About Simple Programmer

Hi, I'm John Sonmez, the Founder of Simple Programmer and author of "Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual"

and "The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide".

As a software developer, I often found that people tend to have a way of making things appear more complex than they really are.

I originally started Simple Programmer in 2009 as a personal blog where I tried to distill what I was learning into simple, easily understandable content.

But, today Simple Programmer is more than just a blog and more than just me.

Today, Simple Programmer is focused on helping software developers, programmers and other IT professionals improve their careers and live better lives.

One thing I learned from years of consulting and coaching software developers is that increasing your technical aptitude is not enough.

In order to really succeed as a software developer—you need to be well rounded.

You'll find the content at Simple Programmer to be holistic in nature.

That means you are just as likely to find articles about improving your career as you are to find articles about developing your people skills, getting in shape and tackling the mental aspects of being a software developer.

My goal for Simple Programmer is not just to help you get a better job and make more money—although I certainly want to do that—but to help you improve in all areas of your life.

To help you build self-confidence, to be more productive, to find and reach your goals, and even to explore the wonderful world of entrepreneurship.

In short, I want to help you succeed and become a better version of yourself each and every day.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, sign up here to get free updates and become part of the Simple Programmer community, where you'll find like-minded software developers who also strive to improve their lives and their careers.

Still not convinced Simple Programmer is for you? Check out our Trailer from YouTube:

I started writing code when I was about 10 years old, creating my first game in Q-Basic.

I really became interested in programming when I taught myself C, so that I could create my own MUD. I still joke that someday when I grow up,

I'll become a video game programmer. (It may still happen yet!)

On February 14th of 2013, I officially retired from my regular job at the age of 33...

But I didn't exactly retire. Instead, I decided to focus all my effort on growing Simple Programmer and making it the best place on the internet for software developers.

(You can read all about my journey to early retirement in chapter 55 of "Soft Skills," if you want more details.)

Now, I live in beautiful Pacific Beach San Diego.

John Sonmez on CodeNewbie

Years after John Sonmez had been programming, he learned something very important: while his coding skills were important, creating content was his secret. With his blog posts, and eventual books and speaking gigs, he was attracting and growing an audience, and with that came job opportunities and career growth. He shares what he’s learned along the way and how codenewbies everywhere can use storytelling to help build their tech career.

John Sonmez on .NET Rocks

 John Sonmez is back - and talking about your career! Carl and Richard chat with John about his latest book, Soft Skills. The conversation starts out with a list of books that have been influential in thinking about how you work with others. John talks about putting energy into the leadership of your career, not just managing it - where do you want to go? It's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day, but having a bigger goal makes it easier to get up and get to work!

John Sonmez on Ruby Rogues

 The Rogues talk about how to market yourself as a software developer.

John Sonmez on Hanselman Minutes: Service Stack

 Scott sits down with trainer John Sonmez to talk more about the open source .NET and Mono REST Web Services framework called Service Stack.

John Sonmez on Entrepreneur on Fire

John teaches software developers how to be “cool.” He’s a personal development coach, dedicated to helping professionals live better, more fulfilled lives and reach their maximum potential.

John Sonmez on Hanselman Minutes: Getting Fit 

Scott talks to Pluralsight trainer and fitness buff John Sonmez about getting fit. Scott's trying to lose some weight and gain some muscle and John gives some tips and suggestions as to how to a programmer can start developing good nutritional and fitness habits.

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