CTO Andrew Brown on DevOps + Cloud Certification Exams [freeCodeCamp Podcast

On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Andrew Brown, a CTO-turned co-founder of ExamPro.co. Andrew created this cloud certification exam prep website with another Andrew - also from Canada, who also loves Star Trek.
We talk about Andrew's early career fixing computers in the 90s, and his early freelance web development work. These ultimately lead to jobs and promotions that leveled him up to CTO.
Andrew also shares his advice to devs who want to learn DevOps and Cloud Engineering, and which certs to prioritize.
Andrew suffers from Muscle Tension Dysphonia, a disease that causes voice loss. He shares how he's using AI tools to get around this.
Andrew also talks about his love of Tetris Attack (also known as Panel de Pon or Pokémon Puzzle League). He built a frame-perfect port for competitive online play.
And of course, Andrew's favorite Star Trek episodes of all time.
Can you guess what bass line I'm playing on my bass during the intro? It's the theme from a 90s cartoon.
Be sure to follow The freeCodeCamp podcast in your favorite podcast app. And share this podcast with a friend. Let's inspire more folks to learn to code and build careers for themselves in tech.
Also, I want to thank the 8,933 kind people who support our charity each month, and who make this podcast possible. You can join them and support our mission at: www.freecodecamp.org/donate
Links we talk about during the interview:
Just a few of Andrew's many freeCodeCamp cloud cert prep courses. (He has dozens more on freeCodeCamp's KZbin channel): www.freecodecamp.org/news/aut...
His website, ExamPro.co: www.exampro.co/
American Mall simulator browser game by Bloomberg: www.bloomberg.com/features/am...
The Greatest Generation podcast: maximumfun.org/podcasts/great...

[@yensteel]

Do you plan to have other certifications aas a follow up? Im taking CISSP for cyber security soon but I'm not sure what to study afterwards.

[@jackscalibur]

I would also add in Networking as one of the "core" or "foundational" skills to learn, not just if you're a developer, but regardless of what your role is in tech.

[@bgubs07]

Quincy has the typical IT personality 😂 Great podcast! I love Andrew's work.

[@littlebrit]

I think those computer certifications are just tests how good is your memory. Nothing else.

[@onyxsolace5398]

As someone who has done some, not really. Especially Microsoft. You have to understand how to solve business needs with cloud resources which can require really good understanding. Otherwise you could end up costing your company a ton of money for no reason, or be fully under optimized or using things the wrong way

[@the_horror_fan]

Some of these certification exams are open book certifications.

[@the_horror_fan]

My ambition is to be CTO. I have my Master in IT and Bachelors in CS. Now, I am almost complete with my MBA in IT, however, it might take me a long time to be a CTO, and I am 50 years old. It might not even happen. I am glad I got my degrees, but it is a too late to get a position.

[@IFinging]

Love this video Thankyou

[@abhijeetdhumal7385]

Please make video on OWASP Mobile security Testing

[@quincylarsonmusic]

Thanks for the feedback. We have some text-based tutorials on OWASP and we may create a mobile-focused tutorial in the future.

[@freecodecamp]

You may find this OWASP course helpful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4rIYXmam8maerc

[@kaimura9248]

Can someone please TLDW/summarize this?

[@ForChiddlers]

Continue learning ... you're welcome

[@sayehghaderi9455]

Leonard from BIG BANG Theory 😮

[@VinSilverstone]

He's a QUINCY guy ???

[@jeromekone7160]

hmtl css JavaScript python linux git sql

[@jeromekone7160]

Learn broader skills first, the basics before going to cert