International
Ausgabe 33 | Dezember 2014
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Software Engineering Radio Podcast with a teaching mission Software Engineering Radio is a podcast targeted at the professional software developer. Every two to four weeks, a new episode is published that covers all topics of software engineering. In an interview with the SQ-Magazine editor Robert Blumen reflected on what is special about the show. Mr Blumen, this year you took over as the editor of the software engineering radio. Your are a graduate of Stanford University in physics and the University of California Berkeley in engineering, a professional software developer and a demanded expert at a variety of economic topics. What is your mission? I have always liked abstract conceptual subjects but I have a strong practical side as well. I chose to study physics because it is very abstract and uses math, but to succeed in that field requires laboratory skills. That would not be a great career choice for me because, as my advisor observed, I do not care so much about physical objects. The software field is well suited for me because it involves abstract concepts but in their application to real-world problems. In the end the program has to work, but you have no chance of getting there without a strong conceptual foundation in both the domain and the technology. Why you got involved with the show? In America − and this is something that the French historian and political writer de Tocqueville observed 200 years ago − there is a strong culture of voluntarism. Americans love to form voluntary associations of one type or another to improve their community, however they define that. We have more non-profit and voluntary foundations than any place on earth. This culture is very strong in the open source movement. People donate an incredible amount of time and energy
to creating free software that the entire software engineering field benefits from. I got involved with the show because I like educating and presen ting information to people (and I don’t want to write more code in my hours outside of work). I feel that education is the way that I can best volunteer my own time. Also, I have selfish reasons: I am able to speak to some of the most interesting people in the field and ask them all kinds of things that I am curious about, so long as I remember to press the “record” button first. Software Engineering Radio is proclaiming to be a lasting educational resource, not a newscast. What makes the difference between? That is a great question, and something that is core to our culture. This
goal is reflected in the guests we choose, how we structure each interview, and the format of the show. We start with a topic and a guest. We choose our show topics after some discussion of what do software engineers need to learn in order to grow in their field? Every show has a plan behind it to achieve depth in the topic. Markus Völter (who founded the show) always emphasized that each show should impart some practical information and also teach some fundamental concepts. Each host does a substantial amount of research on the show topic so that he goes into the interview prepared with an outline and a strategy. There is room for spontaneity as well, but without a plan, the host would not be able to use his time effectively.