Saurabh Badhwar is the author of Web Development with Django 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?
Saurabh: I was first reached out by Packt for authoring the first book on Building Enterprise Applications with Python 3. This was a time when I used to write informally over my personal blog and share my experiments.
Book authoring was the next-level challenge. The editors introduced me to what they are trying to achieve, and from there trusted me to take the best decision for the content. This was the start of an exciting journey that was about to come.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Saurabh: Web Development with Django: A definitive guide to building modern Python web applications using Django 4, 2nd Edition
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Saurabh: The research spanned over 2-3 months and tapped into not just the new sources, but also tapping back into my existing experience while using Python, the good parts of the language, and areas where people feel the pain. All of this transformed into the content that went into the book.
Q: What key takeaways do you want readers to come away with from the book?
Saurabh: I would suggest the readers focus on:
- Getting familiar with web development with Django.
- Learn the design patterns from basic to advance and perform the hands-on implementation.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites, and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Saurabh: Sure thing! https://djangobook.com/
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Saurabh: The majority of the challenges faced were around the presentation of the content such that it is accessible to the broader audience, who may be coming from different perspectives. To overcome this, I worked with my friends, family, and the editorial team who helped a lot in reshaping the text, providing feedback, and helping iterate to bring out the best possible content.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Saurabh: Working with Packt has been a great experience. Closing partnering with the editorial team, working on refining the texts and the consistent interactions to drive the best possible outcomes for our readers. Working with Packt has been a journey I cherish and wish to continue in future
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Saurabh: While a lot of books focus on introducing some concepts of the development phase, this book is comprehensive, and provides an end to end knowledge base with exercise which you can follow step by step.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Saurabh: Software Development
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Saurabh: I would just suggest that the book provides a very comprehensive introduction. Follow from Chapter 1 and just gradually build up to the last.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Saurabh: Python is one of the most famous languages in the world. From quick projects to sophisticated systems, all of them can be architected in Python with the right set of tools and knowledge in hold. From what I feel, Python is already large and is going to become even larger, generating a much wider impact.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Saurabh: Most of the time is well divided between balancing my personal life, office work and authoring. Most of the time, I try to dedicate the first two hours of my day to authoring and then switch over to office work and spend a good chunk of personal time with friends and family in the evening.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Saurabh: Hackernews Discussion Forums
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Saurabh: Read before you write. Reading is going to bring you all the different perspectives, the way people present the stories, and how they make them comprehensible.
You can find Saurabh’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
