Journal 49

 July 15 - July 21

This week, my team worked on Assignment 2 in our shared GitHub project, and I completed my assigned portion of implementing the AssignmentController and its unit tests. I have used GitHub in previous classes, but never had such an in-depth use with code reviewing and moving issues in the project portion, and I must say it is pretty fun and interesting to work with my teammates in this way. This project is giving me valuable experience with working in a collaborative development environment. Communication, code reviews, and trust are seen as just as important as writing the actual code.

To dive off of that point, the most interesting thing I have learned in my reading of "Software Engineering at Google" is the emphasis on the human side of software engineering. A section that particularly resonated with me discussed how many developers are afraid to share unfinished work because they worry about being judged. I had never really thought about that idea before, but I realized it is something almost everyone experiences in many different aspects of life. It reminded me how much healthier and more productive a team becomes when people feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas early, and learning from feedback instead of hiding their mistakes.

I also found Google's 3 pillars of teamwork: humility, respect, and trust, to be very meaningful, especially given we are working in a group setting on our current project. Reading about these principles made me appreciate my teammates even more than I already did. Everyone has been more than willing to help each other, answer questions, review code, and trust one another to complete our assigned portions. As we work through this project, I have been trying to keep these values in mind by being open to feedback, respecting my teammates' ideas, and trusting them to contribute their expertise. The reading really reinforced that successful software engineering is not just writing the best code, but creating an environment where everyone can succeed together.

I also was interested in Google's definition of "Googleyness," and its description of qualities like valuing feedback, caring about the team, challenging the status quo, and doing the right thing. These characteristics seem applicable far beyond Google, and they describe the kind of teammate and professional I hope to become. The chapter concluded by encouraging developers to understand both their own working style and the working styles of others, and I think that is an important reminder that strong relationships often have a greater impact on a project's success than technical ability alone.

I was someone who always preferred to work alone in school, but being part of a team, be it my baseball team, my work team, or my school team here at CSUMB, has shown me the power of working together, and has made me really appreciate my teammates. I not only love working with my assigned cohort teammates, I consider them to be my friends outside of school as well.