I want to share a story about my adventure in the world of live-coding. A few years back, I started watching a Twitch streamer named JitterTed (or Ted Young) and I was hooked! Before I knew it, I was watching live-coding more than TV!
I remember when I used to watch live-coding on Mixer before it shut down in 2020. But JitterTed on Twitch was different. He was the kind of streamer I wanted to be like. At this point, I’ve easily watched him for over 100 hours, learning so much along the way.
The coolest part? I got to meet Ted in person, not just once but several times! It’s a strange feeling meeting someone you’ve watched for hours online. To me, Ted was like a celebrity, but he didn’t know me at all. Yet, when we met, he was amazing. I was a total fanboy, while he was so patient and kind. We ended up having fantastic conversations, and I could see how much he influenced me through his streams.
It doesn’t stop there. Ted has been a regular in the audience of our Spring Office Hours, and even a guest on the show! Hanging out with him and having him on our show has been a blast.
Then, last week, something amazing happened. I got to be on his stream! The plan was to upgrade a project he had been working on. Guess what? We ended up upgrading two apps! We had lots of fun side conversations, and it felt incredible. His audience was super amazing too. We didn’t even need Google because the audience helped us with everything!
One cool thing I learned that day, and used today, is around maven dependency upgrade analysis. I used it, and I was immediately reminded of how awesome it is to be part of this community. I’m so grateful for my own little community, for Ted’s community, the broader Java community, and others.
./mvnw versions:display-dependency-updates
The cheat code to see what dependencies have upgrades available.
Live-coding isn’t just about coding. It’s about the people, the connections, and the shared learning. I’m thankful for all these experiences and can’t wait to see what comes next!
Please, check out the episode and let me know what you think!
April 28, 2024 Update: Link to heading
