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Generation Z Developers, again: the 2018 book that said act like you are part of the company, what it got right, and a second edition for the people I want to help

Source: newsroom.sgit.ai/articles/generation-z-developers-again.html, by Dinis Cruz, published 2026-10-18, article v1.1.1, part 3 of 6 of the series The Generation Z Developers book (tag gen-z-book). Captured verbatim on 2026-10-18 for this repository; the site chrome, the series list and the LinkedIn and subscribe notes are left out. Links to other newsroom articles are made absolute.

Abstract: In 2018 I wrote a book called Generation Z Developers, key concepts and ideas for the next generation of developers. It is on Leanpub, 60% complete, last updated on 8 October 2018, read by 465 people, and it is also on Amazon. It was a decent book, full of spelling mistakes, and a lot of what I write about now is already in it, as chapter outlines: pioneers, settlers and town planners, graphs, your future self, publishing, GitHub as your CV; and, in a finished chapter, the advice to act like you are part of the company you want to work for. Of its 138 files, 90 are still outlines. I think the time is right for a second edition, because the outlines have since been written, as articles on this site. This is the plan. Keep the name, because the people it is for are still Generation Z and they all have to be developers now, and date the edition October 2026. Frame it with Wardley's explorers, villagers and town planners. Do it first, before the other books: a thorough review, an agent that interviews me as its editor, quick iterations in public, my handwritten notes, and then Amazon, where I already publish, with a launch in Portugal. It is the book I would most like to hand to the people I am trying to help: here is the manual for getting into development, and here is the manual for getting a job.

The figure, as published: From the 2018 book to the 2026 articles. On the left, chapters of Generation Z Developers: five left as outlines in 2018 (pioneers, settlers and town planners; graphs; your future self; publish, publish, publish; GitHub as your CV) and two that were written (machine learning and AI; open source). On the right, the newsroom articles that have since written each one: software vendors as villagers and explorer coding; the graphs books and search as navigation; bringing my past work back; your own newsroom; act as the job you want; hired for the workflow; the fork next door. Of the book's 138 files, 90 are still outlines.

In short

  • I wrote Generation Z Developers in 2018. On Leanpub at 60%, and on Amazon.
  • Much of what I write now is in it. Mostly as outlines: 90 of its 138 files.
  • The outlines have since been written. As articles on this site.
  • So it is time for a second edition. For the people I want to help into development and into a job.
  • Keep the name, and date the edition: October 2026. They are still Generation Z, and they all have to be developers now.
  • Frame it with explorers, villagers and town planners. And explain Wardley maps properly.
  • Do this book first. Review it, interview me, iterate in public, publish on KDP, launch in Portugal.

The book

Generation Z Developers, subtitled "Key concepts and ideas for the next generation of developers", is on Leanpub at 60% complete, 136 pages and 30,695 words, last updated on 8 October 2018, with 465 readers. It is also on Amazon, and its source is on GitHub, in Book_Generation_Z_Developer. I wrote it the way it told readers to work: in Markdown, in Git, in public, published early and often, with GitHub issues for feedback.

It was a decent book. It was also full of spelling mistakes, and a lot of it was never finished.

What it said

It opened with why I was worried about Generation Z, "the generation born after 1996": not their values, which I liked, but that, having grown up with technology that simply works, many had missed the history of how it came to work. And it had one chapter that I still give, almost word for word, to people looking for a job:

The best way to get a job is to have ONE competitive advantage. One activity or task that you can do better than the person or company hiring you.

For a lot of companies in the 1990s, it said, that was simply using a computer, and in the 2000s, using the internet. Then the advice: "Act like you are part of the company", by collaborating on its open-source projects, which is act as the job you want, eight years early.

On AI, it said: "One of the most important areas that you need to gain a strong understanding in the next 5 years is Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)." ChatGPT arrived four years later.

What held, and what did not

What held. The competitive-advantage argument is exactly hired for the workflow: today the one advantage is running agentic workflows. Act like you are part of the company. Publish, publish, publish. GitHub as your CV. Write for your future self. Pioneers, settlers and town planners, which became software vendors as villagers and explorer coding.

What did not. The book's list of technologies to learn, Jira, WallabyJs, AWS's machine-learning services, has dated, as such lists do. Its AI chapter pointed readers at cloud machine-learning tools to learn "how to program it"; the bigger shift turned out to be learning how to use it, and how to direct agents, which is a different skill from building models. And its view of who is a developer was narrower than it should have been: today anyone who can brief an agent to build something is one.

The outlines have been written

The most interesting thing in the repository is what is not finished. Of its 138 files, 90 are outlines: a title, "Topics to cover and ideas", and a few bullet points. Life patterns: 21 of 27 are outlines. Concepts: 26 of 27. Security: all 8. Your CV: 8 of 9.

Reading them now, many are briefs that this newsroom has since written as articles, without my planning it. "Future self", whose outline says to create assets that will be useful for him or her, is bringing my past work back. "Publish, publish, publish" is your own newsroom. "Graphs" is the graphs books and search as navigation. "GitHub is your CV" is act as the job you want. Even chapters that were written have newer answers: the one on open source now has the fork next door. That is the material for a second edition, and it is why I feel I now have enough to have a go.

The cover

The printed early release of Generation Z Developers, September 2018: "Key concepts and ideas for the next generation of developers", and seven lines on the cover: question everything; make fact based decisions; understand the history of tech; learn how to learn; understand what game is being played; develop intellectual curiosity; shake things up. Creative Commons BY, with the repository's address. Photographed by Dinis.

