Olatunde Adedji is the author of Full-Stack Flask and React we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Olatunde: Sometime in October 2021, I reached out to Packt through their website with a book title proposal, and by early Nov. 2021, Apurv Desai reached out to me for a video meeting to discuss more about the book proposal. Our call went well with Bhavya Rao, my eventual Product Manager in attendance as well. We then eventually worked together on the book proposal, outlining the scope, objectives, and the unique perspective I could offer. After some discussions and revisions, they saw the potential in the project and decided to collaborate with me.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Olatunde: Full-Stack Flask and React: Learn, code, and deploy powerful web applications with Flask 2 and React 18
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Olatunde: I began by reviewing existing books, articles, Flask and React documentations. These materials helped me to understand the current state of the knowledge, identify gaps, and refine the scope of my book. In addition to theoretical research, I spent a significant amount of time working on practical projects related to the topic. This hands-on experience allowed me to test concepts, troubleshoot issues, and develop a thorough understanding of the subject matter.
Q: Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Olatunde: Yes! you can visit my blog at www.olatundeadedeji.com
Q: What key takeaways do you want readers to come away with from the book?
Olatunde: I want my readers to be able to demystify complex concepts in React and Flask, and ultimately shine in their workplaces.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Olatunde: Yes, they can leverage on platforms like Hackernoon.com, Medium.com and of course Packtpub.com
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Olatunde: Adapting to the editorial style was a huge struggle and confusion for me. But I was lucky to have patient and understanding editors all through the journey. Also, at some point, I was just tired and wanted to give up. There were times when reviewers were taking longer time for feedback and there were times when inspiration to push further was lacking. But I got the needed encouragement from friends and family. And knowing how impactful the book would be eventually made the challenges less of a pain.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Olatunde: I would say aspiring authors need to have the right book ideas and the strength to cruise through the rigor of a book proposal approval. Once that huddle is crossed, the Packt team will support all the way to the finishing end. Personally, I struggled with formatting using the Packt styles guide. So, yes I will sure recommend Packt to aspiring authors.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Olatunde: Certainly, while you can readily find books on React and Flask individually, it’s quite rare to stumble upon a book that specifically addresses the integration of these two technologies. It is my strong belief that this book could be a valuable resource for developers, students, and professionals looking to leverage on the integration of React with Flask.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Olatunde: Well, I’m primarily a full-stack web developer. I’ve had the opportunity to work extensively with a range of technologies, including Python, React, Node.js, and even Golang. It’s the diversity of these technologies that keeps my work exciting and challenging.
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Olatunde: React has a strong and active community. It’s likely to continue evolving and gaining traction in web development. As long as Python remains popular, Flask will continue to thrive.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Olatunde: React is the Royce Rolls of frontend development and Python is at the heart of AI. These tech stacks are the present and future of web development!
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Olatunde: Yes, I belong to PythonNigeria, the Python software community and Data Science Forum, OAU.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Olatunde: Knowing that time is a universal constraint, I always try to do less of procrastination!
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Olatunde: Oh, I spend quite some appreciable time with programming language and framework documentation as the only source of truth.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, mention them below.
Olatunde: You can reach out to me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olatundeadedeji and Twitter: https://twitter.com/OAAdedeji
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Olatunde: I would say when you lack the motivation to write, simply decide to start with the introduction.
You can find Olatunde’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
