preface
Hi everyone. I am a Member of The GitHub Flutter Team and one of the main collaborators on Flutter.cn and CFUG. I am good at persuading new Flutter developers to quit, executing garbage code on Flutter veterans, and convincing Flutter developers to make a rat tail.
Long time no see. I’m Alex. Compared to the Versailles presentation, there is now a tag for Flutter/Dart GDE (Google Developer Expert). 🤡
You must have gradually heard the sound of Flutter in recent years. Since its inception, release 2.0, and seemingly thoroughly dissected its architecture and issues, Flutter has only been around for 6 years. In those 6 years, Flutter has generated 13W stars and issues on GitHub.
But in contrast, the current Domestic Flutter GDE plus me has only 3 bits, which is not much compared to other domestic Gdes (Android has 5 bits, machine learning has 28 bits). For reasons I’ll explain a little bit later.
You can find a list of Gdes and their distribution here: Directory of Experts Worldwide.
In recent years, the word GDE has gradually begun to be constantly in the domestic technical circle, especially a GDE article by Guo Lin, which has narrowed the distance between GDE and everyone. For those who want to know more about GDE and the detailed process, I recommend reading Guo Lin’s article “Sharing my experience as a GDE (Google Developer expert)”. In my opinion, GDE is actually Google’s recognition of your technical influence, and the most important word here is technical influence.
For more details on GDE, search for articles and videos on GDE in other areas, which are covered in great detail.
Why become a GDE?
Simply put, in order to prove that they can and hope to further influence more people.
Those familiar with Flutter will know that there are only a handful of independent and well-known individual Flutter developers in China, all of whom have influenced different Flutter developers in different fields. It is the big manufacturers who are actually leading the trend of Flutter and domestic technology. The domestic use of Flutter is still relatively in the stage of watching and following the footsteps of the big manufacturers. We see a variety of new people every day, all of whom have the same reason: “have been assigned to learn about Flutter”, “have a project to use Flutter”, “take over someone else’s Flutter code”. As a result, the people who really contact and understand Flutter actively are in the minority. This is also the main reason for the small number of Flutter Gdes in the country.
| Personal Flutter | Giant Flutter |
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I started to learn Flutter in 2019, and it has been a total of two and a half years to write this article. In 2 and a half years, about 200+ PR related to Flutter have been successfully merged on GitHub. In addition to CFUG’s daily station and translation, This includes Flutter, Dart, Byte, Meltwater, Aurora, and other well-known packages of Flutter open source organizations.
| 2020 | 2021 (nearly 1 year) |
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Domestic Flutter open source organizations have been thoroughly explored, and some of the open source projects they maintain (such as OpenJMU, which was appraised by our friends as “no other open source project like this”) have also been used as a gathering place for demos to help other Flutter developers solve practical scenarios in their development.
In those two and a half years, my life has changed. I used to like a person to study technology, belong to the closed. Now I prefer to research with other developers, discuss with them, and even inspire others to communicate, share, and contribute.
Sharing technology is a very fulfilling and joyful thing. Your achievements will eventually help people who really need help. Meanwhile, through discussion and communication, your understanding of technology will be further consolidated after absorbing the opinions of others. With such a psychological foundation, I began to prepare for applying for GDE without hesitation.
How to become GDE?
From the perspective of application steps, there are several steps:
- DevRel docking
- Screening of qualification
- Community Orientation Interview
- Technical direction + product direction interview
- Sign relevant agreements and terms
- Officially GDE
From the point of view of qualification, there are several aspects:
- Technical strength
- Technological influence
- Public speaking (required)
- Content output (open source, books, videos, articles)
Before applying for GDE, I participated in the community Roundtable part of Flutter Engage held online in 2021 and Google I/O Extended held in Beijing in 2021. Open source projects are accumulated, and articles related to Flutter are continuously produced. At the same time, we continue to maintain localized content of CN. The output of these contributions is the hard currency applicable in the qualification examination.
