I see three main reasons why developers should write:
- Sharing knowledge: communicate their ideas and thoughts to a larger audience and help others learn more
- Building a personal brand
- Learning: writing can be a way to structure their thoughts and consolidate their knowledge
However, there are many other ways devs could reach the same objectives.
- Use videos or teach live lessons
- Be a speaker, panelist, building in public, contributing to projects etc.
- Using diagrams, building prototypes, or just reading
So, why do you write or don't write?
Top comments (14)
I resonate a lot with the latter! Writing helps me structure my thoughts and questions my knowledge or lack of it.
I’m wondering if poor quality content is an issue across all fields. I’d think it’s not, or at least not to this extent.
I write to learn and share. I think of a stream of knowledge. In some cases I'm just a bit upstream of other folks, so what i write floats downstream to them. And my writing is a bit like paddling to move upstream.
So I write about whatever interests me, because the purpose is learning and synthesizing, and the by product is potential fertilizer for other folks's learning.
Have always been about helping people. I worked at the University a bunch of years after finishing my studies. That didn't really feel very effective, teaching a few people at once, taking loads of time to teach a few. Blogging have the potential to reach at to so many more people.
What I profit from it? Nothing but joy today. Have no plans to make money on it. I have a buymeacoffe account but don't make any money there. I do value the community and network I gain a lot though. I see no reason to blog if no one reads it. Followers on DEV and Instagram is a good profit to me.
Thanks for sharing!
I’m reading now perssondennis.com/articles/mvp from your blog:)
I usually write for a couple of reasons:
Most times it's a mix, other times I write as a way of turning off my head, kind of like meditation (those posts almost never get published though...)
When you write to turn off your head, do you write about coding?
Yeah, not always coding per se but always related in some way I'd say
Ok, clear! Sometimes I also write down things and thoughts not related to coding. I think it helps to get clarity and see things in a more objective way:)
I write to know what I think
I write for the first three reasons you mentioned but I would add keep a future reference.
True! Sometimes I also go back to “my own documentation” 😊
Ahahaha love this! Did you make it?
Reasons to write: sharing knowledge and learning and getting feedback. Probably there has been an aspect I did not notice before or an even better solution than the one that I just found out. And unlike strict Question+Answer platforms like StackOverflow/StackExchange, writing/blogging allows me to express myself in my own way and still take part in a community.
As a learner, I prefer written text over videos, as it is easier for me to follow at my own speed and I don't need to turn on the sound or put on headphones to listen to someone (and try to understand their accent). Listening to speakers in real life feels better, as there is potential interaction and I feel part of an audience.
As a technical writer, writing has the same advantage as reading: I can either take my time or rush and skip details without having to synchronize my speed with other people. Speaking in public is not easy, at least not for me when I want to do it properly on a professional level, so it takes much more effort than writing.
Building a brand and do marketing for my services as a web developer has always been an additional reason, but not the main reason to produce content. But sometimes I do think "I could add another paragraph stating that I am a web developer, that might benefit search engine marketing".
As a learner, I also prefer written text!
But as a writer, I rarely get feedback on my posts! I’d love to get some discussion about other ways of addressing the problem at hand.
I rarely got it!