Editor's Note
Becoming a Guru
Here in the pages of
MSDN Magazine, we cover a lot of topics that developers can use every day to further their careers. This month, however, we'll look at a more basic question: how does an average developer win fame and recognition as a guru on the programming scene?
Twenty years ago, the field was a lot smaller and more concentrated. Right before Windows 3.0 was released, word was that the Windows 2.11 SDK had been received by about 40,000 programmers. We don't know whether this was actual fact, but we do know that when Windows 3.0 hit the shelves, the dev community blossomed. Soon there were all sorts of utilities for Windows popping up on BBSs. (Note to youngsters: before the Web, people would dial up to someone's computer and connect to a "bulletin board" to browse and download files.)
To make a long story short, today there are literally millions of people who are targeting Windows when they sit down to code. Still, there's a lot of opportunity for widespread recognition. Every author in this magazine started small, with their first submission.
If you want to make a name for yourself in the world of programming, the first commandment is to know exactly what you're doing. Nothing will make people ignore you faster than if they can't trust your work. One thing you'll find in the community of programmers is that people can smell B.S. a mile away. Software itself is really nothing more than the end product of a bunch of thoughts put together, and if the software isn't sound, it's a sure sign that the underlying ideas aren't either.
The second commandment is to have an idea. This sounds simple, but it's the toughest thing to do. If you want to demonstrate a concept, it should be unique and it should fill a need. We see submissions all the time from people who want to show how to create a form or how to write a simple Web service—these ideas are well-trod by now.
Most great ideas are born of necessity. People have written RAW file viewers for their cameras, mobile blogging tools, and all sorts of power toys for Visual Studio. If you get something started, you don't even need to perfect it yourself; put it up in a shared workspace on gotdotnet.com or elsewhere, and invite others to add to the project you own.
The third commandment is that you must express yourself clearly, both through your writing and your code. A bad cover letter, with spelling and grammatical errors, severely limits an editor's confidence in the care you take in the rest of your work.
Finally, the fourth commandment is to keep your options open. A magazine is one place to get started, but if you join the expanding community of dev bloggers, you won't have to wait for acceptance before you start sharing your ideas.
Think of your favorite source of development information. Is it a magazine? A blog? A column? A book? A chat list? What do you get from this source that's unique? There's no need to reinvent the wheel when you're getting started. If you have something to share, do it through your favorite source. Even if you're not an MVP, you can offer your expertise, creativity, and guidance.
There are other ways to get exposure as well. You can enter a coding challenge, like our recently completed Connected Developer competition. You might be invited to speak at a conference, although this requires that you not only have your thoughts in order but can present them well in front of a room full of people. It's both easier than it sounds (imagine them all wearing pizza-stained Tech•Ed 97 T-shirts) and harder (imagine them all walking out five minutes into your talk).
Of course, we can't guarantee that fame and recognition will follow you if you look for it, but more than in most professions, in software development, talent is rewarded because the word about who has the talent really gets around. If you want to be discovered, remember our four simple rules: know what you're doing, have a unique idea, express yourself clearly, and look for opportunities in a variety of places. Even if you really want to become known as a guru, it doesn't come overnight. You'll have to work hard like the rest of us gurus did!
Thanks to the following Microsoft technical experts for their help with this issue: Joe Binder, Shawn Burke, Simon Calvert, Jonathan Caves, Andy Cheung, Manish Godse, Manish Jayaswal, Dale Koetke, Ronald Laeremans, Paul Leach, Gerrard Lindsay, Martyn Lovell, Brian McMaster, J.D. Meier, Shaun Miller, Vivek Narasayya, Jeff Peil, Andres Sanabria, Michael Stuart, Maura Van Der Linden, and Tyler Whitney.
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