The freeCodeCamp Podcast

#182 Abandoning med school to become a software engineer with Edidiong Asikpo

Aug 8, 2025
Edidiong Asikpo, a software engineer at MongoDB, shares her inspiring journey from medical school to tech. Growing up in Lagos, she discovered her passion for coding while waiting for her studies to begin. Didi discusses Nigeria's vibrant tech scene and offers insights on transitioning between programming languages—from mobile apps to DevOps. She emphasizes the importance of open-source contributions and practical coding experience, and she highlights how technical writing can enhance developer skills.
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ANECDOTE

Kubernetes Felt Like A Never-Ending Learning Curve

  • Edidiong found Kubernetes the hardest technology she learned in her career.
  • She describes learning pods, services and CI/CD as a never-ending process that kept revealing more to learn.
INSIGHT

Kubernetes Is The Coach For Containers

  • Edidiong uses a football coach analogy: containers are players and Kubernetes is the coach.
  • Kubernetes replaces failing containers and orchestrates them to keep the application available for users.
INSIGHT

DevOps Merges Development And Operations

  • Edidiong explains DevOps as a merge of development and operations responsibilities.
  • As microservices rose, developers took on deployment tasks making DevOps a blended role.
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