I know just enough to get into trouble
Apparently I do things in the wrong order. Since my very first post on this blog didn't say who I am or what I do, I thought I should give some background into this mysterious subject. So here's my introduction. It starts off slow.
My name is Todd Harris.
Previous to working at Microsoft, I worked at an aeronautical company in Kansas City. I worked mostly on test tools, protocols, and system configurations. Most of the coding work was C, C++, and Python. This is where my love for Python first started. I also got my hands dirty for my first time in embedded systems.
Then, in late 2005, I got the opportunity to come interview at Microsoft as a member of a test team. I love Kansas City, but I was ready to try something new where I had infinite room to grow. Everything went off without a hitch. I started working at Microsoft in January of 2006 working as an SDET (or tester) on a feature of BizTalk Server 2006. We RTM'd* in early April of 2006, so my first few months were very hectic. I was trying to get up to speed with my feature, BizTalk, life at Microsoft, and living in Seattle.
Since then, things have slowed down a bit, for sure. We've entered the planning phase for whatever our next cycle/product is, so there's not the sense of criticality and rush that surrounds the office before shipping. In this "downtime", the team's focus has switched a bit. I've moved into a primarily developer role (after going through yet another round of interviews), our development methodology has changed, and our team structure has changed. Since I can't necessarily talk about what I work (or don't work) on, I can't get into specifics. But I'm having a blast, and I work with some really smart people. It makes coming into work everyday really fun and enjoyable. I just happened to be one of the lucky people who really (but don't overly) love their job.
Introductions out of the way, this blog is for things that I run into during my daily routine that I find interesting or strange.
*RTM = Release to Manufacturing. This is when the project is shipped.
