Don’t know if my office counts a large, its only 45-50 people, open plan office, we can all see everyone. But here goes:
Monday: get it, its metal monday, the jukebox is blazing away metal tracks because…
Chat to the team lead who sits next to me, we are a two man team working on the back end services. Last week I was working on the IAP module and it almost worked. iOS builds were great, but android is broken, that is my task for the week
The other teams have their stand up meetings, the producer, head of design is there, the discuss what they are doing for the week.
At 11, there is the weekly update on what is going on in the office: new fridge, visitors from London, etc, etc
Head down and I get to work
Wednesday: I have been banging my head against the $%%^$$# IAP code and it just won’t work! I have got the head of QA to test the IAP with his accounts, we have asked London to update some settings on the google accounts settings, it still doesn’t work. I take a break and work on a different feature for a day or two.
Friday: I have sorted out the session management code, now if someone tries to login with two mobile devices at the same time, only one is permitted. Its a annoying security flaw & I’m glad its cleared. I tick it off in the tracking software and go back to the IAP code. The QA head has given me his password so I can check the settings on the google portal. He also says that he managed to get an IAP working once. So I give it another try.
I test the IAP, still failing the same error. On a hunch, I create a new user on the phone and use the QA head’s account. I then test the IAP again. IT WORKS!!!!!
I make a couple of scribbles notes on my google docs to remind me what I did, so I don’t forget when I get back in, then I go for lunch happy.
Friday afternoon, the entire office goes out to watch ‘Solo: a Star Wars Story’, because we are all a massive bunch of geeks and the management agreed to treat us (we don’t watch movies every week).
Friday evening is spent chatting at the pub and enjoying the exceptionally good weather we are having.
I didn’t finish the IAP’s this week, but I did clear one task, and I think the problem is now solved. So when I get back to the office I will be testing again, updating the wiki on a step by step process on setting up the IAP and testing it, so that QA can verify it works ok. Next week will start with the stand up, a plan for the week, lots more work, and a show and tell at the end of the week. I might show the IAP’s working, but its not that interesting compared to the incredible stuff that the graphics programmer and VFX guys get up to (explosions galore).
But overall thats what a week is like. Work, communication, some weeks we have playtests, the jukebox playing in the background, a lot of hard work, a team of incredibly talented and passionate developers. Some weeks a lot gets done, other weeks we hit blockers and a task can drag on, but we beat it in the end.
It may not sound it, but this is the best job I have ever had, I love the job, the team, the company. This is my life.
