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Insights / Press

T3 Rookies @ AOE: An Experience that Exceeded Expectations

August 08, 2016
Author Christian HolzschuhChristian HolzschuhMarketing & Communications

Recently, three young and aspiring software developers attended T3 Rookies Camp at AOE. The goal of this BarCamp-styled week for T3 Rookies is to introduce them to the world of the TYPO3 content management system (CMS).

At AOE, the participants also tried out new ideas such as pair programming or tools such as Vagrant, PHPUnit or Jenkins and had the opportunity to learn the basics of Agile software development and -processes. During the intensive week, AOE mentors Valentin Despa, Stefan Rotsch (Product Owner) and Tomas Norre Mikkelsen (Scrum Master) used Scrum – complete with planning, demos, retrospectives and all other ceremonies – to show the rookies what a “typical” workweek at AOE can look like. In the end, the dev team proudly completed a potentially shippable product increment.

We asked the young programmers to tell us about their week at the AOE T3 Rookies Camp.

 

Where do you come from, what is your job and where do you work? How did you come to the T3 Rookies Camp?

Irena Stepanovska: I’m a student from Macedonia. I came to T3 Rookies to improve my skills in the software development sector. I heard about this summer camp through a friend who works with TYPO3.

Boban Cvetkovski: I’m also from Macedonia and in my last year of studies. A colleague told me about the T3 Rookies Camp.

Niels Langlotz: I’m from Braunschweig, studying media informatics and also work in a small TYPO3 agency. I heard about the T3 Rookie program on Facebook.

What subjects did you work on during the week?

Irena: This week we’ve been working on:

  • Agile
  • Vagrant
  • PHPUnit
  • Pair Programming

Boban: We covered topics such as Agile software development methodologies. Also, we set up a virtual development environment using Vagrant and VirtualBox. Stefan introduced us to concepts such as code review and pair programming. In addition, we learned about continuous integration using Jenkins.

Have you used agile processes before? How do you like working with agile methods and what are its most outstanding points?

Irena: No, I haven’t used agile processes before, this was the first time and I enjoyed it a lot. And the most outstanding point is that they performed effective work.

Boban: I haven’t used Agile processes before, but the idea is very interesting and I like it very much. Unlike the traditional sequential development, Agile processes offer more communication between development teams and minimize the errors of a project through regular meetings.

Niels: I haven’t used Agile processes in software development until now, as most products were too small. However, I like the concept very much.

Was the work similar to your work at home? What were the differences?

Irena: No. I must say that the work wasn’t similar to the work at home, because back home we haven’t mentioned these things so far and some of them are only covered on a basic level.

Niels: A big difference is the workflow. In most projects, I’ve neither used Git nor automated deployment.

How did you like your stay at AOE in Wiesbaden? What were your impressions and learnings in addition to the T3Rookie subjects?

Irena: I really enjoyed being at AOE. I’m very thankful for having this opportunity to learn more about the tools that this company uses and to upgrade my skills in some of them.

Boban: AOE is an excellent company with so many great people whom I met here. The experience here exceeded my expectations. The mentors or our T3 Rookies group – Tomas, Stefan and Valentin – were great, and very knowledgeable people.

Niels: I enjoyed my time at AOE very much. I learned a lot about automation and testing and was able to get an introduction into devboxes.

What did you like best about your T3Rookie week, what did you enjoy most?

Boban: I enjoyed every part of the T3 Rookie week. I met very friendly people, the experience in the company was awesome and the city of Wiesbaden is a wonderful place for living and working.

Niels: I enjoyed the Jenkins and PuPHPet workshops the most.

How would you improve the concept?

Irena: I would improve the concept by including more people in the learning process, so that the knowledge sharing will be on a high level.

Boban: The concept of a week-long summer camp is an excellent opportunity for recently graduated and active students to gain a short introduction into how large companies such as AOE work. So I wouldn’t change a thing.

Niels: I would expand the part available for programming a little bit. Perhaps extension development with a database structure.

We would like thank all of you for your active participation and giving us insights into your T3 Rookies Camp experience and look forward to introducing other young professionals into the Agile and CMS worlds.