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Hey all, I’ve been working in IT ops for a few years now, but as I’ve devoted more time to scripting, that eventually became programming. I’m now learning more and more about the software development process, and have some mentoring sessions from our lead developer. I want to make the transition to developing full time, but I’m wondering if any of you have advice on how to do this, or things I should look out for?

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That sounds like a normal transition. Just remember to comment your code.

Seriously, your first year as a dev you are going to put out some pretty funky code. You will thank yourself later.

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Thanks, I’ve heard that from several people. I’ve been trying to make more comments on what I do lately, just so that when I come back in on a Monday, I don’t forget the purpose of things.

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Well documented code is your best friend when you have to open it up again in two years.

Also, make a point of thinking about the WHOLE program before you start writing. In scripting we can get away with some pretty loose things because change can happen very quickly. Once you start playing with complied code change iteration is a lot more more painful.

Lastly Test the bloody hell out of your code before you push it out, coming from Ops you know what it’s like to deal with that one coder who loves ugly loops and inefficient code that cripples the PC/server for a few seconds every time it runs. don’t be that guy.

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