#167 From drop-out to software architect with Jason Lengstorf
The freeCodeCamp Podcast
Quincy Larson
5.0 • 549 Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2025
⏱️ 81 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Jason Lengstorf. He learned to code out of necessity building websites for local emo bands.
He dropped out of college but eventually worked as an engineer at IBM and has gone on to roles at many other companies doing everything from software architecture to management. He runs CodeTV, a Bravo-style reality TV channel for developers.
We talk about:
- Jason's winding path into development from building websites for bands
- Teaching yourself programming by chasing your curiosity
- How in-person events gives you tacit knowledge that makes you a better engineer
- How having a broad range of skills ultimately helps you build better projects
Support for this podcast comes from a grant from Wix Studio. Wix Studio provides developers tools to rapidly build websites with everything out-of-the-box, then extend, replace, and break boundaries with code. Learn more at https://wixstudio.com.
Support also comes from the 11,384 kind folks who support freeCodeCamp through a monthly donation. You can join these chill human beings and help our charity's mission by going to donate.freecodecamp.org
Links we talk about during our conversation:
- CodeTV: https://codetv.dev/
- The CodeTV YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnty0z0pNRDgnuoirYXnC5A
- Jason's website: https://jason.energy/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I mean, the biggest one is build, right? |
| 0:01.8 | And the easiest way to build is to pick things that you will care enough to complete. |
| 0:08.4 | If you build an app that is useful to you and solves a real problem, |
| 0:12.9 | you've just built your portfolio and you're proving that you can solve real problems with code, |
| 0:17.9 | which is exactly what a company like IBM wants to see. |
| 0:20.9 | Welcome back to the FreeCodeC Camp podcast, your source for raw, unedited interviews with |
| 0:26.4 | developers. |
| 0:27.2 | Today, we're talking with Jason Langstorff. |
| 0:30.0 | He learned how to program out of necessity by building websites for local emo bands. |
| 0:36.0 | He dropped out of college, but eventually worked as an engineer at IBM |
| 0:39.3 | and has gone onto roles at many other companies including software architecture, management, |
| 0:45.9 | and everything in between. He now runs Code TV, a Bravo-style reality TV channel for developers. |
| 0:53.1 | Support for this podcast comes from a grant from Wix Studio. |
| 0:57.2 | Wix Studio provides developers tools to rapidly build websites with everything out of the box, |
| 1:02.0 | then extend, replace, and break boundaries with code. |
| 1:04.7 | Learn more at WixSudio.com. |
| 1:06.5 | Support also comes from the 11,384 kind folks who support Free Code Camp through a monthly donation. |
| 1:13.1 | You can join these chill human beings and help our charity's mission by going to donate.freycotecamp.org. |
| 1:19.3 | For this week's musical intro with yours truly on drums, guitar, bass, and keys, we're going back to 1990 with the Game Boy classic, The Amazing Spider-Man. Thank you. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm Jason Langstorf, welcome to the show. |
| 2:30.8 | Thank you so much for having me. |
| 2:31.8 | I'm so excited to be here. |
| 2:33.5 | Awesome. |
... |
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