I still have the printed early release, from September 2018. Its cover says what the book was for, in seven lines: question everything; make fact based decisions; understand the history of tech; learn how to learn; understand what game is being played; develop intellectual curiosity; shake things up. I would keep all seven. They read more urgently now than they did then.

The name

The first question was whether to call it Generation Z Developers, or Generation AI Developers, or Generation Z professionals or workers. I like the word developer, and I think it is more right now than in 2018, because this generation all have to be developers: they all have to create. The first book said they needed to know Git and version control, spreadsheets, automation, even Slack. The problem was that there was no easy way in. I was giving advice, and the bar of entry was very high. Now it is very low. You could even give this book to Claude and say: teach this person, give them the workflows, one at a time.

And the people I want to give it to, those coming out of university or looking for their first or next job, are still Generation Z: the oldest were 22 when I wrote it, and are 30 now. It is not only for them. A target helps, and it also tells everyone else: learn this, or be outcompeted by the people who have. Generation Z is the generation entering the job market now, and in Europe in particular I think they are being fed a lot of fear about AI, and are not embracing it the way they should.

So: keep the title, and mark the edition with its date, October 2026, because what it describes is the agentic workflow as I run it now, which will change.

Explorers, villagers and town planners

If everyone is a developer, the better question is what kind. Simon Wardley's answer, first as pioneers, settlers and town planners and since 2023 as explorers, villagers and town planners, gives the book its frame: the explorer who builds something new and rough, the villager who makes it work for others, the town planner who turns it into something everyone can rely on. Where do you fit, and where do you want to? The 2018 book had this as an outline, and mentioned Wardley mapping once. This edition can explain Wardley maps properly, because it is now something people starting out need to know, and it makes a good narrative to hang the visualisations and infographics on.

The second edition

  • Start with a thorough review. There are a lot of spelling mistakes, and more besides.
  • Keep what held, corrected and finished.
  • Say what did not, in a short "then and now" for each chapter that changed.
  • Fill each outline from the newsroom articles that answer it, rewritten for this reader.
  • Add a part on working with agents: explorer coding, your own newsroom, the man behind the curtain, hired for the workflow, act as the job you want.
  • Add a part on how the book itself was made. We already have chapters on that, in the graphs books; consolidate them. How we write it is itself an example of the workflow it teaches.
  • Lots of pictures, infographics and experiments. It should be easy to read, and easy to do.
  • Add my handwritten notes. I have a printed copy at home with my notes in it; if I cannot find it, I will read the book again and comment as I go.

Why this one first

I want to do more books, on the graphs among others. But this one probably has enough content and material already, and because one version is already published, we can build on the back of it: fix it, do a much better release, and publish it as a new version on Amazon. It is a good target: something I can focus on, iterate on quickly, release, and move on. If the workflow works, a new version of Hacking Portugal can follow the same way.

And it is the book I want to give people. Every time I meet someone and ask: do you know about Wardley maps? Do you have an agentic workflow? I want to be able to hand them this.

How it gets made

  • A new repository for the edition, where the agentic workflow is mapped as it runs.
  • The roles: a reviewer, an editor and a publisher, at least. The graphs books already have seven roles, one folder each, and the shelf and reading pages already exist, so most of the technology and the interface is there.
  • An editor who interviews me. We have done this once: for ten hard questions for RiskMandate, Claude acted as a journalist with an eye for detail and challenged every answer for two hours until the set was coherent. Here the agent acts as the book's editor: it interviews me on each topic, challenges what I say, and from that we arrive at the book's narrative.
  • Quick iterations, in public. Publish early versions on Leanpub, post them on LinkedIn, get interviews and feedback, and release new versions. The first edition asked for feedback through GitHub issues; this one can act on it within days.
  • Then Amazon KDP , the way books from articles sets out. I already have a KDP account and have published there before, so the shorter review for accounts with a published book applies. And I will be in Lisbon for Web Summit, 9 to 12 November, which makes this a good book to launch in Portugal.

It is the book I would give, literally, to the people I am trying to help: here is the manual for getting into development, and here is the manual for getting a job.

The build brief is a note for the agents that make it: Generation Z Developers, second edition. It is also on the briefs page.

What this does not claim

  • Nothing of the second edition is written. This is the plan.
  • The outline-to-article map is a first reading. Not every outline has an article, and not every article fits.
  • Doing this one first is a choice, not a commitment. The graphs books and Hacking Portugal follow if the workflow works.
  • Fear about AI among young Europeans is my reading. Not a measured result.
  • The Amazon listing was not read for this article. The repository links it, and I publish there.

If you would have wanted this book when you started, or want it now, tell me what it should have in it: write to agent@riskmandate.ai.

Where this comes from

A voice memo from me on 18 October 2026. The book's Leanpub page, read that day for its completeness, length, readers and date; its repository, cloned and read, every file counted, with the quotations taken from its chapters on Generation Z, how to get a job and machine learning; and my photo of the printed early release. A second voice memo, the same day, on doing this book first. Simon Wardley on pioneers, settlers and town planners and explorers, villagers and town planners. The interview method: ten hard questions for RiskMandate; the roles: graphs.sgit.ai. Related: act as the job you want, hired for the workflow, books from articles, bringing my past work back, software vendors as villagers, explorer coding, your own newsroom. Written up and checked by this site's agent, newsroom.writer; the editorial responsibility is mine.