Day One Python Engineer
Tags: Python, Utilities, Energy, Software Engineering

__author__ = “Alex Varatharajah”

class SoftwareEngineer:

“””So you made it! Through all the applications, all the tests and all the interviews… Welcome to ONZO! I have been here just over a month now as a Software Engineer, and I’d like to do a short retrospective on what my first month has been like.“””

def __init__ (self, day_one_python_engineer):

What better place to start than your first day? It is highly likely that you will be reading a “Day One Python Engineer” or an equivalent guide for your role on Confluence. You’ll be setting up your virtual environments, installing your IDE’s, setting up Git and cloning repositories, creating a branch, writing tests for a codebase you have no idea about, raising a PR…Googling what PR means… the point is it can all seem very overwhelming. That’s ok it is normal. If you manage to raise a PR on your first day kudos :+1: (don’t forget to install slack).

def my_first_few_days (self, stand_up):

I came to ONZO with a small Python background from my previous place, with a passion to learn about the fundamentals of programming best practice. Having not worked at a company that follows agile principles before I have found it such a breath of fresh air to come into a team that has such a good philosophy for it. The first few times I felt Stand-Up was a bit intimidating, as you are speaking in front of a whole new group of people, but once you realise that everyone is on the same page and ready to listen and willing help, it just becomes very natural…it also helps that everyone is so friendly and welcoming. My first few days were spent pair programming with various other engineers in the team. This was great because I got to get hands on with our codebase, while also having someone to discuss the structure and why we do certain things. I would thoroughly recommend doing this (though you may not have a choice), it is an easy way to knowledge share and pick up flaws in the code you are writing at the source before it goes into production.

def my_first_ticket (self, sprint_before_you_can_walk):

Pretty soon after I picked up my first ticket, which was a design for a postal code to lat-long look up. This involved creating a confluence page to discuss ideas about how to best attack this problem. Once this was done it was sent round the team for comment before organising a meeting to discuss the ideas and writing stories to fulfil the epic. Initially, I thought “what have I got myself in for?”, but actually it has given me the best opportunities to get stuck into a small cog of the machine, start playing around with ideas and learn a lot in a short amount of time.

def day_to_day (self, pythonic_python):

Since my first ticket, I have been helping mostly with the Python side of projects. Improvements to algorithms made by our data science team need to be available for client use. They are written in Python, therefore it is a big focus of mine to help with getting them into production. One of my personal interests (and objectives) is to make the Python side of data science as efficient as possible. At ONZO, I have been allowed to research new technologies and given the opportunity to remove inefficiencies in our Python codebase. A lot of my days have been refactoring code, writing functions and unit tests for those functions, while also making sure the functionality passes the original unit tests.

def __del__ (self, pros_and_cons):

If you are working at ONZO you’ll be working in a very relaxed environment. Everyone is very friendly and supportive. I feel like I have been here longer than I actually have, which can only be a good thing to have been embedded so quickly.

Pros:

Agile principles in action.

You are trusted, you are responsible and accountable for what you are doing, however (to quote Dumbledore) “help is always available at ONZO for those who ask for it”.

So much Python work, I’m never bored

Knowledge sharing sessions

Regular 1–2–1’s with managers and colleagues

Flexible working

Caffeine until your brain explodes

Dangerous amounts of Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers

Cons: