Motivation

Developing In A Cloud Last week we built a contact form api with mailgun. This week we’ll check out some cutting edge stuff! Developing in a cloud is all the rage these days. It has it’s advantages, but done improperly can have near catastrophic results. Is it a new great new SASS color scheme? Or does it closely resemble your favorite Grateful Dead tie dye? Is it a brilliant new app idea OR… does it use facial recognition tech that replaces someone’s face with the closest looking vegetable? Is it a new cryptology library OR… does your cipher rely too heavily on slang for genitalia?

I’m here to tell you… we’ll never know… BUT… there are things you can do to prepare for developing in a cloud.

The Setup

It’s important to have the right configuration. Without it… before you know it you’ll be surfing reddit and arguing about the best way to make pizza dough with a complete stranger. You’ll definitely win the argument, but at what cost?

Environment

Your physical environment is crucial. Comfort levels. Elminating emenant danger and shiny objects. Even OTHER PEOPLE in your immediate area can cause problems when developingin a cloud.

Your Work Space

Remove any sharp objects. Especially if shiny. Actually just remove anything shiny OR sharp. Juuuust trust me. Before you know it you might end up with half a bobby pin in your thumb because you got distracted trying to make a thumb piano. Not worth it. Everyone, including yourself, will be confused as to what has happend.

Seating

  • Comfortable, but unable to nap in.
  • Doesn’t squeek
  • Spinning is good

make memes, get money

Social Contact

Know yourself. If you’re comfortable in a cloud and spend a lot of time there you may be just fine going into any social situation. If not… maybe this is a work from home thing. I will say that with practice it’s entirely possible to forget you’re in a cloud. Know yourself.

Going into the office and dont wanna get destracted? Where a disguise!

Disguise

Consumables

The biggest mistakes I see coders make are consumable related. Why do you think there are so many SNACKS at these startups? They know developing in a cloud is hard work and requires fuel. Precious fuel. Without snacks there is no code.

Placement

Keep a wide variety of sweet and salty snacks by your desk. NOT ON YOUR DESK. Proximity is key here. You need to have a phyisical barrier between you in the snacks. Far enough to keep you from consuming 10,000 calories worth of chips and candy, but not so far that you get lost… or worse… distracted.

Snack Properties

Primary Properties In Order:

  1. Sweet
  2. Salty

Secondary Properties In Order:

  1. Crunchy
  2. Chewy
  3. Smell

Handling Snack Errors

Sometimes mistakes are made. It’s ok. Dont panic! Error handling is what separates the pros and the amateurs. Dont be amateur and go handle those snacks. If you’re not on a budget, whole foods has some of the best snacks you can imagine. If you are… that conoco down the street will have to do. DO NOT leave the snack errors unhandled.

Music

Despite what you may think, I’m not gonna be a music evangelist here. Lyrics distract my A.D.D. Monkey Mind, so unless its a deeply familiar tune I stay away from them.

My Preferences

Electronic - Oh boy. This will help you become one with the binary. Com Truise will have you feeling like you’re in tron. This is my go to when I’m in the zone working on familiar code. Really enables me to dial in.

Hip Hop/Rap - This is when you’re debugging sys admin stuff. Rythmic. Intense.

Classical - Planning or designing should be done w/ calming music.

Defensive benefits of headphones in a public work space

Reasonable Headphones Sometimes you dont want Fred to come tell you about his Fondue Friday with his fantastic fiance. No matter how many spiced meats you had, I’m not interested Fred! That’s where some good ol’ fashioned MASSIVE FREAKING HEADPHONES come one. I’m not talking about your cute little airpods. BIG ONES. If you cant see them from 100 yards away across the office floor, they aren’t doing their job.

In Conclusion

Cloud good. Cloud powerful. Cloud make hungry and thirsty so take care.

TOMORROW

I’ll be… actually… describing my remote development setup. This will be geared towards those coding in command line IDE’s, however, at a minimum it will require;

  1. a VPS from any provider
  2. Knowledge of Docker
  3. basic sys admin skills