I wanted to interview Silas for quite some time because his Python books are well know in GIS community.
My main goal with this interview was to dig deep into Silas’s experience and mine his insights mainly about learning programming.
But, we’ve had such a good time that we went way beyond that!
There are a lot of valuable insights in this interview but I especially like:
- The story about his career path and how he managed to “bridge” his interests in Geography with technology.
- His practical insights about learning and teaching programming and what really works when it comes to both.
- Ok, the story behind the Super Bowl GIS project and how it keeps a lot of people safe (plus how it all started with Taylor Swift:)
There’s much more inside, so I highly recommend the whole interview!
And don’t forget to leave me a comment down below and answer the question (actually there are two) of the week:
How do you describe your GIS work to others?
Where’s GIS tech in your everyday life?
Also available on youtube:
The Interview notes:
00:00 Starting with Super Bowl tease:)
00:21 About Silas’s latest book.What’s new in ArcPy and ArcGIS Second Edition?
01:43 What does the trickster god Loki has to do with GIS and Business?
03:41 How Silas’s personal experience inspired him to help others with programming, what’s the most satisfying about teaching.
05:43 How the economy crisis took Silas’s career in the direction of the technology even though he wasn’t expected it.
08:11 How he then was able to “bride the gap” between his interests in geography and technology.
08:47 How Python improved the analysis process from week long “button pushing” to one hour in only one month.
09:29 Why automating yourself “out of doing the boring stuff” can be a good thing.
11:56 Why you don’t have to fear automation? Important “tasks” that you can’t actually automate.
13:42 How to convince someone to automate…
16:35 The “traps” of trying to teach yourself programming. The best way to learn when you’re beginner and why this “method” is particularly effective?
19:25 The most difficult thing to learn for beginners and the most difficult thing to teach for teachers.
20:14 The challenges and delights of teaching programming.
21:42 Silas’s reveals some details about his next book project.
24:50 What’s the best way to get started programming?
27:09 How Silas was the key person in bringing GIS to the Super Bowl and helped with security of 75k fans. (tip: it all started with Taylor Swift!)
33:03 Questions for you, dear GIS Professional: How do you describe your GIS work to others? Where’s GIS tech in your everyday life?
35:11 What’s good balance between technology skills and geography skills? Why geography matters?
Additional resources/informations: