Get a good microphone.
Get a webcam, even if it doesn't make sense people like to see a head.
Get plenty of monitor space so you can stream on one monitor and monitor chat and other things on the other.
Stream in 1080p, its the perfect balance between text looking ok and everyone being able to view it well with their internet connection.
I'd say be realistic and gear your streams to educating. If you think you need to make perfect code, you'll become frustrated when you simply don't know something. As good/evil as SO and Googling are to our ability to remember, its what we do.
There's also longer term goals like Handmade Hero on YouTube. Think about some long term 2 year project and start making it. Make the next Spotify or PUBG. While that being successful would be equally nice, the channel could also be the more successful item.
I’ve been streaming for a few weeks and had no viewers. A popular dev streamer told me it was the same for him for the first six months, and he was also building a large following elsewhere.
The things that I’ve settled into when streaming that I tack onto that wisdom:
-stream for at least 2-3 hours per session
-always double check your mic, I forget to unmute.
-downmix your mic to ensure you’re heard evenly
-noise gate and noise suppression are a must
-run obs on your pc but stream all of the code itself from vms. This solves most privacy problems and spares a lot of the common obs-on-screen issues you’ll see during streams. Also makes it easier to transition
-MAKE YOUR FONT BIGGER
-pay attention to chat! I’ve got 1440p monitors, so I keep my 1080p vm on the main screen and my chat / todo list stays on that as well
-set up notifications with stream labs (they’re fun and make people follow in cascades)
-pick reasonable stream titles. I’ve lost pretty much all of my viewers one stream due to a bad title
-consistency is king
-if you’re expecting undesirables, aggressively configure nightbot. Defaults and twitches built in mods will not be sufficient and white Supremecists will get around those settings easily.
I haven’t chosen to do a webcam but I know streamers can pull high enough views without them, so it’s just up to you and how consistent you want to be. I can share more of my experience if you like.
Twitch coding is the best and it prepares you for pair programming and whiteboard interviews where you have to talk while thinking through a problem.