my tech superheroes that are worth a read or listen

I loved this book - I listened to it on audible  (again whilst doing chores/ or walking to or from childcare) and I can't recommend it enough. It is extremely broad but provides a good landscape of what the tech industry is and why we should care. And just how much influence it has over our daily lives. It isn't overly technical which makes it super accessible. Anne-Marie has some great stories of growing up and helping her dad make powerpoint presentations for his job to help him stop lugging bits of paper all around the country!

I haven't finished this book - but I have read numerous chapters. It is not an easy book but this guy is a total legend, he has been a software professional since the 1970's. In the world of computing people call him uncle bob! Uncle Bob also has a website and lots of you tube and audio content online. 

He coined the phrase 'first make it work, then make it right'. 

The book covers principles, patterns and practices of writing clean code. It's savage in the sense that it is not easy reading. I did also listen to this on audible whilst doing chores so I guess I was listening at a high level vs intensely following it.  

This was one of my first books. My mum actually bought me this book. It is great fun! It has tonnes of code in it. And lots of practical challenges in it covering some of the most fundamental building blocks of python such as lists, dictionaries, variables, loops etc. 

On websites it'll be listed under books for kids - but sometimes I find they are the simplest and most fun. Exactly the way I like to learn!  

This book is epic! I saw this in our local library in the kids learning section and I simply could not get enough of it. 

The best thing about this book is that it teaches you how to think like a coder. Which - when I thought about it is a huuuge part of coding. 

Page 7 is a list called 'thinking like a coder' - it lists things like 'coders think ahead', 'coders break things down', 'coder are imaginative', 'coders are careful', 'coders don't give up'. I mean I wanted to tear the page out and stick it on my wall it made me so happy to read it. Anyway - definitely worth a read and maybe even for free from your local library. I borrowed it so many times I thought I should actually just buy it. 

This book is quite literally phenomenal. And it might possibly be the reason that I create my own software company, future self note this comment! This lady just blows you away. She is such a powerhouse, but with no ego. 

In a nutshell - Dame Stephanie Shirley was a refugee as a child and fled Vienna and came to live in England. She went on to build a multi million pound software company where she basically realised the untapped potential of mums. She had a women's only company. 

But just as amazing as that with her multi millions she became a philanthropist. She says she had no desire or need for yachts and instead invested her money in charities notably 'autistica'. She just is quite simply the best role model ever. This book makes me so happy and makes me want to be her. She does work extremely hard. 

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