From fire fighting to AI pair programming: Shane Harger's journey

Coding Chats episode 51 - Shane Harger shares her unique career journey from web development and graphic design to firefighting and back to tech, emphasizing the importance of pair programming, incident management lessons, and the evolving role of AI in software development. She discusses the significance of DevOps and platform engineering in enhancing team collaboration and efficiency, while also highlighting the value of junior developers in fostering a learning environment within teams.

Chapters

00:00 Shane Harger's Unique Career Journey

05:32 Transitioning from Firefighting to Tech

10:12 The Importance of Pair Programming

15:01 Lessons from Incident Management

20:02 DevOps and Platform Engineering Insights

27:44 The Dynamics of Code Review and Pair Programming

29:54 AI as a Partner in Programming

34:03 Key Learnings from AI Pair Programming Experiments

45:37 The Importance of Diverse Pairing in Development Teams

Shane's links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneharger/

John's Links:

John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/

John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett

John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett

John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social

Check out John's software engineering related newsletters:

Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.

Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.

Takeaways

Shane's career spans web development, firefighting, and consulting.

Firefighting provided unexpected tech opportunities in incident management.

Pair programming fosters camaraderie and knowledge sharing.

DevOps emphasizes ownership and collaboration in software development.

AI can assist in coding but lacks the human element of teamwork.

Juniors bring fresh perspectives and questions that benefit teams.

Effective incident management requires calmness and basic troubleshooting skills.

Automation in DevOps enhances response times and reduces handovers.

Product thinking is essential for infrastructure teams to meet customer needs.

The transition from POC to production can be challenging without clear requirements.