post.phd from domain theory Text to software development...where the rubber meets the road? March 30, 2011 Mikkel Nygaard Ravn

Transcription

1 post.phd from domain theory Text to software development...where the rubber meets the road? March 30, 2011 Mikkel Nygaard Ravn

2 Theme Becoming valuable as a software professional

3 Talk outline A brief timeline The making of a valuable software professional Leaving academia First job interview Projects and processes Time to move on Products and responsibility Choice of career path Summary

4 Timeline Undergraduate studies at Daimi PhD studies supervised by Glynn Winskel Domain theory for concurrency Systems engineer at Systematic Software Engineering Mission-critical systems 2006-present Software developer and architect at CLC bio Bioinformatics

5 Leaving academia Decision made in early 2002 after 2½ years of more-or-less fruitless work two papers accepted in quick succession Sorting out my priorities I need frequent feed-back I want to work closely with colleages I want to build something... that other people would care about

6 First job interview At Systematic Software Engineering, Aarhus, Autumn 2003 Only marginally successful got the job, but as a software tester, not developer Interview questions Q: How much industrial experience do you have with xxx? A: None (...but I read a book about it) Honesty is vital, but no excuse for not preparing Many study activities are relevant as experience Easy to get tech experience, e.g. use of source control system Interview goal: to get to know one another If they don't know you, they can't put you in the right place

7 Projects and processes Systematic : testing, software development practical experience, complementing theoretical basis Projects command&control system (NATO airforces) health care system (Danish counties) Processes requirements tracking, test design, test planning, acceptance testing, test automation,... requirements specification, software design, documentation, estimation, programming, reviews,... quality assurance, risk management, configuration management

8 Time to move on Systematic, autumn 2006 large, formal projects tend to make people small discrepancy of views on software development Software development much like manufacturing... or more like learning? Software developers replaceable and interchangeable, blue-collar workers... or unique professionals?

9 Time to move on Coding a semi-mechanical process turning detailed designs into running software... or the process by which requirements are ultimately understood? Code a finished, static part of the end product... or a living, dynamic description of customers' needs? Refactoring wasteful gold-plating, disrespective of earlier work, stealing... or the means by which the code stays understandable?

10 Products and responsibility CLC bio, 2006-present: software development and architecture Products Swiss-army knife of bioinformatics Aims to be the preferred tool for end-users Long-term, strategic goals Responsibility Customer needs are analyzed and prioritized Developers are given the freedom to plan, execute, and improve software development, as they see fit, to meet those needs... along with the responsibility to deliver high-quality software in a timely manner, repeatedly

11 Choice of career path CLC bio, 2009: become a project manager? A recurring bad theme good developers tend to be promoted away from development, becoming architects, business analysts, or managers If programming is learning... architects need feed-back from code to framework design analysts need feed-back from code to requirements work managers should cultivate a learning climate Software development as a career path architects also code pre-sales activities and prototyping mentoring, coaching, technical leadership

12 You are uniquely qualified to become valuable as a software professional But it doesn't happen by itself You need to put yourself in a position where customers may reap the benefits of your (Daimi) PhD