I Regret Not Building "In The Cloud" ☁️

Mar 25, 2023 3:01 pm

Read Time: 3.0 minutes


It is hard to see what is going on from an ivory tower.

That is where universities fall short.


I don't think professors are inherently evil.

My university worked with the students to create a curriculum that was useful. I know that isn't true for all universities.


Here is everything University taught me about coding:

- Basic programming

- Object-oriented programming

- Data structures and algorithms

- How to create, model, and manage a database

- How to build a computer processor from scratch <-- Dope class actually

- How to talk to customers, find out what they want, and build it.


But after 5 years of professional programming: hindsight is 20/20.


One of the several things they didn't teach me?

How to build "in the cloud"


Let's set the record straight on what a "cloud service" actually is:


Somebody else's computer


Before cloud services, you would:

- Go to the store

- Buy a computer

- Run your software on it

- Open it up to the internet

- Find a spot for it in your apartment

- Try to keep it secure, fast, and powered on 24/7.


Turns out that the last part is a giant pain in the ass.


So big companies can do that for you. You can rent their always-running secure computers and run your software on them.


That's all it is.


Why You Should Care

Why am I giving a lesson on cloud computing?


  1. It isn't as scary as most think
  2. Every company I have worked for uses it


Even working at Amazon Music. We are customers and users of Amazon's own cloud computing solution (AWS).


Get comfortable with cloud platforms.


Here are some that are worth learning:


Big Players (used at big companies):

  • AWS
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform


Small Players (worth checking out):

  • Heroku
  • DigitalOcean
  • Netlify


Pick one. Don't try to learn them all. They all do the same things.

It would be like to trying to learn every programming language.


Why should you care?


Getting a job

If you start scrolling through job listings you will notice that cloud computing for one of these platforms is listed as a "desired skill" in almost every listing.


Building a product

Hosting your own server in your apartment is like shooting yourself in the foot before a race. I highly advise you to build your products in the cloud.


In General

Getting a head start on learning these will put you miles ahead.


What Not To Do

Don't go to google and look up "How to use AWS"

A Cloud Platform does 100 things.


Remember: Cloud services are just somebody else's computer

Googling "how to use AWS" is like googling "How to use a computer"


It will be a long journey if you start there.


All cloud providers offer a variation of the same services:


Compute: Execute some code

Storage: Store some files

Database: Store some data

Networking: Connect to other computers

Analytics: Monitor what is happening

Security: Authenticate users and keep your data safe


You're better off looking up things like:

"How to execute a function on AWS"

"How to store files in Microsoft Azure"

"How to do user authentication on Google Cloud Platform"


Of course, in classic "big tech" fashion all these things have confusing names.


Here is a table you can reference for help. It is pulled straight from a course I am launching in the coming weeks called "The Coding Career Blueprint". You guys will be the first to know when it drops.


image


AWS = Amazon Web Services

GCP = Google Cloud Platform

Azure = Microsoft Azure


_____________________________________________


Thank you for reading!

Hope this one was valuable


As always, hit me up at swdlodonnell@gmail.com if you have any questions.


Until next week 👋

Comments