of Growth and Exploration
0:58:21 Launching a Platform and Learning from Mistakes
1:01:31 Balancing Individual Contribution and Management
1:10:02 Roadmap.sh: Growth and Success
1:13:41 Moving to the UK and Settling Down
1:18:58 Contributing to Open-Source and Establishing Projects
1:21:31 Finding Project Ideas by Looking at Other Languages and Solving Problems
1:26:10 Promoting Projects and Embracing Negative Feedback
1:38:28 Roadmap.sh: A Resource for Developers at All Levels