#120 CTO Andrew Brown Passed Dozens of Cloud Certification Exams
Apr 19, 2024
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Quincy Larson interviews Andrew Brown, CTO-turned co-founder of ExamPro.co. They discuss Andrew's journey from fixing computers in the 90s to creating a cloud certification exam website. Topics include advice on learning DevOps, Andrew's love for Tetris Attack, and using AI tools due to Muscle Tension Dysphonia. They also chat about competitive gaming, Star Trek, and the importance of tech certifications.
Certifications provide a structured path to essential tech skills for various roles.
Creating competitive games like Tetris Attack requires precision and dedication to authenticity.
Developing a grocery store simulator game stems from personal experiences and challenges.
Incorporating real-life business insights into game development creates immersive gaming experiences.
Foundational technical skills are crucial before specializing in cloud certifications like AWS or Azure.
Obtaining diverse cloud certifications across providers enhances skill set and capabilities.
Deep dives
The Importance of Certifications for Tech Professionals
Certifications serve as goalposts for individuals to work towards, providing structured learning and a roadmap of essential tech skills. They offer transferable knowledge and equip individuals with a foundation of skills that are useful in various tech roles, such as development, networking, or cloud engineering.
Building a Competitive Tetris Attack Game
The speaker shares their passion for creating a competitive Tetris Attack game, emphasizing the precision required in replicating the exact frame-by-frame gameplay to maintain authenticity and appeal to the competitive gaming community. Their dedication to creating an accurate and engaging gaming experience reflects a deep interest in game development and attention to detail.
Passion for Building a Grocery Store Simulator
The speaker expresses their enthusiasm for developing a grocery store simulator game, highlighting the motivation behind this project as driven by personal experiences and challenges faced with grocery store pricing and competition. The simulation aims to capture the intricacies of managing inventory, employees, and store layout while simulating the dilemmas faced by real-world grocery store owners.
Merging Real-Life Experiences into Game Development
The discussion delves into the fusion of real-life experiences, such as working in grocery stores and observing business strategies, into game development. By incorporating elements like customer behavior, product placement strategies, and marketplace competition, the speaker aims to create an engaging, educational, and immersive gaming experience that mirrors real-world dynamics.
Importance of Building Fundamental Skills First
Before diving into cloud certifications, it is crucial to have a strong foundation in technical skills like programming, networking, and operating systems. These fundamental skills are essential to comprehensively understand and apply the concepts covered in cloud certifications. The speaker emphasizes the importance of acquiring a broad set of skills before specializing in a specific cloud platform like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Broad Coverage Approach in Cloud Certifications
The speaker suggests taking a broad approach to cloud certifications by first obtaining fundamental certifications in cloud computing, data, and security across different cloud providers. This strategy ensures a diverse skill set that complements the specialized knowledge gained in specific cloud platforms. By going broad before going deep, individuals can develop a well-rounded understanding of cloud technologies.
Significance of Specialized Skills in Different Cloud Platforms
Each cloud platform has its unique strengths and weaknesses, highlighting the importance of diversifying skills across different providers. For instance, Microsoft Azure excels in Active Directory, while AWS is renowned for serverless technologies. GCP stands out in data processing and machine learning services. Understanding these distinctions allows professionals to effectively leverage diverse cloud capabilities.
Utilizing Free Code Camp and GitHub Certifications
Free resources like Free Code Camp and GitHub certifications offer valuable opportunities to enhance technical expertise. Taking advantage of platforms like Free Code Camp to build a solid programming foundation and incorporating specialized certifications from GitHub can strengthen one's skill set. These resources provide a structured learning path and certifications that validate proficiency in essential technical areas.
Effecting Change in Certification Processes
The episode delves into the speaker's experience with GitHub's certification process, highlighting the rapid production of courses and the legacy reasons behind course development. It discusses how certifications, like those at GitHub, play a role in incentivizing partners and ensuring a thorough understanding of products. The challenges faced in transitioning from legacy structures to newer teams are explored, emphasizing the importance of community feedback in refining certification processes.
Navigating Career Expectations and Realities
The conversation transitions to a reflection on the podcast host's advocacy for reasonable career expectations, particularly related to professional certifications and career paths. It stresses the importance of realistic timelines for career advancement, cautioning against overhyping certifications or career prospects. The host draws parallels between diverse career paths, highlighting the distinction between expected outcomes and the need for practical skills and knowledge in competitive industries like machine learning engineering.
Upholding Values and Community Involvement
The dialogue concludes with a discussion on the influence of Star Trek on the speaker's values, emphasizing the role of community involvement and ethical considerations in decision-making. The podcast host shares personal insights on community service passed down through family experiences, underscored by the Star Trek series' emphasis on moral values and diplomacy. Star Trek characters like Captain Picard and Captain Sisko are celebrated for embodying high ideals and addressing societal challenges with a pragmatic yet ethical approach.
On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Andrew Brown, a CTO-turned co-founder of ExamPro.co.
Andrew created this cloud certification exam prep website with another Andrew – also from Canada, who also loves Star Trek.
We talk about Andrew's early career fixing computers in the 90s, and his early freelance web development work. These ultimately lead to jobs and promotions that leveled him up to CTO.
Andrew also shares his advice to devs who want to learn DevOps and Cloud Engineering, and which certs to prioritize.
Andrew suffers from Muscle Tension Dysphonia, a disease that causes voice loss. He shares how he's using AI tools to get around this.
Andrew also talks about his love of Tetris Attack (also known as Panel de Pon or Pokémon Puzzle League). He built a frame-perfect port for competitive online play.
And of course, Andrew's favorite Star Trek episodes of all time.
Can you guess what bass line I'm playing on my bass during the intro? It's the theme from a 90s cartoon.
Be sure to follow The freeCodeCamp podcast in your favorite podcast app. And share this podcast with a friend. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech.
Also, I want to thank the 8,933 kind people who support our charity each month, and who make this podcast possible. You can join them and support our mission at: https://www.freecodecamp.org/donate
Links we talk about during the interview:
Just a few of Andrew's many freeCodeCamp cloud cert prep courses. (He has dozens more on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel): https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/author/andrew/
His website, ExamPro.co: https://www.exampro.co/
American Mall simulator browser game by Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/american-mall-game/
The Greatest Generation podcast: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/greatest-generation/
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