There is a reason software development shops are great: we’re a melting pot of talent. At Software for Good, we have a plethora of individuals who all bring their own unique skills and talents to the table. (Don’t touch the hot plate!)
Recently I’ve taken over as lead on a project that is being used by some larger companies. It’s both exciting and intimidating to see something I’ve worked on for weeks become viewable on the public internet. However, I can’t take full credit for getting the project to where it is today.
I am not primarily a front end developer (HTML/CSS, the stuff you see when you load a webpage). I have a strong mobile background in both iOS and Android, and over the past few years I have been strengthening my Rails and JavaScript skills. There is a snowball’s chance in hell that I could have gotten this project done on time without the help of some other developers here at Software for Good. Shannon put down a great HTML & CSS foundation, and from there, I was able to start injecting AngularJS. Kyle mixed in some code to enable a fixed header and scrolling wp-content beneath, along with custom scrollbars for a consistent UI across all browsers. Sara did some QA testing. Nearing the end, Evan helped me to debug a few browser specific issues (yes, all IE related). All the while, I was working on the Rails backend, pushing out wp-content updates via Faye.
You have to be skilled to mix talent. You can’t just slam a bunch of developers in a room and expect better code and faster code production. Think about it: It takes a woman 9 months to make a baby, but 9 women can’t make a baby in 1 month. That’s not a totally accurate parallel to software development, but it gets the point across. Some pieces allow for only one person at a time, and adding more people won’t help. For a lot of projects, it helps to be able to break them up into smaller pieces and work on them simultaneously. Breaking things up takes planning and coordination, though. We don’t just all rush off in different directions.
The individual developers at Software for Good are great, and combined we are even better. But why stop there? Early this year, we announced that we’ve brought on space-loving Jamey Erickson, and we’re expanding out our Digital Solutions Team. With each additional team member, we’re expanding out our skill sets, bringing in more parts, and becoming a better whole.
Need a team to help you achieve your goals? Develop cancer vaccines? Manage instruments donated to public schools? We’ve got one right here.
Want to join our team? We’re looking for some top-notch software developers and engineers.Seriously. Start the conversation: info@softwareforgood.com