Let us build a community of folks who build developer tools

Developing for developers = potential limitless leverage

I want to build a community of DevTools builders.

Why?

(1) Because developer tools are a special kind of software

• Good developer tools help software developers build better software faster

• Incremental quality and productivity improvements in software development have ripple effects on all aspects of the global economy (“Software is eating the world” and all that..)

(2) Because I think DevTools builders are a special breed

• They care as much about the “art of software development” as the software itself. That is why they build tools to improve their own lives and those of fellow developers.

• They are finally getting both acclaim and commercial success. I wrote about this in my article - Developing for Developers — Path to Fame, Money, and Happiness

(3) Because I am passionate about this space

• I have been associated with developer tools my entire career - first as a user early in my career as a developer; then as a PM working on compilers, libraries, IDE, etc.; and now marketing developer tools and cloud infrastructure services to development teams.

• Most of the writing I have done here has been related to this topic. Some around marketing, e.g., Twilio - Intentionally Clever or Accidentally Genius? and some around technology, e.g., Multiple Stops on the Cloud Compute Continuum — All With Their Own Merits

What would this community look like?

I honestly don’t know.

However, I am hoping I will figure it out. I have been conflicted on this whole topic of “community” as I ranted in this piece - What does community mean in Tech?

So, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to figure out this whole “building a community” thing if I did it in the context of a topic I am passionate about - developer tools. Especially because I don’t believe there is a great place for DevTools builders to come together and engage on the topic of building DevTools (I could be wrong, but I haven’t found anything)

Here are some ideas I am exploring but would welcome other thoughts:

• Reddit: I went ahead and created /r/devtoolsbuilders. So far, nothing major there, but hoping it will pick up.

• Potentially some other avenue for discussions. I hear mixed opinions about Discord. What else is there?

• DevTools builder interviews: I haven’t decided whether this would be like a podcast series, video interviews on YouTube, or just written articles.

• Dedicate more of my writing here and elsewhere to this topic

I want to make this community vendor-agnostic and have it focused on the issues of the “What, Why, and How” of building developer tools. I use the term “building” rather loosely here to include all required aspects, from conceptualizing the ideas to getting these tools into the hands of the intended users. So developers, designers, PMs, writers, marketers, etc., are all welcome to join.

Please help me spread the word.