by Andrea Dooley | April 30, 2019 | 0
The Sociocultural Theory, developed by seminal psychologist Lev Vygotsky, argues that a person’s cognitive development is largely influenced by their surrounding culture, and that social interaction is the foundation for learning.
To test this theory, we recently partnered with Codeolio for a tech talk in which engineers shared their experiences and learnings with React Hooks in v16.8, Cron Jobs in Node.Js, Java to Kotlin and Compassionate Pull Requests. You can check out the full session here.
As someone who values a culture of learning and having the right platforms and tools to advance, Software Engineer Ayaz Uddin talked through his experience with React Hooks. “I try to study and learn new things every day and was excited to have the opportunity to talk about React Hooks. Public speaking is a daunting task for me; I tend to get pretty nervous in front of a large group, but my team gave me the confidence I needed. Coming out of the talk, I feel more empowered to continue learning, teaching and improving my public speaking skills.”
Despite initial apprehension, Lead Cloud Engineer Bryan Riley mustered the courage to discuss moving a Spring code base from Java to Kotlin. “The doubts increased in the days leading up to the event. I questioned if I was really an expert in Kotlin and why I thought people would respect my opinion. As much as I practiced, I didn’t feel any more confident, until I developed my intro: ‘I am Bryan Riley. Lead Cloud Engineer for InRhythm and Coach.’ It helped me reflect on my journey, starting as mid level developer in an area where I lacked experience and performance testing. Now, I’m responsible for amplifying the skills of the people around me. Throughout my time at InRhythm I’ve had the necessary support to get to get me to where I am now, which is a comfortable public speaker and technical advice giver.”
Because Pull Requests (PRs) are the backbone of open source software development, they allow contributions by anyone, from anywhere. They are a vital form of communication, even within a localized development team working on proprietary software. During the event, Senior Director of Engineering Brian Olore discussed how approaching Pull Requests with compassion and collaboration yield the most productive work.
“When it comes to reviewing PRs, your role as a developer changes from problem solver to solution reviewer. It’s important to remember that as a reviewer, you are in a position of power. The requester is essentially at your mercy. Will you be ruthless? Or will you be kind? In my experience, it’s the people that show compassion and are willing to guide the requester that get the most useful and productive work done. Treat each Pull Request as an opportunity for a collaborative conversation.”
Fostering a culture of continuous knowledge sharing is crucial for an organization to attract and retain talent. InRhythmU is designed for consultants, clients and the technical community to share invaluable information for various technologies and coding habits, with the goal to help those who attend become better in their field.
To attend an upcoming InRhythm events and connect with our community, click here.
