Things I Think Are Cool: Merge Conflict Podcast
Things I Think Are Cool is a blog series where I talk about things I have found interesting and helpful. They can be time savers, productivity tools, podcasts, books, products, or even people.
I know I can't multi-task. Whenever I'm working - I turn off notifications, kill all unnecessary apps, and do my best to focus on the task at hand.
However - there are times when I can multi-task ... and that's when I'm commuting, or cutting the grass, or working out. Instead of listening to music - I listen to podcasts.
It fills the time, I learn something, and I get to say I am able to multi-task!
In this week's Things I Think Are Cool I want to talk about a podcast I make sure I catch every week ... Merge Conflict.
Why It's Cool
There are no shortage of software development related podcasts out there ... but there seems to be a shortage of ones that I like to listen to regularly, and Merge Conflict fits the bill as one that I listen to every week.
It's hosted by James Montemagno and Frank Krueger - both of whom I'm sure you've heard of before as their mobile development credentials precede them.
James is, for all intents and purposes, the face of Xamarin. He's everywhere. If you've ever seen an official Xamarin presentation - it was probably given by James. Plus the guy may be the most prolific author of cross platform libraries out there...
Frank writes apps that I wouldn't think are possible, much less even know where to start to write them. Check out Continuous - it's a C# IDE that runs on the iPad! Frank was also behind the app that caused the biggest Xamarin news at Microsoft Build ... the Xamarin Live Player.
So it's no wonder that these two, with all of their mobile development chops, would produce a very interesting podcast - especially for those of us interested in Xamarin.
But it does cover more than just mobile development. And that might be the thing I like the most.
There have been episodes on pure development topics - such as asynchronous programming and compilers. Episodes on security... Disaster Recovery... Virtual Reality and so on. Some topics are more interesting than others, at least to me, but not everybody can dig on 3D printing.
Make no mistake - mobile development is always front and center - but it's not the only topic.
It was the 2 hosts & their reputation as mobile development experts that got me listening - and it's the variety of the episodes that keep me coming back.
How Do I Get It?
The podcast can be found on any number of podcast services - the best way is to go their website and grab the one that suits you.