On Saturday, August 18th, I attended Pillar’s Savory Software Saturday. It was a rewarding experience working with my group which included another officer, Vice President Tori Machen, who helped organize the event.
What started out as a pair programming event became a kind of “mob programming” activity. We split off into two groups of four with the chief organizer, Anthony Clifton, jumping between groups to provide encouragement and support. Both groups worked on a Test Driven build of Conway’s Game of Life.
We took turns writing tests that fail, coding just enough to make them “green” and repeating that process. Our focus was really on writing red tests then making them pass. It was challenging but also a fun collaborative environment. Many of us were learning to use Python on the fly; I’d dabbled with the language in the past, but we dove into, headfirst, which added another element of fun.
The atmosphere of social learning was the star of the show, and Pillar’s hospitality was incredible. The signup form included dietary preferences which they did a great job of considering when ordering lunch for everyone.
All-in-all, it was an awesome experience and I encourage anyone to attend the next Pillar Savvy Software Saturday of interest.
Career Workshop Update
Just a reminder that this Friday, the 31st, is the last day we will take volunteer submissions for the Career Workshop. So, if you or someone you know might be interested in helping by conducting mock interviews, resume reviews, presenting or sitting on a panel, be sure to get our Volunteer Form filled out, soon!
