Who’s On Phirst

As my internship comes to a close I look back at the experience and reflect on what I've learned. There has been so much, I won't bore you with all the details, but instead I will summarize the technical skills that I've gained.

First off, some of the main skills that I've learned are related to the Linux command line. Most OSes I've rely on a GUI that gives you point and click buttons. Basically you aren't forced to use command lines day to day in college. But being able to work with some Linux command line gurus I've seen some crazy grep commands. Here's a cheat sheet that's helped me along the way.

Secondly, I've programmed in Eclipse before, but not as extensively as here, my experiences up to this point were simple class projects. I only needed to know some basic debugging and navigation skills. Not here. Now I've learned how to navigate through code fairly quickly to find what I need. Here's another cheat sheet that's helped me.

Next, before I came here I didn't have a clue of what an application server was. Let alone, actually working with one. I've gained valuable experience being able to work with BEA Weblogic, IBM WebSphere and JBoss. I wouldn't have learned this in a common computer science class and have I have also learned that documentation is your friend!

Finally, there are random things here and there that you would pick up from just working with a development team. Like working with VM images, experiencing the day to day operation of software development and taking in all of the information that I can, like osmosis, from my amazing coworkers.

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If you're like me and like to keep up with that latest mobile phone buzz, then you've probably heard the Sept. 23 announcement of the first Android phone called the G1 to be released on T-Mobile on October 22nd. If not, Android is Google's mobile phone operating system, based on the Linux kernel which will run on a phone by HTC called the Dream. What makes Android special is that its software platform is open source! Granted there are some criticisms that it is not, currently, completely open source, but Google announced that part of the OS will be released under the Apache and GPL license.

I've been able to emulate Android on my current device, an AT&T Tilt (aka HTC Kaiser), thanks to developers on the xda-developers forums in order to get a taste of what will soon come to be. I recently installed the Android 1.0 SDK and eagerly look forward to coding some applications. I have high hopes for Android as I'm a fan of both Linux and open source software, but only time will tell.

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Internships are a great resume builder, as you may already know, for a newbie trying to break into the software development field. Currently I'm interning for a start-up software company called Phurnace Software, Inc. located in Austin, Texas. They develop java software for application servers like WebSphere, JBoss, and Weblogic. I've had experience in coding in java, but hadn't of an application server. Truth be told I was kind of scared, since I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. Also, being from Michigan, about 1,300 miles away from home. Any kind of comfort zone I had was far away. Venturing out on your own can be scary, but rewarding at the same time.

Now, you might be wondering how a college kid from Michigan found himself a job with a small software start up in Austin. Well, I just happened to find a job posting on Craigslist in the Austin area. I sent an e-mail with my resume, and received a quick reply. A week later I had a job offer and I was off to Texas. I applied to a ton of large companies in the industry, since most of their application process is pretty cut and dry. But to no avail as I was probably up against a large number of applicants. I was really hoping to score a job with a small company with the reason being that I would be able to see more of the software development process and not doing the same repetitive task every day.

Currently, I'm already 2.5 months into my internship and it’s awesome! I'm glad I chose to work for a small start-up company because this is exactly what I want to do in life. How many jobs are you going to have where you can talk with the CEO and the co-founders of the company at any time? Or better yet, working with people who've been in the industry for a while and being able to soak in their knowledge. I'm learning a lot, more then I would from a class room and a text book. So, to anyone out there looking for an internship in the Software Development industry, I suggest finding a job with a small company that moves quickly (Austin ain’t bad either). It’s an awesome time you won't regret.

 

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