About the Dev Book Club

The Dev Book Club is an opportunity to learn with developers from around the world by reading and discussing technical books. The group was founded in 2014 by Jeff Carouth as a way to discuss a particular book, but the goal is to expand the reach through multiple groups at a time.

How it works

With the goal of reaching as many people as possible and as being as inclusive as possible, the group meets on a regular schedule via a Google Hangout on Air. This means that participants in the discussion are able to join from their homes, place of employment, or anywhere with an Internet connection and, since the hangout is live streamed and recorded, participants and other viewers are able to benefit from the material afterwards.

The schedule for discussions will vary with different books/groups but has been a chapter every other week thus far. This pace gets us through a 20 chapter tech book in roughly 10 months. Generally the groups meet for one hour.

Participating

When a group meets and you are interested in participating, all that is required is to read the chapter and then bring thoughts about what you learned, questions you have, or any other relevant observations or examples you can think up. The Hangout will start up and you will be able to talk with all other participants. Typically, the discussion starts out with a brief introduction/summary of the chapter, it moves on to each participant talking about something the learned from the chapter, and finally on to questions from participants that can be discussed or sometimes answered by other participants. This is not a required agenda for the discussions but this format seems to work well for these groups.

Each session is held via a Zoom meeting and live streamed to YouTube. To participate, RSVP as attending and when the session starts the host will invite participants to the Zoom. Ideally the groups are limited in size to 10 participants. If there is a particularly high demand for a specific book or session, additional hosts and meeting times may be established. This is beneficial to the whole group by allowing more than one discussion of each topic at different times.

Code of Conduct

Dev Book Club prides itself on being a resource for developers of all walks of life. Our group is open to anyone and everyone with a passion for technology and learning, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, or preference for Vim, Emacs, or any other editor. To ensure everyone has an amazing experience, we, the organizers and hosts of Dev Book Club, will not tolerate any harassment or sexually charged language directed at any participants. The organizers will deal with each observed or reported situation on a case-by-case basis and reserve the right to expel offenders from the discussion and/or the group.

For more information see our full Code of Conduct.