Improving Your GitHub Developer Experience

<p>What are ways to improve how you’re using GitHub? How can you collaborate more effectively and improve your technical writing? This week on the show, Adam Johnson is back to talk about his new book, “Boost Your GitHub DX: Tame the Octocat and Elevate Your Productivity”.</p>
<p>Adam has written a series of books about improving developer experience (DX). In this episode, we dig into his newest book, which focuses on GitHub and how to get the most out of its features—from settings and keyboard shortcuts to hidden tools, CLI commands, and the command palette.</p>
<p>Adam also shares insights on the best ways to communicate on the platform. We discuss the nuances of GitHub-Flavored Markdown (GFM), best practices for effective communication in open source, the importance of maintaining civility in issue reports, and why he included a glossary of acronyms to help developers decode common shorthand like <code>LGTM</code> and <code>FTFY</code>.</p>
<p>This episode is sponsored by Honeybadger.</p>
<div class="alert alert-primary" role="alert">
<p><strong>Course Spotlight:</strong> <a href="realpython.com/courses/python-git-github-intro… to Git and GitHub for Python Developers</a></p>
<p>What is Git, what is GitHub, and what’s the difference? Learn the basics of Git and GitHub from the perspective of a Pythonista in this step-by-step video course.</p>
</div>
<p>Topics:</p>
<ul>
<li>00:00:00 – Introduction</li>
<li>00:02:20 – Why the focus on developer experience?</li>
<li>00:03:41 – Process of writing the book</li>
<li>00:06:26 – Filling in the gaps of knowledge</li>
<li>00:11:52 – GitHub-Flavored Markdown</li>
<li>00:16:00 – Sponsor: Honeybadger</li>
<li>00:16:47 – Acronym glossary</li>
<li>00:25:18 – GitHub command palette</li>
<li>00:28:35 – What questions did you want to answer?</li>
<li>00:29:42 – Whether to cover Copilot or not</li>
<li>00:36:14 – Video Course Spotlight</li>
<li>00:37:50 – Advice on working with coding agents</li>
<li>00:40:46 – Defining the scope</li>
<li>00:48:07 – GitHub pages and codespaces</li>
<li>00:50:46 – Finding the hidden features</li>
<li>00:51:53 – Data-oriented Django series</li>
<li>00:53:59 – How to find the book</li>
<li>00:54:51 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?</li>
<li>00:57:27 – What do you want to learn next?</li>
<li>00:58:00 – How can people follow your work online?</li>
<li>00:58:22 – Thanks and goodbye</li>
</ul>
<p>Show Links:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="adamj.eu/">Adam Johnson’s Website</a></li>
<li><a href="adamchainz.gumroad.com/l/byghdx?layout=profile… Your GitHub DX</a></li>
<li><a href="adamchainz.gumroad.com/l/bygdx">Boost Your Git DX</a></li>
<li><a href="github.github.com/gfm/">GitHub-Flavored Markdown (GFM) Spec</a></li>
<li><a href="cli.github.com/">GitHub CLI (gh)</a></li>
<li><a href="docs.github.com/en/get-started/accessibility/g… Command Palette - GitHub Docs</a></li>
<li><a href="docs.github.com/en/get-started/accessibility/k… shortcuts - GitHub Docs</a></li>
<li><a href="google.com/search?q=https://docs.github.com/en… Guide on Writing Great Issues</a></li>
<li><a href="docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates… Pull Request Templates</a></li>
<li><a href="docs.github.com/en/pages">GitHub Pages</a></li>
<li><a href="github.com/features/codespaces">GitHub Codespaces</a></li>
<li><a href="youtube.com/watch?v=gfPNeQR1aSc">Data-… Django - DjangoCon 2022 - YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="youtube.com/watch?v=_0F6fyI5u8w">Data-… Django Deux - DjangoCon Europe 2024 - YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="youtube.com/watch?v=L7WXcWuH21U&t=2s"… Django Drei - DjangoCon Europe 2025 - YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="docs.python.org/3.15/library/profiling.samplin… — Statistical profiler — Python 3.15.0a5 documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="bsky.app/profile/adamj.eu">Adam Johnson (@adamj.eu) — Bluesky</a></li>
<li><a href="fosstodon.org/@adamchainz">Adam Johnson (@adamchainz@fosstodon.org) - Fosstodon</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="realpython.com/courses/python-git-github-intro… to Git and GitHub for Python</a></li>
<li><a href="realpython.com/courses/set-up-django-project/&… to Set Up a Django Project</a></li>
<li><a href="realpython.com/courses/cicd-github-actions/&qu… Continuous Integration and Deployment Using GitHub Actions</a></li>
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