Kathy Walrath's Blog

November 2004 Archives

Want to Write for a Living?

Writing for developers is a rewarding job if you're interested in technology and enjoy playing with words. You're constantly learning, you get to practice the craft of writing, and you can make a real difference for developers.

Ever since I graduated from college with a CS degree, I've had writing jobs. All but one of them took advantage of my technical background, but I've never officially worked as a software engineer. Until now.

I've accepted a position with the Swing team. In a way, it's not a big change. I'll still go to Swing meetings and work with the JavaDesktop community. However, I'll be transitioning away from work on The Java Tutorial and other J2SE-related doc, and into bug fixing and feature work for the Swing libraries. Although it's hard to leave the Tutorial and its great team of writers, ten years on one project is a very long time, and I'm looking forward to trying something new.

If you're interested in working with the J2SE doc team, now's your chance! You can submit your resume for this technical writer position, as described at the bottom of the position description's page. If hired, you won't necessarily work on the Tutorial — that's up to you, the Tutorial team, and the J2SE doc manager — but whatever you do, you'll have the chance to learn about interesting technologies, hone your writing, and make a difference in the professional lives of developers. Plus, hey, it's a paying job!

Don't miss the Swing chat!

Update: The chat has already occurred, and a transcript is now available.

Scott Violet and Shannon Hickey — the Swing architect and project lead, respectively — know everything there is to know about Swing. They're in the midst of planning the next couple of releases, so tomorrow's Java Live chat is a great opportunity to find out what's happened and going to happen, and to let them know what you want.

Tuesday, November 9. 11:00 A.M. PST/19:00 UTC. Be there.

PS: Scott and Shannon, besides being top-notch technically, are really nice guys. So please treat them well!

PPS: This is my first blog entry on java.net. Short and sweet, that's how I'm gonna blog.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.