Most of my drive to become a computer programmer comes from listening to, and seeing the work of, my favorite programmers. Here is a list of particularly inspiring software engineers.
Derek Sivers
Derek actually wrote a book that I consider to be the most positive impact on the way that I approach business. The playfulness of his projects makes it fun to follow him on GitLab. Even his own blog is an open source CMS option for anyone seeking to organize their work like him.
David Heinemeier Hansson
David wrote a great book that inspired me to have more confidence in the viability of remote work. I appreciate that he goes contrary to the the perspective that tech businesses win when they get funding. Outside of his excellent writing, he created a framework called Ruby-on-Rails which is an open-source project that helps people create web apps quickly. The way he manages the technology is facinating.
Matt Mullenweg
As the creator of WordPress, Matt has probably had the largest impact on the internet since Larry and Sergey created a search engine. The way he drives the massive ship that is WordPress is really inspiring and I find his blog is full of useful, heartfelt thoughts. Also, check out Simplenote which is a side project for him, but a really elegant tool.
Sammy Kamkar
His story of writing a worm that took down MySpace is funny, and a bit scary. He makes YouTube tutorials describing exactly how to build robots that open combo locks in seconds and other mischievous activities are great. He uses hardware and software skills to make interesting things and I think that’s useful when approaching problems with technology.
Other Helpful Programming Points of Interest
ChangeLog Podcast | Engineered Truth
Know and interesting programmer, please let me know about her in the comments.