The rest of the application steps are not repeated, Guo’s article has a particularly detailed explanation of the application process. It took me three months to complete the whole process from application to implementation, which was a medium normal speed. There were no other accidents during the process, and I also took time to participate in I/O Extended:
After the event, we had two rounds of online interviews, all in English, with Burhanuddin Rashid from the community and Brett Morgan from Google for the product. My English level is not very poor, but I have little oral practice, so at the beginning of every interview, I will say to the interviewer: “This is the XX time I talk to other people in English rather than typing.”
| Burhanuddin Rashid | Brett Morgan |
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Finally, of course, I passed all the interviews smoothly.
What do you get out of being a GDE?
One of the first things you do when you become A GDE is to post a tweet, which will be retweeted by the official Flutter account and DevRel. This gives you your first (if not the first) chance to stand in the eyes of global developers as a GDE.
For me, active in the community and on GitHub, being able to juggle three lines as A GDE Keep tabs on community and GitHub/Discord developers and teams, and make a regular Flutter GDE monthly call with other Gdes. I like the explosion of information flow, can be said to be enriched to the fullest.
| GitHub | Discord | GDE Monthly call |
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As a GDE, you may be invited to participate in a variety of related events held in China, most of which are organized by the Google Developer Group, including “I/O Extended,” “Community Speak,” “DevFest,” and other events to increase technical promotion opportunities. And personal exposure.
Community Talk is a gdG-led, small online meeting for 45 minutes to an hour where tech-loving developers exchange technology, live code, discuss products, and share tips.
JetBrains also has a free license program for “developer approval” for GDE, MVP, etc., which can benefit the whole family. Of course, if you are an active open source developer, you can also apply to participate in the free license program for open Source Development License – Community Support and have two licenses in hand. 🤩
In addition to the above very practical benefits, Google is also providing annual Google I/O tickets, airfare, and hotel expenses (travel allowances) for eligible (officially assessed) Gdes, but due to the pandemic, the process has not been resumed.
Write in the last
First, of course, there are so many people to thank:
- Kun ge, the person who sent me the website of Flutter, my student who participated in OpenJMU construction with me;
- The space of law, the weakest big brother in the 🍬 group, took me to release my first package and participate in code collaboration for the first time;
- Justin, a Google employee who lives abroad, introduced me to Flutter Hackers and gave me professional and accurate guidance on the Flutter Framework.
- Xin Lei, the big hunk of Didi, the first person who took me to scrub, introduced me to participate in the contribution of CFUG;
- Brother Lu, The hermit cover The sky, maintain CN mirror and website, at The same time for our younger generation to guide The way forward, The best and always The best Luke!
- Low-key, your longe will always be your longe. I have deeply cooperated with many open source packages and can improve my various technical aspects.
- Yanbo, the first Flutter GDE in China, gave me a lot of reference suggestions and ideas;
- Lily, a Domestic Google DevRel who always puts our developers in the first place, provided me with a lot of help and answers in the process of applying for GDE and all the Activities related to Google.
- As well as members of the community, other friends and groups, who have given me encouragement and discipline for a long time, I have persevered until now and continue to face the Flutter technology with undiminished enthusiasm.
Secondly, I would like to share with you three points:
- The ability to draw inferences and self-reflection is a necessary condition for rapid improvement.
- Achievement is not to pretend to work hard to get, behind the scenery is always accompanied by unknown efforts and struggles, sometimes even need to sacrifice more;
- Solo work works most of the time when you’re strong, but walking with a partner broadens your path, allows you to see the world from a different perspective, and supplements your cognitive system.
The great truth is never out of date. Only when it is implemented on yourself can you feel the pleasure of progress.
Finally, if you have any questions about GDE or Flutter, feel free to let me know in the comments section, and join the most active Flutter group (FlutterCandies🍭) in direct contact with most of the country’s best Flutter writers (including me), Ollie give!
Looking forward to the next GDE, you.