In Office Hours Episode 10, SmartLogic’s newest developers, Emma Whamond and Micaela Cunha, join Elixir Wizard Owen Bickford to discuss their onboarding experiences, joining a new engineering team, and navigating an unfamiliar codebase. They share tips and challenges on learning new programming languages like Ruby and Elixir while ramping up for active client projects. Emma and Micaela emphasize the value of starting with tests and seeking guidance from teammates when diving into unfamiliar projects.

Our guests provide valuable guidance for anyone navigating the transition into a new software development team, highlighting the importance of collaboration, continuous learning, and community support in the tech industry.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

What to expect when joining a new engineering team

Navigating existing codebases as a new hire in Elixir and Ruby

Applying previous work experience to software development

The importance of tests and team communication in unfamiliar projects

Learning Ruby as a C++ and JavaScript developer

Differences between dynamic and static typing

Building team camaraderie and intentionality in remote work environments

The steep learning curve of the onboarding process, including documentation, codebases, and client meetings

Relying on teammates for guidance and overcoming the fear of asking too many questions

Updating documentation within project repositories

Learning team dynamics and identifying domain experts for targeted assistance

Domain-specific knowledge: being a senior developer in one language vs. another

Building friendships and connections within local tech communities

The welcoming and supportive nature of the tech industry for newcomers

Links mentioned:

Elixir Programming Language https://elixir-lang.org/

Ruby on Rails https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/

Ruby Koans - Learn Ruby language, syntax, structure https://www.rubykoans.com/

Elixir Language Learning Exercises (Elixir Koans) https://github.com/elixirkoans/elixir-koans

The PETAL Stack in Elixir https://thinkingelixir.com/petal-stack-in-elixir/

Alpine JS Lightweight JavaScript Framework https://alpinejs.dev/

Phoenix LiveView https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix_live_view/Phoenix.LiveView.html

WebAuthn Components passwordless authentication to LiveView applications

https://github.com/liveshowy/webauthn_components

Gleam functional language for building type-safe, scalable systems https://gleam.run/

The Future of Types in Elixir with José Valim, Guillaume Duboc, and Giuseppe Castagna https://smartlogic.io/podcast/elixir-wizards/s10-e12-jose-guillaume-giuseppe-types-elixir/

Git-Blame https://git-scm.com/docs/git-blame

nix store https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/nix-store

Code and Coffee https://codeandcoffee.org/

Special Guests: Emma Whamond and Micaela Cunha.