February 2013

Code Evolution: Contact Form (part 2) – A2LAMP

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On Saturday, February 16th, 2013, I talked my way through setting up the same sort of contact form we set up in Code Evolution: Contact Form (part 1) using Silex instead of creating our own framework. There was a lot of invaluable discussion around the room about the value frameworks bring to the table as well.

For code reference, you can see where we started from, and what the code looked like when we were finished.

Related links:

Why you want my old job

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So, for those of you who haven't heard, I have put in my notice at my current place of employment (the Democratic Communications at Michigan State Senate) and taken a position with Mashery effective March 4th.

Needless to say, I am really excited, but it does put my current team in quite a predicament, because they really need a developer!

So let's talk about the elephant in the room, shall we?

The reasoning behind why I am taking a new job is multifaceted, but essentially it boils down to it feeling like it was time to look at what else was out there. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on here, and a ton of benefits, but nothing I was truly passionate about anymore.

About those benefits

The benefits here are great. 5+ weeks of PTO, great insurance, 401k matching, the list goes on and on. And that's just the standard benefits. Let's look at a few of the technical benefits:

  1. You get to pick your own platform for new projects -- as the only developer, you decide how to solve the problems handed to you.
  2. You get to work with an awesome team -- everyone here "gets it." The people you will work with here are skillful and creative, and understand how the art/science mesh of things work.
  3. You get to solve actual pain points for actual people -- most of your users are in the office, or next door. Real people that you can see as much (or usually as little) as you like. Building software that you can see the impact of directly is very cool.

The down sides

As with everything, there's some "less awesome" pieces of the job as well.

  1. It's on-site in Lansing, Michigan. No remotesies.
  2. You will be the only full time developer on staff. While that gives you a lot of freedom, if you can't actually swim, you will want to stay out of this water. There is nobody else to blame when your project isn't done on time.
  3. There are on very rare occasions (2-3 times per year, we will say) some very tight deadlines. New websites going up in a matter of days. Usually the scope on these is kept fairly tight however.

The skill set required

Realistically, you need to be able to handle everything involved with building a website beyond the html/css. You will have to set up vhosts in Apache, and understand the basic workings of source control (we're set up with git and bitbucket). Deployment strategies are varied --  new stuff uses capifony and capistrano while older stuff deploys via FTP or (and I'm very very sorry) issuing a git pull on the live directory structure.

Current projects you will maintain will involve Symfony 1.4 (current CMS), Symfony 2 (some internal tools), and Silex (other external sites). Future projects can use... whatever you care to use, provided you're not intentionally leaving a pile of junk for the next person to pick up.

You will be given all the rope you need to hang yourself many times over, so you have to really be self-reliant on completing your projects, as there is nobody else here who can do your job, for better or worse.

Interested? Check out the job posting on LinkedIn for more information.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, or just ask in the comment area below!

Looking back: Sunshine PHP 2013

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Warning: there is some name dropping. Okay, a lot of it. The only goal of it is to try and convey the extreem importance of attending smaller conferences like Sunshine PHP. Close knit communities in tight quarters breed very interesting opportunities to talk to people you normally might not have a chance to. Take advantage of it every chance you get.

First, show up early

If at all possible, come in the day before the event. Not only will you wake up rested for the conference, but you can take part in pre-conference festivities. The night before the conference, a rather large group of us all went out to dinner together. In no particular order (and please forgive me if I have left anyone out, or added anyone, it has been quite a few days): Jim Ruga, John Kary, Brian Fenton, Jeff Carouth, Sebastian Bergmann, Anthony Ferarra, Matt Davis, Damon Jones, Matt Frost, Beth Tucker-Long (and her family), and Lonnie Brown.

Now even if you're not super community savvy, a few of those names should stick out like a very sore thumb.

Second, don't forget the hallway track

I know, I know. You're excited to go see all the speakers give their talks. By all means, if there are talks that look like they absolutely cannot be missed, then go watch them! However, don't forget that you will likely be missing a rare opportunity to sit down and have a (near) one-on-one conversation with someone you normally may not run into. I lost count of the number of times I saw Cal Evans and Paul M. Jones talking at a table with a couple empty chairs, or Anthony Ferarra, or any number of people. If there's someone you want to be able to have a prolonged conversation with, look out for them between talks and talk to them.

Third, be actively involved

The more you participate in the conference, the more you will get out of it. Join the hackathon, play jeopardy, or just Drink With Friends(tm) (seriously, how is that NOT a game yet??). Introduce yourself. Break out of your shell. As out of place as you feel, others feel the same and are just hoping someone comes and talks to them. If you talk first, then you don't have to wait so long! Want to meet someone but not feeling up to introducing yourself? Come find me (or, if I'm not there, ping me on twitter and I'll try to find someone to help you!) and I will go do the "hard awkward part" of the initial introduction.

Seriously. The PHP community is an amazing group of people. If you love the community, it will love you back. I'm not just talking about the publicly visible members, I'm talking about everyone. Each and every one of us contributes to the community in our own way, and it needs all of us to thrive. Coming to events like Sunshine PHP helps to foster the community feeling, because people stop being these faceless nicknames. It makes it easier to communicate with people online, and helps you feel like less of an "impostor" at future events, as instead of simply going to a conference, you get to go see your friends again!