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Generation Z Developers, again: what changed in v1.1.0
From v1.0.0 (2026-10-18, 392d2665b) to v1.1.0 (2026-10-18, 45f30a517), paragraph by paragraph.
27 paragraphs added, 9 removed, 3 changed in place, 33 unchanged. About 1,101 words added and 302 removed. Insertions are marked like this, deletions like this; unchanged runs are folded to one line; figures appear as their file names.
1 unchanged paragraph
Summary: 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 areall allhave 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 subtitlethorough review, an agent that saysinterviews whatme changed.as Keepits whateditor, held;quick sayiterations plainlyin what did not; fill each outline from the articles that answer it; addpublic, my handwritten notes, as the other books will; and publish it the way books from articles proposed, onthen 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.
6 unchanged paragraphs, under In short {#in-short}
• Keep the name. They are still Generation Z, and they are all developers now.
• Publish it the way books from articles proposed. With my handwritten notes, and a launch in Portugal.
• 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.
14 unchanged paragraphs, under The book {#book}, What it said {#said}, What held, and what did not {#then-and-now}…
The cover {#cover}
[figure gz-cover.webp] 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. | narrow | photo
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.
1 unchanged paragraph, under The name {#name}
The first question is whether to call it Generation Z, or something like Generation AI Developers. I think Generation Z Developers is still right, for two reasons. 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. And the play on the name works better now than it did: they are all developers. With agents, everyone who can describe what they want built is one.
So: keep the title, and let the subtitle carry the change, something like *Generation Z Developers, second edition: how to get into development, and get a job, with agents*.
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 {#roles}
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.
1 unchanged paragraph, under The second edition {#edition}
• Keep what held, corrected and finished, and the spelling fixed.
• Start with a thorough review. There are a lot of spelling mistakes, and more besides.
• Keep what held, corrected and finished.
3 unchanged paragraphs
• Add my handwritten notes. As with the other books, I have analogue notes for this one that I am happy to scan and publish alongside it.
How, and when {#how}
The method is the one in books from articles: map the chapters to articles, write the missing ones here first, assemble, and publish on Amazon KDP. I already have a KDP account and have published there before, so the shorter review for accounts with a published book applies. And this may be the right book to launch in Portugal: it is the one I would most like to hand to people starting out, and I will be in Lisbon for Web Summit, 9 to 12 November.
• 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 {#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 {#workflow}
• 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.
1 unchanged paragraph
The build brief is a note for the agentagents that makesmake it: Generation Z Developers, second edition. It is also on the briefs page.
3 unchanged paragraphs, under What this does not claim {#limits}
• Which book first is still open. Books from articles listed others; this one is a candidate for Portugal.
• 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.
3 unchanged paragraphs, under Where this comes from {#sources}
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.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.