Today I'm Lighting One Candle For Street-Smart Coding, My First Book

28 Oct 2026 #coding #bookwriting

One year ago, writing a book felt like a distant goal.

Today, Street-Smart Coding turns 1 year old.
It’s the book I wish I had when starting out as a coder.
A roadmap with 30 lessons to build skills that last a career.
From the most conventional to the most unexpected.

I wrote it for my younger self Googling “how to get better at coding.”

Street-Smart Coding became a book series

After one year, Street-Smart Coding became the second book in a 4-part series.

I wrote a prequel, Street-Smart Coding Manifesto, and I’m working on a sequel, Street-Smart Coding in the Age of AI.
I already have plans for a final career guide.

Those four will be my attempt to pass on everything I’ve learned about coding, and nobody taught me.

What I would do differently

Street-Smart Coding made me learn to write a book the hard way.

I missed some steps writing it.
And, of course, today I’d do a couple of things differently:

1. I’d write a shorter introduction.
2. I’d rewrite Chapter 1 to make it timeless. The principle is there: find your own answers. But I framed it using Google, which is not as relevant in these days of AI as it was years ago.
3. I’d start writing it backwards.

Writing a book taught me a whole lot about writing, publishing, and marketing.
But more importantly, it gave me the confidence to call myself a writer.

Some random numbers

Unless you write a New York Times best-seller, you won’t live off a single book.

But if someone outside your circle buys your books, it’s already a success.
Street-Smart Coding is a huge success.

In the last year, it’s sold 92 ebook copies via Gumroad, and 9 Kindle and 2 paperback copies via Amazon.
It passed 100 copies in its first year.

Apart from sales, it earned me my first hater.
Someone called me “b*tch” for promoting it.
And it helped me define my category of one.
Someone called me the “Street-Smart Coding guy” in a comment.
Since then, I’ve made it my bio everywhere online.

Apart from my daily blog, Street-Smart Coding is the project I’m the most proud of.

One year later, I’d still recommend it to my younger self. If you want to code smarter and build real-world skills that last a career, grab your copy of Street-Smart Coding today.