You can get assistance from developer influencers in navigating the huge world of technology.
They might discuss important subjects and trends, offer advice on how to land your next IT job or opportunity, or simply share simple yet amusing ways to teach you about hidden gems they have found in their professions.
Developer influencers can occasionally serve as sources of motivation for us to keep going when things get too tough. Take a peek at the GitHub Stars program to see how interesting the world of coder influencers is becoming.
In this article, I’ll introduce some developer influencers you’d like to add to your list.
18 of the best developer influencers and experts to follow
It takes skill to choose the best developer influences to follow. Many things need to be taken into account, such as their background in the tech sector, identification, location, form of employment (freelancers, employed, entrepreneurs), technological stacks, and even whether or not they are self-taught.
The list of requirements could be endless, and sometimes the most important factor is who you can relate to the best.
Notwithstanding, it is imperative to consistently conduct thorough research and consult with more seasoned industry professionals, as certain developer influencers have been known to provide inaccurate guidance.
I will examine leading developers today and group them according to geography, identity, platforms, subjects, and style of work.
Gergely Orosz (The Pragmatic Engineer)
Perhaps one of the most read developer influences is Gergely. Along with writing books, he is the proprietor of “The Pragmatic Engineer,” the top-ranked blog and newsletter on Substack.
Writer, author, counselor, angel investor, and former Uber software developer and engineering manager
Subjects include hiring in software engineering, large tech, startups, and project management.
Platforms: YouTube, X, LinkedIn, newsletter, and blog
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cassidy Williams
As a CTO, Cassidy has worked for more than ten organizations, such as Amazon and Netlify.
She loves to create online courses, play video games, write newsletters, co-host the Stack Overflow podcast, and construct mechanical keyboards.
Summary: CTO, investor and counselor for startups, specialist in developer experience, and speaker
Subjects include web development, memes, and interviews.
Platforms: X, Codepen, Newsletter, LinkedIn
Location: USA’s Chicago, Illinois
Cathy O Neil
As seen in her best-selling book Weapons of Math Destruction, Cathy is concerned about data and ethics, the human experience, and developing unbiased algorithms. If you have watched the Netflix documentary Coded Bias, you have undoubtedly seen this.
Summary: Data scientist, writer, lecturer, and mathematician
Topics include algorithms, large data, ethics, and mathematics.
Platforms: big magazines (Bloomberg, TedTalks), blogs, and X
Place: USA’s Cambridge, Massachusetts
Humayun Omar
Humayun Omar, CEO at Omar Technologies and Supply Chain Officer, Supply chain management (SCM) is the optimization of a product’s creation and flow from raw material sourcing to production, logistics and delivery to the final customer.
Summary: Supply Chain Manager, Digital Marketing Specialist, Business Owner
Topics include Lean Supply Chain, Six Sigma, Procurement, Seo
Platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X
Place: Karachi, Pakistan
Nana Janashia (TechWorld with Nana)
With her TechWorld DevOps and DevSecOps bootcamps, Nana, an accomplished DevOps developer and engineer, has streamlined, standardized, and eased the learning curve for DevOps.
Synopsis: AWS Container Hero, CNCF Ambassador, DevOps Consultant and Trainer, and Docker Captain
Subjects covered include development, CI/CD, cloud computing, containerization, and DevOps.
Platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Dev.to
Joshua Fluke
Joshua is not your normal influencer for developers. In addition to criticizing company culture, he provides advice on front-end software development roadmaps, resume reviews, and pay negotiations during interviews. On YouTube, he is most active.
Synopsis: Businessman and YouTuber
Topics include coding, resumes, corporate culture, and interviews.
Platforms: Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube
Kamil Dębowski (Errichto)
If you enjoy participating in programming contests and would even like to win some, Kamil (Errichto Algorithms) is the person you should contact. He organizes events and participates frequently.
Summary: inventor of coding difficulties (Codeforces, Topcoder, and Codechef), competitive programmer, and teacher
Topics include algorithms, coding interviews, leetcode, and competitive programming.
Platforms: Facebook, X, and YouTube
Place: Poland
Ann Adaya
Ann is a self-taught career transitioner who works as a senior developer and tech lead. She offers advice and tutorials on how to improve as a developer.
Synopsis: lead developer and tech
Subjects: improving as a developer and tutorials
Platforms: X, Medium, blog, Instagram
Place: Philippines
Harrison Kingsley (Sentdex)
Harrison is a self-made businessman that likes to learn and work with Python. He has created multiple Python-based enterprises and teaches Python and machine learning.
Synopsis: Creator, businessman, and Python instructor
Subjects: AI, Python, programming, and machine learning
Platforms: LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram
Location: Texas, USA’s Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
Danny Thompson
As a mentor and software programmer, Danny is passionate about supporting people in their technological endeavors. He offers one-on-one mentoring calls to help people land their first IT job. In addition, he helps establish regional tech communities.
Synopsis: Community builder, brand advocate, mentor, and software engineer
Topics include personal development, job advancement, and programming.
Discord, X, and LinkedIn are the platforms.
Location: USA’s Dallas, Texas
Sara Soueidan
As an independent design engineer, Sara wants to make sure that businesses, brands, and developers everywhere embrace inclusive design and include it into their development processes.
Synopsis: independent inclusive design engineer, lecturer, designer of online courses, and writer
Topics include accessibility and front-end development.
