Bryan Friedman

# Why do we have types?

A type is just a label for what kind of thing a piece of data is: a number, a word, a date. Some programming languages make you label everything, while others let you skip it. To see why that matters, think about the difference between cooking and baking.

# Why isn't just knowing the type enough?

During the COVID years, I jumped on the sourdough bread bandwagon (like so many). It didn't last long because my patience ran thin, but while I was doing it, I learned that not all flour is created equal. All-purpose flour is not bread flour is not cake flour, etc. With sourdough bread, the bread flour was superior.

# Why aren't they all my types?

No cook grows their own wheat or churns their own butter. They buy ingredients that somebody else made and then assemble them. Software works the same way. If you're picturing someone building an application by typing out all of the code, that's not quite what happens.

# Why does any of this matter?

Types tell you what everything is and dependencies tell you where it came from.

# What About Developer Relations?

Another area I’ve worked in and around is Developer Relations, which I’d describe as at least adjacent to technical marketing.