Stian Thorgersen is the author of Keycloak: Identity and Access Management for Modern Applications. 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.
I’ve been thinking for many years about writing a book on Keycloak, but never got around to it until I was contacted by Packt directly. As I’m the co-founder of Keycloak and have been on the projects since day 1, most of the content of the book comes directly from my head, and very little research was done while writing the book.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Combining a work and family life and writing the book was challenging at times. This was solved by dedicating evenings, as well as taking breaks from the book during weekends and holidays to keep myself sane. As this was my first book, I don’t have anything to compare with, but I found the Packt team helpful when I needed them. All in all, writing the book was a fairly smooth process.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Writing your first book is a big undertaking, but also very rewarding. Make sure the schedule you have for writing the book is realistic. Try to stick to the schedule, but when you need, take a break!
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Keycloak is gaining popularity by the day, and I see it becoming stronger and better as the community is growing. This is the first and only book dedicated to Keycloak at the moment. Other books on the market covering topics such as OAuth 2.0 and web application security are complementary rather than competing. So readers will gain a strong fundamental understanding of Keycloak with this one.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Mostly the Keycloak community, but I also pay attention to what’s going on in OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. I subscribe to a number of RSS feeds that I scan regularly for interesting topics. Some of the top ones include Infosecurity Magazine and The Hacher News.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Try to read a little bit every day to keep yourself up to date. Reading the occasional book on particularly interesting topics, while also reading shorter blogs and article will be helpful. The Keycloak documentation (https://www.keycloak.org) and blog (https://blog.keycloak.org) will help you keep up with Keycloak
You can find Stian’s book on Amazon