Platforms: LinkedIn, personal website, and X
Where: Lebanon
Simona Milanović
Working on Jetpack Compose, Simona is an Android Developer Relations Engineer at Google. She speaks at events and blogs about Android and Jetpack Compose on Medium.
Synopsis: Android Programmer, Android Developer Relations Specialist, and orator
Topics: Jetpack Compose and Android development
Platforms: LinkedIn, Medium, and X
Place: London, United Kingdom
Tina Huang
Tina worked as a data scientist at Meta before. She had planned to become a doctor before then. Currently, she develops content related to data science and offers her online course, Lonely Octopus, to teach AI and data skills.
Synopsis: a content developer and data scientist
Subjects covered include productivity, data science, and data science careers.
Platforms: LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube
Location: United States, California, San Francisco
Hosanna Hali
Hosanna, also referred to as the “Fairy Tech Mother,” is a mentor, sales engineer, and Azure expert.
With her platform, “The Tech Cornr,” she enjoys encouraging women to pursue careers in technology. She was on the Women at Microsoft Professional Development board and had previously worked for Microsoft.
In brief: sales engineer and expert in Azure
Topics: beginning a career in technology
Platforms: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and
Location: London, United Kingdom, England
Makinde Adeagbo
By many measures, Makinde is a tenacious software engineer. He started learning to code in middle school. He has held positions in well-known tech firms like Dropbox, Microsoft, and Pinterest. To assist persons of color in entering the tech field, he later formed dev/color.
In brief: software developer, creator, and board member
Subjects: tech communities, employment in the tech sector
Platforms: Medium, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and X
Location: United States, Palo Alto, California
Hitesh Choudhary
Hitesh is a developer who likes to travel and create coding lessons and articles. Leads technical teams and assists in hiring technical talent.
In brief: senior director, teacher, programmer, and team leader
Subjects covered include machine learning, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Android, iOS, web, and penetration testing.
Platforms: X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and individual webpage
Place: India
Yan Chernikov (The Cherno)
The Cherno is well-known not just for his YouTube channel but also for being the creative force behind the Hazel game engine. He has experience working as a software engineer for game engines and loves instructing people in game engine building.
Hazel is a gaming engine software engineer, builder, and teacher.
Topics include C++, OpenGL, software engineering, the Hazel game engine, and graphics programming.
Platforms: X, Discord, YouTube, Instagram, and
Place: Australia
Tope Awotona
Tope Awotona is to be thanked if you have used Calendly to set up meetings or select a time slot. Prior to starting Calendly, Tope founded a few startups and worked in corporate software sales for organizations like Perceptive Software, IBM, and Dell.
In brief: Calendly’s founder and CEO, in addition to a member of the board of directors
Subjects: startups and business
Platforms: X and LinkedIn
Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia
Why follow developer influencers?
In many ways, the world of technology is very universal. Global industrial best practices are also common, and we prefer to utilize the same programming languages regardless of where we are in the world.
This implies that the majority of the guidance and knowledge that developer influencers may provide you with is relevant in a variety of settings.
Granted, there exist anomalies, and it is possible that employers within a particular field have a tendency to favor specific technologies and stacks.
folks’s paths into the tech industry might vary differ; you might meet folks who are career changers, recent graduates of boot camps, computer science majors, and even self-taught engineers.
Even when you follow developer influencers, it makes sense to conduct your own research. The reason for this is because not every piece of advise will fit your particular situation and background. Influencers may also be there in order to grow an audience and close sales.
The “self-taught developer” and the “career-transitioner” might also have an advantage over others because of something as simple as a technical degree (engineering or math) that facilitates their transition into the tech industry.
All things considered, there are a number of reasons why individuals choose to follow developer influencers.
Staying up-to-date
When it comes to keeping you informed on the newest advancements, programming languages, technologies, and frameworks, developer influencers are quite helpful.
They also frequently feature experts to talk about emerging trends in-depth on podcasts and YouTube channels.
They are relatable
Developer influencers tell varying tales of how they got started in the IT industry. Some are self-taught, self-reliant, graduates of boot camps, entrepreneurs, or even engineers who create fantastic platforms for developers switching careers.
You may connect their tech journeys to your own as you get more knowledge about them, which will inspire you to continue advancing your tech career.
The influences come from a wide range of backgrounds, identities, and nations. If you are a woman in tech, for instance, you might relate to a female developer more. An inspiration for starting a tech firm could come from a technopreneur.
They might teach concepts more easily
Some developer influencers are incredible teachers. They can explain technical concepts in very clear and simple ways. This makes it easier to pick up a new language, framework, or technology very quickly.
They may also teach in entertaining ways, making it easier to follow their content.
They create spaces for difficult tech conversations
Numerous developer influencers have strong opinions regarding challenging subjects in technology, such as biases in machine learning datasets, inclusion and diversity in the industry, and even toxic workplace environments.
Building more inclusive workplaces and tech products, as well as having these challenging talks at work and in the classroom, may begin with following these influencers.
They give great job search and interview advice
Influencers are a fantastic resource for IT candidates getting ready for interviews. For example, they can offer you résumé and interview advice and strategies, as well as teach you how to bargain for your pay.
They can offer mentorship
Mentorship can be provided by influencers, particularly to those in entry-level and junior positions. Some even offer one-on-one consultations in which they support and hold hands with individuals as they advance in their technological travels.
When influencers tell their mentees about their accomplishments, like new employment or even their first-ever tech job, it always makes me very happy.