The history of developer communities

Jono Bacon: I would. A lot of the work has actually been happening for a long time, but we now have a clearer understanding of it and the branding of it has changed. People have been building developer communities for as long as computers have been around. These communities were forged at universities and in local groups before the internet was around, but the internet has provided the ability for this to happen on a much broader scale.

Especially in the earlier days of open source, we saw developer communities forming.

I think what's happened, especially in the last couple of years, is that the value of a developer as a pivotal decision-maker in a company has become better known. Developers have gone from being seen as people with thick-rimmed glasses who build software and sit behind a bunch of managers to being a primary audience that companies want to target. Targeting developers through developer relations has become a thing...