The newest video in our Ask a Dev series discusses what's more important for an aspiring developer: a computer science degree or a great portfolio.
Andrew Frederick, an iOS engineer, explains that both a degree and professional experience are useful ways for a developer to gain skills. For instance, while you work towards a degree, you can have a development job, complete an internship or work on open-source projects to apply what you learn in the classroom to the profession.
See also: 6 Ways to Get a Tech Job Without a Tech Degree
"There's a lot that you can learn in school, and it's very valuable, but you can learn a whole lot more on your own," he says.
In the video, above, Frederick also shares tips on building a community around an open-source project. Picking a common problem to solve will create a great need for your solution, but it's the follow up — updating your code and fixing bugs — that really matters, he says: "If you allow bugs to pile up, it's the quickest way to lose community members."
Our developer experts are from Mutual Mobile, a leading development and design firm that builds mobile strategies for top companies such as Audi, Google and Citigroup. Their team is eager to answer your questions about mobile, so be sure to ping us with your top queries on Twitter, using #AskaDev. Also, don't forget to check out our Ask a Dev YouTube channel, and subscribe.
Homepage image: Flickr, John Walker