So you're working with me? Great! Here's how to avoid being endlessly frustrated.
- I'm a full stack web developer. That means I do front end coding, back end API & services coding, databases, and a little bit of dev ops / infrastructure.
- My prefered stack is React for front end work (also it's sibling Preact, and it's cousin NextJS); Go & Python for back end work; Postgres, SQLite or Cassandra for database work; and AWS for infrastructure.
- I hate the Javascript ecosystem. Webpack and Babel are the worst.
- When I started doing this, dev ops meant (maybe) configuring a Linux kernel, configuring Apache, and configuring MySQL. It's gotten a lot more complicated.
- I have a resume
- I'm generally "in the office" (whether that means working from home, or some other building) from around 8:30 until around 4:30. Some days (particularly days that involve a commute), I may need to shift my schedule an hour or two earlier (say, 7:00 to 3:00)
- I like an early lunch. If you make me wait until after 1:00 for lunch, I'll be hangry. You won't like it when I'm hangry
- I like solving problems. I don't necessarily like operationalizing the solutions. Feel free to call me on that.
- I can get protective of my code. Definitely call me on that.
- I like to challenge assumptions. That doesn't mean I'm criticizing; it just means I'm trying to understand the underlying problem.
- I'm bad at documentation. So is everyone else.
- I get heads down when I'm working on a project, and don't always come up for air. I'm not ignoring you, I just forgot to check in. If you need my attention, DM or @ me on Slack. Unless I'm AFK, that little ding will get my attention.
- That said, don't initiate a Slack conversation with "Hey" or some such. I don't want to sit and stare at Slack while you type out your actual question. Just tell me what it is you want up front.
- Email is the worst. I check email first thing in the morning, and maybe again after lunch. It's mostly garbage, so I may just skip right past something that's not garbage.
- I much prefer face to face communication. When we're not in the same physical space, Zoom is an adequate substitute.
- I love whiteboards. Drawing pictures or just spatially organizing text is super useful for me. I've never found a decent software implementation of this, which is one of the reasons I prefer face to face rather than Zoom.
- If you ask me a question while I'm in the middle of something else, it may take me a moment to set aside what I'm working on and focus on you. I'll probably ask you to repeat your question.